Gran Turismo 6 | AMG Mercedes CLK-LM 1998 | Matterhorn Riffelsee race | GT6 | PS3

In 1997 the FIA initiated the FIA GT Championship, to replace the ITC (International Touring Car Championship). The CLK-GTR was the car Mercedes-Benz and AMG developed in just 128 days to compete in the opening race of this new category.

The CLK-GTR mounted a steel roll cage in a carbon monocoque body, and was powered by a powerful 6-liter V12 engine. Though it suffered from reliability issues in the beginning of the season, it gradually began to show its true potential. It finished the season with 6 wins out of 11 races, successfully acquiring a double title of both team and driver championships.

In the following year of 1998, AMG Mercedes introduced an evolved version of the CLK-GTR to fend off their rivals. The new car was the CLK-LM.

The major change in the LM was its engine. The long and heavy V12 was replaced with a V8, making the car lighter and improving front to rear balance. The radiator was moved from the front to the body sides to enable a lower front hood design, which helped to improve aerodynamics. A pushrod type suspension was adopted to give it handling performance like that of a formula car.

The CLK-LM which debuted at the Le Mans 24-hour race in that year unfortunately did not win that race, but in the FIA GT it and the previous model GTR together succeeded in winning all 10 races. With unbeatable performance of the cars, the Klaus Ludwig/Ricardo Zonta team became the series champions.

#mercedes #granturismo #playstation #sony