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Autoweek in review: What you might have missed

The automotive racing world lost yet another character this week with the passing of “Big” Willie Robinson. He was 70 years old. May marks the 40-year anniversary of the BMW M division.

Alpina B5 Bi-Turbo (2011) launches

The Alpina B5 Bi-Turbo 2011 debuted at Goodwood If you went down to the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend you may well have come across Alpina’s latest offering – the Alpina B5 Bi-Turbo – which, following the news yesterday that BMW have retired the current generation (E60) M5 and that you’ll have to wait intil next year for the new M5 – is the only way to hop in to a brand new ‘Hot’ 5 series for at least the next 9 months. Not only is the Alpina B5 the only really quick 5 series on the market now, it will also be a lot less ubiquitous in the long run than BMW’s own M5. A lot to be said for that.

Rhys Millen loses brakes, takes second place at Pikes Peak

Rhys Millen, nephew of parts guru Steve Millen, didn't break Nobuhiro Tajima's world record at the 89th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb--Tajima did that himself. But Rhys Millen did clock a fast second-place run up the 12.42-mile course with a time of 10 minutes, 9.242 seconds in a prepped Hyundai Genesis PM580. That time was made even more impressive by the fact that Millen lost brake power in the last few miles before reaching the peak.