Glory for teams: The Constructors� World Championship

Although all drivers aim to win their own World Championship, they also have to keep an eye out for the title that their teams aim for � the Constructors� World Championship.
The points are awarded on the same system as those awarded for the drivers� championship (explained in the preceding section). The difference is that teams take home the points that their two drivers earn. If a team�s drivers finish first and second, for example, then the team scores 18 points. Some team bosses believe that winning this title is more prestigious than having a Formula One star win the drivers� World Championship because the constructors� title generally goes to the team that�s produced the best car. The constructors� championship has more importance than just its prestige, however, for the following reasons:
_ The amount a team earns from the sport�s television rights is dependent on just where a team finishes in the title chase. The difference between positions, especially in the top five teams, can be several million dollars. _ Finishing higher up in the constructors� championship means that teams are entitled to the best garages in the pit lane, which usually means more space and improved facilities.
_ A winning team is also allowed to take more freight free of charge to the race, which cuts down on costs.
It�s no wonder that the battle for positions in the constructors� championship gets so intense at the end of the season.

Understanding the points system

The Formula One World Championship is not decided by a panel who award the title to the driver that they think has driven in the most beautiful manner. Formula One isn�t ice skating after all. Instead, the title goes to the driver who, at the end of the season, has earned the most points. Sometimes, as happened in 2002, drivers are able to clinch the World Championship well before the end of the season because they have such a lead in the title chase that no other driver can mathematically catch them up, even if they finished last in those races or even did not start them at all. A lot of times, however, the championship can go down to the final race of the season. It can be very exciting when a whole year�s efforts in going for the title are decided in one race � especially if a few drivers are able to win the title.
The current points system was put in place at the start of the 2003 season in a bid to make it more difficult for a driver to run away with the title chase if he had a dominant car. This new system also helps teams further down the field to score points, making it easier for them to attract sponsorship and stay in business.
Here is a breakdown of how points are awarded for each place. There are no points awarded for ninth place or lower.

Winning the F1 Championship

Although every driver wants to win races, the aim for all of them is to go for World Championship glory. That is why, at various points of the season, drivers are willing to take it steady to guarantee the points for second place rather than go all out for victory and risk coming away with a dented car and no points at all.
In the past, some drivers would be helped by their team mates to make sure that they built up as big a lead as possible in the World Championship. Sometimes, for example, a team mate in the lead would pull over to make sure that the other team mate won. Or a team mate with the faster car would hold back and defend second place from a rival to ensure that his team mate with the slower car took the victory. These pre-arranged agreements to let one fellow win were called team orders.
From the start of the 2003 season, however, team orders were banned in the sport. This ban was the result of a series of controversies in the 2002 World Championship when the Ferrari team used team orders even though it was absolutely dominant and not really threatened by any other team. Such a use of team orders took away much of the drama of the sport, and the sport�s rulers felt that it contributed to a falling interest in Formula One � even though the Ferrari team was clearly within its rights to do what it wanted on the track.

Daniel Boone Train

This fully functional 1-1\2" scale model of a Union Pacific 484 Baldwin steam engine and four Pullman cars were handcrafted by Daniel Boone VI. Every part was completely hand-forged. It took him five years (1957-1962) using all of his spare time to complete the project. The engine and tender weighs 2,450 lbs. without water. It pulls four cars which weigh 400 lbs. each and has the ability to pull 36 people. It runs off of steam, which is produced from burning coal. The engine and tender total 14 feet, 8 inches in length. Three of the Pullman cars are 9 feet long and the last is 11 feet long. This train was started in 1957 and was not completed until 1962 at a cost of $25,000.00. At its highlight, it was a ride at Maggie Valley North Carolina amusement park many years ago.

�America�s Southern Appalachian Plateau is one of the nation's richest sources of folk songs, customs, and legends." The residents of these "hollers" have been described as "full of humor and gentleness, of great dignity and pride." One such resident, Daniel Boone VI, has much to be proud of. The great-great-great grandson of Daniel Boone, the legendary frontiersman, has continued the family tradition as a blacksmith and has created some extraordinary art. Among other things, he was commissioned by the Rockefellers to work on the Williamsburg Restoration Project; most of his work was designing intricate gates and ornaments. He also spent seven years building two fully functional Union Pacific scale model trains. Dan the Sixth is a self-confessed restless man. When explaining the trains, he simply said, "Got to go puttering around, got to find things out." His wife said he "had to see if it would run or not." People often stopped by his shop to look at the trains, and Dan would immediately load the cars up with kids and watch the train go around the track. After Dan's death one of his descendents inherited both trains and now they are available to the right people and place, for the right price. Email Us to talk about it.

