Lemans Racing
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: So Cal
I was wondering the same thing. If they do return to Le Mans anytime soon, we might see a McLaren baged Benz since DC has bought a percentage of McLaren. I think we will be see the Mercedes-McLaren effort branch out to Le Mans.
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2020 GT R Pro, 2019 GT3 RS, 2018 GT3 Touring
MB and BMW in ALMS...
I do miss that! I still remember the site of the CLK-GTR whizzing by at the ALMS races a few years ago at Laguna Seca and Sears Point, not to mention the famous "lift-off" of a CLK-GTR when it literally lifted off!
My guess is that money is tight and manufacturers want to put their money where it most makes sense. BMW pulled out of the prototype series to put their resources in F1 (fine job, by the way). My guess is MB did the same. It's VERY expensive to run ALMS and F1. Also, keep in mind that those lucky Europeans have the DTM series where MB dominates in the CLKs!
Nevertheless, Audi did a fantastic job last 2 years with little competition except from Panos..those Audi R8's are amazingly quick (faster than both the MB CLK-GTR and BMW LM12). To compete with Audi, BMW and MB would have had to dump lots of $$$ into R&D to put out another prototype.
I hope to see both BMW and MB back in ALMS soon! If not, well at least we have Indianapolis to look forward to again for F1!
My guess is that money is tight and manufacturers want to put their money where it most makes sense. BMW pulled out of the prototype series to put their resources in F1 (fine job, by the way). My guess is MB did the same. It's VERY expensive to run ALMS and F1. Also, keep in mind that those lucky Europeans have the DTM series where MB dominates in the CLKs!
Nevertheless, Audi did a fantastic job last 2 years with little competition except from Panos..those Audi R8's are amazingly quick (faster than both the MB CLK-GTR and BMW LM12). To compete with Audi, BMW and MB would have had to dump lots of $$$ into R&D to put out another prototype.I hope to see both BMW and MB back in ALMS soon! If not, well at least we have Indianapolis to look forward to again for F1!
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 35,855
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From: Southern CA
Re: MB and BMW in ALMS...
Originally posted by Mr. Vanos
I do miss that! I still remember the site of the CLK-GTR whizzing by at the ALMS races a few years ago at Laguna Seca and Sears Point, not to mention the famous "lift-off" of a CLK-GTR when it literally lifted off!
I do miss that! I still remember the site of the CLK-GTR whizzing by at the ALMS races a few years ago at Laguna Seca and Sears Point, not to mention the famous "lift-off" of a CLK-GTR when it literally lifted off!
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From: Afghanistan / South Florida / Camp Lejeune, NC
2008 BMW M6, 2008 Ducati 1098, 2008 Ducati Monster S2R1000, 1971 Ducati Scrambler
Mach430, I happened to have a video of that lieing around on my PC. It was extremely crazy, it literally lifted off like a plane. After that things went pretty much downhill for mercedes and GTR/lemans racing. I wouldn't be suprised if they did come back with a McLaren partnership, but McLaren is really involved with BMW in the lemans series.
Here you go Mach430, I just uploaded it to my website. The movie is about 1 mb in size:
http://www.angelownersgroup.com/clkgtr-flip.mpeg
Here you go Mach430, I just uploaded it to my website. The movie is about 1 mb in size:
http://www.angelownersgroup.com/clkgtr-flip.mpeg
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 35,855
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From: Southern CA
Originally posted by accord
Mach430, I happened to have a video of that lieing around on my PC. It was extremely crazy, it literally lifted off like a plane. After that things went pretty much downhill for mercedes and GTR/lemans racing. I wouldn't be suprised if they did come back with a McLaren partnership, but McLaren is really involved with BMW in the lemans series.
Here you go Mach430, I just uploaded it to my website. The movie is about 1 mb in size:
http://www.angelownersgroup.com/clkgtr-flip.mpeg
Mach430, I happened to have a video of that lieing around on my PC. It was extremely crazy, it literally lifted off like a plane. After that things went pretty much downhill for mercedes and GTR/lemans racing. I wouldn't be suprised if they did come back with a McLaren partnership, but McLaren is really involved with BMW in the lemans series.
Here you go Mach430, I just uploaded it to my website. The movie is about 1 mb in size:
http://www.angelownersgroup.com/clkgtr-flip.mpeg
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Afghanistan / South Florida / Camp Lejeune, NC
2008 BMW M6, 2008 Ducati 1098, 2008 Ducati Monster S2R1000, 1971 Ducati Scrambler
No problem at all 
.
It just seems unreal. Imagine being the driver in front of him and looking in your rear view mirror and seeing that...
There was a whole article written up about that incident and it said the aerodynamics on the car were not set right . It also said that mercedes is scratching the CLK GTR and they have come out with a new GT car called the CLK LSR, I think those last 3 letters are correct.
I will try to find the article and a picture of the new CLK LSR? for you.
.It just seems unreal. Imagine being the driver in front of him and looking in your rear view mirror and seeing that...
There was a whole article written up about that incident and it said the aerodynamics on the car were not set right . It also said that mercedes is scratching the CLK GTR and they have come out with a new GT car called the CLK LSR, I think those last 3 letters are correct.
I will try to find the article and a picture of the new CLK LSR? for you.
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