The Silver Arrow is back at Le Mans. And winning.
It took 34 years for Mercedes to return to competition at the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race after the West German firm pulled out of racing when an accident in the 1955 event killed more than 80 spectators.A motor from a Mercedes car flew into the crowd and exploded.
Mercedes, which was famous during the post-War years with its silver racers, returned to competitive racing last year on the sports prototype circuit. It was set to return to Le Mans in 1988, but a blown tire in practice made company officals edgy and they decided to pull out.
This year they were back, winning and setting records. West Germans Joachen Mass and Manuel Reuter teamed with Sweden's Stanley Dickens to dominate Sunday's race, leading a 1-2 Mercedes sweep.
Mass and his co-drivers cruised to a five-lap victory over another Mercedes driven by Italians Maouro Baldi and Gianfranco Brancatelli along with Briton Ken Acheson.
Mass's car covered more than 3,271 miles on the sprawling course in the French countryside and the winning margin was more than 40 miles.
Porsches, which had dominated the race in recent years, and Jaguars, last year's winners, fell victim to various engine and gear box problems. But the Mercedes started three and finished three. "We are happy to finish without any problems," Nieborg said.
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And at Sonoma, Calif., Ricky Rudd shoved aside a late challenge from Rusty Wallace to win the Banquet Foods 300-kilometer race Sunday at Sears Point International Speedway.