OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Stuttgart, Germany, Jun 15, 2011
• Gary Paffett will remain a Mercedes-Benz driver for 2012 and beyond
• Gary is the most successful active driver in the DTM with 17 wins from 73 starts
• He has finished on the podium in more than one third of his DTM races
• The 2012 DTM season will be Gary Paffett’s ninth with Mercedes-Benz
Gary Paffett, the most successful active driver in the DTM, will remain a Mercedes-Benz driver for the long term after agreeing a new contract extension with the three-pointed sta
Since 2003, Mercedes-Benz and Gary Paffett have achieved significant milestones together. In 2005, Paffett became the first British driver ever to win the DTM championship at the wheel of the AMG Mercedes C-Class, taking five wins from 11 races. The following year, with the support of Mercedes-Benz, he was promoted to the role of McLaren-Mercedes F1 test driver, before returning to the DTM for 2007. In that season, he became the first driver in series history to win a race with a year-old car, at Oschersleben.
Gary Paffett has now scored a total of 17 wins from 73 starts, a winning record of more than every one in five races, and has taken podium finishes in more than one in three of the races he has started in the DTM (25 podiums in total, or 34% of his DTM races).
Gary Paffett: “I am delighted to continue my relationship with Mercedes-Benz for the long term – we have worked together for a long time, enjoyed a lot of success and I feel a big part of this successful racing family. Thank you to Norbert and Gerhard Ungar for putting their faith in me and to my management, Mark Blundell and 2MB, for their hard work to make it happen. Next year, the DTM will enter a new era and the competition will be even tougher. It’s a big challenge to try and make our future as successful as we have been in the past – and I am sure experience and continuity will play a big role in achieving that. I’m very excited to be part of this new era of the DTM and the fact that I now have a long-term contract in place with Mercedes gives me a solid basis on which to perform even better.”
Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Gary is a vital part of our very successful history in the DTM. He is a racer in the purest form: straight and tough but always fair. On behalf of Mercedes-Benz, I would like to thank Gary for all his hard work and the success he has had until now. This new contract will take us into a second decade together, and we will work hard to ensure it will be just as successful as our first – or even better.”
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
If the first spy shots of the 2013 S 63 AMG were emerging yesterday, new photos showcasing a camouflaged 2013 SL 63 AMG prototype on the Nurburgring circuit hit the interwebs today. Compared to the last time we saw this model on streets, the test car scooped recently features less exterior camouflage, so everybody can judge the design of the new roadster model. Visually, the styling is inspired by the SLS AMG and the new SLK, so expect a safe, conservative, understated approach. Yet, the new SL-Class is bound to highlight a very mature, thoroughly-bred image, which this open-top Mercedes has been all about through out its entire history. The future SL 63 AMG will be slightly crazier than the standard models in terms of aesthetical pampering by offering an aggressive front fascia, large-diameter AMG alloy wheels and quad exhausts. Engineers will fit the car with the new 5.5 litres V8 biturbo engine, available in two output versions (544 hp or 571 hp) and further bespoke AMG technologies to deliver hardcore dynamics.
Source: Motor Authority
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
Sunday's race at Montréal will obviously remain as one of the most unforgettable and epic grands prix ever held in Formula 1. The heavy rain clouds menaced the good course of the Canadian stage and brought a terrible downpour to the circuit, which led stewards to the decision of stopping the race by lap 25. Water was practically inundating the track and workers were fighting hard to drain it and restore the surface as for the drivers to be able to compete in safe conditions. More than 2 hours and a half passed and the race was re-started under the safety car. After it was conceived that things is OK, the racers got the green light for racing in lap 33. An unprecented tale of events followed, with a lot of incidents happening and the overall hierarchy constantly changing. As the tarmac was drying, contenders at the front were posting faster lap records. For a period, former champion Michael Schumacher managed to get his MGP W02 up to second position, after a series of superb overtakings. However, he was then forced to slow the pace because of tyre wear-out and thus finished the race on 4th. Jenson Button, that went from agony to ecstasy, scored a sensational victory at the end of the race (also due to Sebastian Vettel's mistake in the final lap), in which he had pitted for six times, had collided with his mate Lewis Hamilton, had suffered a tyre puncture, had been forced to comply with a drive-through penalty and start all over again from the last place.
Check out more images captured on Sunday in Canada after the break!
* Official photos courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS and VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
The lack of spy shots in the last period was not announcing the big surprise of today - the first 2013 Mercedes-Benz S 63 AMG prototype was scooped in Germany, around the Affalterbach plant. As with the standard S-Class, this test car is also heavily camouflaged, so there's hardly a clue to the visual appointments of the grumpy limousine. Expect a wider stance, doubled by a lowered ride height, 19"/20" AMG design alloy wheels, revised front bumper and air intakes, new exhausts at the back and an upscale interior. Power will be ensured by the new 5.5 litres biturbo V8 engine, capable of delivering 544 hp in standard-spec and 571 hp if the car is equipped with Performance Package. While the new generation of the S-Class (W 222) is set to arrive by the end of next year, the future S 63 AMG could be officially launched at the 2013 edition of the Geneva Motor Show.
Check out more images after the break!
Source: WorldCarFans
Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
