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Program unveiled Mercedes to miss 2000 Le Mans race
Posted: Saturday November 20, 1999 02:40 PM
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- Mercedes will not compete in next year's Le Mans 24 Hours race. The sportscar classic was not part of the German manufacturer's racing program unveiled by Juergen Hubbert, the Daimler Chrysler director in charge of Mercedes cars, in Stuttgart. Mercedes will concentrate in 2000 on Formula One in partnership with McLaren, the CART series in the United States and return to the mainly German-based DTM sportscar series. The decision not to go to Le Mans was expected since Hubbert said in July that Mercedes may pull out of the event for good after a series of unexplained spectacular crashes there this year. Briton Peter Dumbreck's Mercedes flew off the track into trees during last June's race after lifting vertically and then flipping over five times in the air. Mercedes withdrew their one remaining car from the race immediately afterwards. Australian Mark Webber had a similar accident in the pre-race warm-up and also crashed in qualifying. Dumbreck's crash revived memories of the worst accident in motor racing history at Le Mans in 1955, when a Mercedes driven by Pierre Levegh crashed into a crowded enclosure and exploded. At least 82 people were killed. "Nobody will forget the images of the flying cars," Hubbert said of this year's accidents. "I wouldn't go as far as saying that we made wrong decisions but we were lucky. "Sometimes it's better to follow your instincts than to make decisions with your head," he added to justify Mercedes" decision to miss Le Mans.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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