Harley Tandem

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Scenes from outside my house shortly before midnight. Enjoy!



Happy New Year to you and your family.

Modern Cup Designs

Modern mugs and creative mug designs from all over the world,availble on 2011....

We Wish You A Wonderful New Year!

Copyright � 2010, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.

PREVIEW: Mercedes-Benz 2011 Agenda

In 2011, Mercedes-Benz will celebrate the birth of the first automobile, the Benz Patent Motor Car. Throughout the entire year, the German luxury car manufacturer will be organising specially dedicated events: the first of the series - the ceremony held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on January, 29th, the exact day when Carl Benz was awarded the Patent No. 37435 for his motorised three-wheeler back in 1886. Obviously, we eagerly await for a long list of Three-Pointed Star notable premieres - the new SLK-Klasse (R 172 generation), the new C-Klasse Coupe (codename:C 204), the new M-Klasse (W 166 generation), the new SLS AMG Cabriolet, the new C 63 AMG models for 2011 (Limousine, T-Modell and Coupe + Black Series) and the new B-Klasse.

Read more about each and every novelty after pressing the jump button!



The New Mercedes-Benz SLK-Klasse (R 172 generation)
The smaller brother of the SL will embrace, as previously anticipated, a very SLS-esque design, both inside and outside. The dashboard will be a reinterpretation of the one installed on the Mercedes-Benz supercar;the most accentuated influence will be seen on the exterior of the new SLK, where the headlights and the impressive grille tell the SLS AMG story at a lower scale. An extensive array of new technologies will make their onto the new roadster: the MAGIC SKY CONTROL, the efficient MoVe engines, the COMAND Online infotainment system, PRE-SAFE & Co. are top of the line. The reveal is set for January 29th, 2011, while the public premiere takes place in March, at Geneva.

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The new Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse Coupe (C 204 generation)
A world's first for the C-Klasse lineup, the 2-door version will bring along with it the axing of the floppy CLC. The improved looks and technology of the C-Klasse Facelift will be part of the Coupe variant as well. Official unveiling: Geneva Motor Show.

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The new Mercedes-Benz M-Klasse (W 166 generation)
The ML paved the way to SUVs when it was launched in 1997, and now, with the third generation on the pipe, the story goes on. The new 4x4 model from Stuttgart will feature a powerful design, a more practical interior and advanced dynamics and off-road systems and solutions. The M-Klasse is programmed to bow in mid next year.

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The new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Cabriolet
Two years after the Gullwing, Mercedes-Benz will launch the Cabriolet version of the SLS AMG in September, at the prestigious IAA in Frankfurt. Soft top to keep weight low, the same, juicy, 571 hp V8 powerplant, the unique, iconic, elegant design lines and the undetered sports car feeling - this is the package of the new SLS Cabrio.

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The new Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG models for 2011
In the course of the next year, Mercedes-AMG will release "doped" versions for the updated C-Klasse range. The Limousine, T-Modell and Coupe will receive the tuning procedure. A Black Series model might also be in the works. While the standard AMGs will still use the current aspirated V8 unit, the uber-sport Black Series is tipped to receive the new biturbo V8 engine and several, important tweaks to enhance dynamics.

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The new Mercedes-Benz B-Klasse
The second generation of the compact sports tourer will be the spark for a comprehensive lineup of new small/compact Mercedes-Benz models. The forthcoming B-Klasse will be bigger, smoother, roomier, more efficient and more modular. The innovative Mercedes Frontwheel Architecture will be premiered on the new MPV, expected to hit the stage of the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011.

Copyright � 2010, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.

Anniversary: 3 years of fastfivecars

Another year flew away rapidly and fastfivecars arrived at the third year milestone of its existence. When the story began back in 2007, on December 31st, nobody behind this weblog knew what lay ahead in the future and whether this project will be a successful one. The time that we spent together with our fans and visitors in these three years was highly valuable and shed light on the continuous growth path we embarked on. Nevertheless, the ambitious plan to offer the online public the most attractive Mercedes-Benz news source soon met the initial expectances and it started slowly, but surely to surpass those. 2010 was by far the richest period for fastfivecars since the dawn of it three years ago. More and more people chose our weblog as their prime Mercedes-Benz information choice. We have reached a daily average of around 1,400 - 1,500 unique visitors. Moreover, to offer everyone a complete internet experience, we redesigned both the fastfivecars and the fastfivecars TRIVIA websites to make them more attractive, in addition to establishing a strong connection with our fans throughout the official pages on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Google. All in all, it was a very productive year for us.

