Mercedes-AMG at Goodwood: CLA 45 debut and Aron's return

Mercedes-AMG brought its past and present to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, staging the world premiere of the new CLA 45 4MATIC+ alongside historic icons from the Silver Arrows to the “Red Sow”. The company’s latest paddock newsletter also confirms Ralf Aron’s racing comeback five months after his heavy crash, plus a run of customer-racing milestones across Asia and Europe.

Mercedes-AMG used its regular motorsport bulletin to gather a busy few weeks into one story, and the centrepiece was the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex. The event gave the brand a stage for both heritage machinery and new metal, and it was where the new Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+ made its world premiere.

Old and new share the hill

Goodwood’s famous 1.89-kilometre (1.17-mile) hillclimb past Goodwood House drew a Mercedes line-up spanning a 1930s Silver Arrow, 1950s sports-racers, an Indianapolis car, a GT winner and a modern DTM machine. Fred Vesti, the team’s third driver, drove the Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance — the car in which George Russell took his first Grand Prix win in São Paulo in 2022. Performance drivers Maro Engel and Maximilian Götz were also present, along with brand ambassadors Bernd Mayländer, Bernd Schneider and Karl Wendlinger. The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team recreated a full F1 pit lane and garage as a fan hub.

The company also marked several anniversaries. It highlighted engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, born 120 years ago, who led its racing department and shaped everything from the 300 SL “Gullwing” to the wedge-shaped C 111 record study. One of the two 300 SLR coupés named after him sold in 2022 for €135 million, which the manufacturer describes as the highest price ever paid for a car. The first 300 SLR of 1954 sits on the “Blue Wonder” high-speed transporter, built on a 300 S chassis and powered by the 220 PS straight-six from the Gullwing; even fully loaded, the company says it could exceed 170 km/h (106 mph).

55 years of the “Red Sow”

AMG also celebrated 55 years since Hans Heyer and Clemens Schickentanz won their class and finished second overall at the 1971 Spa 24 Hours in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.8 AMG — the “Rote Sau” (Red Sow) that put the young Affalterbach firm on the map. The car appeared at Goodwood this year.

Ralf Aron returns to racing

Around five months after breaking two vertebrae in a crash at the Bathurst 12 Hour, Mercedes-AMG Performance driver Ralf Aron returns to competition at the seventh round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS7). He races a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Mercedes-AMG Team RAVENOL, sharing with Luca Stolz.

“I’m super happy to be able to make my first race start around five months after my accident in Bathurst. The past months were extremely intense… From the very first moment, everything felt exactly right again. The time is ripe.”

Customer-racing milestones

The customer programme passed its 1,000th pole position for a Mercedes-AMG car, taken by Marchy Lee and Rio in the UNO Racing Team’s GT3 at Zhuhai in the China GT Championship — a landmark since the programme began in 2010. In Japan, TKRI’s crew scored a Super Taikyu win at Autopolis to extend their championship lead. At Misano, Mercedes-AMG teams claimed three overall podiums and three class wins in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, with Lucas Auer and Maro Engel holding the overall lead.

Virtual racing grows

Season 02 of the Mercedes-AMG Virtual Championship drew nearly a quarter of a million players in qualifying across Assetto Corsa Competizione, Gran Turismo 7, iRacing and Le Mans Ultimate, with registrations up 38 percent year on year. The first of six finals is set for 5 August, with the title decided on 28 October.