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Pace cadets: At AMG academy, students take their finals with their right feet

Mercedes-Benz USA launched the AMG Challenge in 2002, a program touted as "a chance to experience the thrill of driving the newest Mercedes AMGs on some of America's best racetracks." This year, MBUSA abandoned the Challenge in favor of the AMG Driving Academy, a multistage driver-development program pioneered by AMG in Europe. The difference? According to Greg Clark, AMG manager, "the Challenge was more about the cars, while the Academy is more about the driver." Having participated in both the Challenge and now the Academy, we'd say that difference is subtle, at least as it applies to the one-day program.

BMW Group unveils in-car G-force and tea-drinking engine

BMW AND Mini have today unveiled pioneering new technologies that produce artificial G-force and even let an engine run on tea leaves. BMW has revealed plans for a system called Force Injection Booster (FIB), which when activated fires artificial gravity at the driver and passenger through the air conditioning vents. But the style-conscious needn’t worry, because the German firm has also patented AirNet, the world’s first in-car hair protection technology.

CAR journalist wins top award

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 21 December 2007 08:42 CAR's associate editor Tim Pollard has won the industry's Journalist of the Year award 2007. He scooped the prestigious gong at the annual Guild of Motoring Writers awards ceremony at the RAC Club in London for his magazine scoop on the McLaren P11 (the cover story of CAR October 2007). The judges praised Pollard's investigative journalism, which uncovered a dossier of facts, sketches and details of the new junior supercar from the Woking road car and racing specialist.