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We’ve got to hand it to Mercedes-Benz. The Australian arm of the German automaker was so convinced that its iconic G-Wagen is one of the world’s most capable off-road vehicles, it decided to stage a demonstration run that would have seven of its boxy SUVs traveling from Halls Creek in Western Australia to Wiluna – a distance of 1,150 miles.

As it turned out, the distance, though definitely a long way to go in the wild’s of Australia in just 14 days, wasn’t the real issue encountered by the intrepid group of drivers. You see, the trip was organized along the historic Canning Stock Route, which was created at the beginning of the 20th Century as a way to get cattle from remote ranches in Kimberly to Perth, where it could then be sold.

Suffice it to say that driving cattle along the Canning Stock Route was a treacherous undertaking, and deaths were not uncommon. Today, the Route is considered one of the world’s greatest adventures and can only be tackled by serious four-wheel-drive machinery. Like the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, right?

Well, sorta. As MB Australia found out the hard way, no amount of planning can guarantee a successful journey, as six out of its seven G-Wagons have been crippled by broken rear shock absorbers seven days into the drive. The lone undamaged vehicle is actually a specially modified military-spec vehicle called the G-Professional that the German automaker is considering importing into Australia… might not be a bad idea, eh?

For their part, MB’s reps are taking the damage in stride. While all machines remained drivable (of course, that term just means the machine is capable of moving under its own power…), new shocks were flown in on chartered airplanes at significant cost. Sounds like there’s absolutely no way in the Australian Outback Hell that this demonstration drive will end up a failure.

Australian Outback cripples fleet of Mercedes G-Wagens during PR event originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The second worst part of the Formula One season is right now during the summer break when F1 fans have to endure four weeks of no racing.

We’ve made it this far and have but a week to go until racing resumes at Spa, so to get us over the hump, we have the help of Breakdown Cover. The website has compiled thirty of the best on-track battles dating all the way to Tazio Nuvolari’s Alfa Romeo beating a passel of Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows in Germany in 1935 and put them all into one place.

We’ve dropped one of our favorites after the jump, Ayrton Senna’s first lap antics at Donington Park back in 1993. Click the link for the other 29, and feel good about it – it’s not wasting time if racing is involved.

[Source: Breakdown Cover]

Continue reading Video: Get your F1 fix during the break with 30 of the sport’s greatest on-track battles

Video: Get your F1 fix during the break with 30 of the sport’s greatest on-track battles originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The red-and-white blur in the shot above is an upside-down Mini. The car, driven by Kain Magro in a Mini Challenge support race for a V8 Supercar round at Queensland Raceway in Australia, flipped over at high speed on the last lap of the race and cartwheeled numerous times through the sandtrap, over the fence and into the crowd.

Incredibly, no one was killed, and only two spectators and the driver were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Follow the jump to watch the accident. Thanks to everyone who sent a tip.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Mini crash during Australian race ends with car in crowd

Mini crash during Australian race ends with car in crowd originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 May 2010 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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