Michael Schumacher vs the Nurburgring rollercoaster

Michael Schumacher vs the Nurburgring rollercoaster By Ben Barry First Official Pictures 17 July 2009 13:03 Michael Schumacher still holds the Nürburgring GP circuit’s lap record (1:29.468 back in 2004), but he’s never left the startline faster than he did last weekend – when he was strapped into the world’s fastest rollercoaster, subjected to 4.5g at launch and accelerated up to 135mph along 1212m of track. The rollercoaster – originally planned to open in Easter 2009 as part of a €215 million expansion plan – finally got the champers treatment at the German GP, and runs right next to the race track’s start/finish straight before spearing off into a number of tortuous twists and turns. How did the ’Ring people manage to get the former F1 world champ on board?

U.A.S Graz-BMW partnership project

The University of Applied Sciences in Graz, Austria (U.A.S Graz) has collaborated with BMW, Munich on a project to design ‘the new SUV'. "Today's SUVs are very heavy, have an aggressive appearance and use too much fuel", says Prof. Gerhard Heufler, head of Industrial Design department at U.A.S Graz.

Audi welcomes Porsche back to Le Mans

Porsche is returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next weekend, and reigning champ Audi figured it would be nice to send a little welcoming committee to Stuttgart, Germany. The committee consisted of one driver in an R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 car. Keen eyes will notice the race car passing a red tractor, also a Porsche design.