Wheelies: The Dr. Sid Edition Prof. Sid Watkins, the neurosurgeon who helped pioneer a number of safeguards for drivers in motorsports, died on Wednesday in a hospital in London after a brief but undisclosed illness, his family said in a statement. Watkins tended to Ayrton Senna after the three-time Formula One champion's fatal crash at the Imola circuit in Italy in 1994, and was seen in the 2010 documentary "Senna" caring for him after an earlier crash. Watkins served as the official neurosurgeon of Formula One from 1978 to 2004. According to Bloomberg, Audi is mounting a credible threat to the global sales dominance of BMW. Through August, Audi has reported global sales of 961,000 vehicles, at virtual parity with BMW's 963,100. Analysts noted that Audi brought the redesigned A3 hatchback to European markets in August, getting a jump on redesigned competitors like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and siphoning off interest in the BMW 1 Series, which is sold in a hatchback body style in Europe. Audi, the luxury subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, has never outsold BMW based on annual sales. Bloomberg General Motors has named a new head of its advertising efforts in the United States. Previously, as head of advertising for Cadillac, Molly Peck shepherded through the campaign that introduced the Cadillac ATS sedan, what many analysts called the largest advertising push from G.M. in six years. She replaced Kevin Mayer at Chevrolet, who joined Volkswagen of America this year as vice president of marketing. Automotive News The GMC Acadia, which received a mild refresh for the 2013 model year as well as what General Motors called the first application of a front-center air bag, is to be priced from $34,875. In Denali trim, the price for the seven-passenger crossover rises to $46,770. A New York City police officer who was fired in June for issuing tickets to deceased motorists said he engaged in the scheme to fill department ticketing quotas, particularly for traffic-signal and seat-belt violations. The N.Y.P.D. countered that Paul Pizzuto, who pleaded guilty in May to falsifying business records, issued the tickets to be eligible for overtime pay. In addition to being fired, Mr. Pizzuto received a sentence of 150 hours of community service. The New York Post