THE LINE

November 18, 2009

Daimler. Publisher's Note: From the "If You Can't Beat Them, Buy Them" File,  Daimler is buying a controlling interest in the reigning F1 world champion Brawn team and will rename the team Mercedes Grand Prix beginning next season. According to reports, Daimler will purchase 75.1 percent of the team with Aabar Investments (the largest shareholder in Daimler), which is based in Abu Dhabi. Daimler will take 45.1 percent of the team, Aabar will take 30 percent, and the remaining 24.9 percent will remain with the team’s current owners. Daimler will also sell back its 40 percent ownership of the McLaren team to McLaren, ending a 10-year partnership. But it will continue to provide engines to McLaren, through 2015. (I'll believe that when I see it.) Mercedes had supplied engines to McLaren since 1995. The partnership delivered four world championships. This announcement has more to do with the fact that the McLaren Group is going its own way with its new McLaren Automotive sports car company than anything else. McLaren will start building its own high-performance sports cars in 2011, which will provide some very stiff competition to anything Mercedes-Benz offers in the supercar category. I just hope this means we'll see McLaren Grand Prix cars in Mclaren orange again, for starters, and I'd love to see them spank the "new" Mercedes Grand Prix team next season. And with newly-minted World Champion Jenson Button teaming-up with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next year, there's an excellent chance of that happening. - PMD

John Thawley. Publisher's Note: I'm happy to report that there's a new must-see destination for sports car racing enthusiasts: John Thawley's Sports Car Insider. Featuring John's outstanding photography and the excellent work from contributors such as John Dagys, Rick Dole, Regis Lefebure and others - as well as yours truly - I expect Sports Car Insider to become the go-to place for hard-core road racing enthusiasts. Check it out here. - PMD

Publisher's Note: Along about this time of year - with the racing season starting to wind down - we like to publish The Year in Review by John Thawley. John and I knew each other way back in the 70s when we were both doing something totally different, and we renewed our friendship around racing three decades later. John is now considered one of the best at what he does, and it's a real privilege to be able to share his work with our Autoextremist readers throughout the season. John's year-end gallery allows all of us to step back and savor another excellent season of racing in the American Le Mans Series. Thanks again to John for allowing us to display his work. Click here. - PMD

WE'RE OPENING THE VAULT!

The AE wearables are back - and only in extremely limited quantities and sizes, we might add - and once they're gone, they're gone! We're starting with our most popular items, the classic AE Sweatshirt and AE Hat. Click on a PayPal button below to order yours now! (If you prefer to pay by check, please send us an email with AE STORE in the subject line, and we'll reserve your item.)

AE Sweatshirt - Crewneck, sturdy 80/20 cotton/poly, in black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. Size XL only. 40 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.

AE Hat - Black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. 25 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

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