Audi will be very pleased to have retained their Le Mans 24 Hours title after one of their cars crashed out in the second hour of the race, and a second suffered a similar fate 15 or so hours later.
The Number 3 Diesel engined R10 driven by Mike Rockenfeller crashed out early on Saturday and was travelling backwards when it hit the safety barrier. Later, with less than a third of the race left to run, it very much looked as if Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and seven time winner Tom Kristensen might triumph in the number 2 Audi, but they too suffered an accident after 16 hours when a wheel came off and Capello briefly became a passenger as the car ploughed into a tyre wall. Fortunately for Audi, their number 1 car was in second place at this point, and driven by Germans Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Italian Emanuele Pirro, was brought home to a second successive Le Mans 24-Hour victory for the Audi R10 Diesel.
The Audis were pushed hard in the race by another Diesel in the shape of Peugeot's new V12 engined 908 LMP cars driven by Sebastian Bourdais, Stephen Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy. The Peugeot 908 car came second having completed 359 laps to the winning Audi's 369 laps in 24 hours, and a second Peugeot piloted by Jacques Villeneuve, Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gené was running in second with just over an hour and a quarter to run when unfortunately it suffered mechanical failure.
The Cross Cabrio combines the genes of a typical dynamic soft-top convertible from Audi with the all-round qualities of a fully fledged SUV.
Audi will be very pleased to have retained their Le Mans 24 Hours title after one of their cars crashed out in the second hour of the race, and a second suffered a similar fate 15 or so hours later.
As well as being a great fun show, MPH offers a great exhibition of cars from the latest popular cars, to the most desirable of supercars. This year the live show was even better than last year's MPH05, and the side show offered even more exotic machinery for visitors to drool at. Visitors to the MPH06 show at Birmingham's NEC also enjoyed the Classic Motor Show, while Earls Court visitors will find that their MPH06 is supported by MPH Classic.
German car manufacturer Maybach existed for a relatively brief period of time (1921-1941), yet managed to build more than its share of superlative automobiles. Considered a somewhat less flashy rival to Mercedes-Benz, Maybachs still had plenty of style and performance. The 1939 Maybach SW38 Spohn Sport Roadster is one of the most beautiful Maybachs ever, with thoroughly modern technology such as an electrically welded and cruciform-braced chassis, and fully independent coil suspension. Classic cars and vehicles like this were featured at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