We are confident about our mission. We are sure fastfivecars will become even stronger and better in the future. And we are sure this task could not be accomplished without you, our devoted readers.

Thank you very much for your unending support!Have a wonderful new year - See you in 2011!

P.S.: Hit the jump button and read the official inside stats of fastfivecars!


1. Traffic Statistics

a. Total Visits ~ 750,290
b. Average Visits per Day ~ 1,450
c. Total Pageviews ~ 1,451,150
d. Average Pageviews per Day ~ 2,900

2. Posts

a. Total No. of Posts in 2010 - 1,081 compared to 689 in 2009 and 1,046 in 2008

b. Most Popular All Time Posts
1 - PREVIEW:2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK Gullwing Hybrid ~ 46,667 Pageviews
2 - Upcoming Mercedes-Benz models >> C-Klasse Coupe & mini-SLS AMG ~ 5,252 Pageviews
3 - LEAKED: The New Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse Facelift >> First unofficial images surface ~ 3,839 Pageviews
4 - fastfivecars TRIVIA: History of the E-Class - PART VIII ~ 3,714 Pageviews
5 - fastfivecars TRIVIA: 300 SEL AMG - 6.3 & 6.8 ~ 3,267 Pageviews
6 - 2012 Mercedes-Benz A-Klasse - Renderings + Further Info ~ 2,646 Pageviews
7 - fastfivecars TRIVIA: History of the E-Class - PART VII ~ 1,780 Pageviews
8 - PREVIEW - The upcoming Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse model lineup ~ 864 Pageviews
9 - SPY - 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG ~ 723 Pageviews
10 - Illustration - 2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse ~ 380 Pageviews

3. Traffic Sources (per week)

a. Referring Sites
1 - www.google.com ~ 2,587
2 - www.google.de ~ 1,467
3 - www.google.com.tr ~ 345
4 - www.google.fr ~ 272
5 - www.google.co.uk ~ 258
6 - www.google.co.in ~ 247
7 - www.google.ca ~ 219
8 - www.google.nl ~ 215
9 - images.search.yahoo.com ~ 210
10 - www.bing.com ~ 114

b. Search keywords
1 - c klasse 2011 ~ 90
2 - mercedes 2012 ~ 79
3 - mercedes blog ~ 76
4 - mercedes benz blog ~ 71
5 - 2012 mercedes ~ 67
6 - 2012 mercedes benz ~ 32
7 - mercedes benz c klasse 2011 ~ 29
8 - mercedes benz 2012 ~ 26
9 - mercedes c klasse 2011 ~ 23
10 - mercedes benz a klasse 2012 ~ 21

4. Blog Audience (per week)

a. Top 10 Countries
1 - United States ~ 2,358
2 - Germany ~ 1,993
3 - Turkey ~ 558
4 - United Kingdom ~ 503
5 - Netherlands ~ 342
6 - Canada ~ 332
7 - France ~ 308
8 - India ~ 272
9 - Romania ~ 226
10 - Poland ~ 212

b. Top 10 Internet Browsers
1 - Internet Explorer ~ 7,529 (43%)
2 - Firefox ~ 5,010 (28%)
3 - Chrome ~ 2,490 (14%)
4 - Safari ~ 1,631 (9%)
5 - Opera ~ 538 (3%)
6 - UniversalFeedParser ~ 29 (<1%)
7 - Mobile ~ 27 (<1%)
8 - FlipboardBrowserProxy ~ 22 (<1%)
9 - RockMelt ~ 16 (<1%)
10 - MindQuizSearchToolbar ~ 8 (<1%)

c. Top 10 OS
1 - Windows ~ 15,252 (87%)
2 - Macintosh ~ 1,239 (7%)
3 - iPad ~ 315 (1%)
4 - iPhone ~ 253 (1%)
5 - Other Unix ~ 109 (<1%)
6 - BlackBerry ~ 63 (<1%)
7 - Linux ~ 55 (<1%)
8 - iPod ~ 26 (<1%)
9 - Nintendo Wii ~ 13 (<1%)
10 - X27 ~ 12 (<1%)

Copyright � 2010, fastfivecars. All rights reserved.

Best Photos of 2010