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24 Hours of Le Mans live update part three

We tasked surfing journalist Rory Parker to watch this year's live stream of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. What follows is an experiment to experience the world's greatest endurance race from the perspective of a motorsports novice. Parker lives in Hawaii and has an associates degree in dropping f-bombs. For Part One, click here. Part Two is here. Really hoped I'd be able to grab an hour or two of sleep before the sun rose over Le Mans. Dark dark dark, couldn't figure out what was going on. Commentators struggled at times as well. But I couldn't do it. Endurance racing is just too exciting. Grabs my attention with both fists. Screams, "watch these men DRIVE!" A neighbor invited me over for drinks. Told him, "Can't do it, gotta watch Le Mans!" Maybe not exactly. I'll admit, at times my attention wandered. I did a load of laundry. Ate some snacks. Half listened to the commentary. Threw a hump at my wife. I learned that Patrick Long, driving #88, is big brother to Kevin "Spanky" Long. Spanky's a bit of a legend in the skate world. Always weird how top notch talent can run in families like that. Kind of surprised I've never heard that before. Worked for a skate mag for a years, met Spanky a handful of times. Someone must've told me that he has an older brother who drives race cars. Dash cams at night are scary. High powered headlights in the P1s reach almost 300 meters. Cars outrun that distance easy. Seems like they're just steering into the black and hoping for the best. But that can't be the case. People'd be dropping dead let and right. Very amused by how the guys in GT are like, "Dude, stop flashing your fucking lights before you pass." But the LMP's are all, "Suck a dick! I do what I want." Top three stayed neck and neck nearly all night long. As the sun gets ready to creep back over the horizon the top three are separated by only eleven and a half seconds. Toyota 5 and 6, Porsche 2. Audi 8 is two laps behind Porsche, beleaguered 7 is dealing with constant trouble eleven laps from the front. GTE Pro sees Ferrari 82 in first, Ford 68 and 69 right behind. To win you've gotta drive perfect, build perfect. Fours cars retired so far. I'm beginning to appreciate the endurance aspect a little more fully. Only really considered the drivers at first. The mental and physical stress driving these cars at these speeds at length would inflict. But keeping the damn things running is the real deal. To win you've gotta drive perfect, build perfect.

Meet Buster, this 1968 Porsche racecar transporter from Mercedes

If you're thinking about Porsche and Mercedes-Benz when it comes to motorsports, your first thought is probably on the two German brands battling on the track. However, for decades, whenever Porsche's factory team went to compete, a custom Mercedes was right along with them hauling the racecars. These days the truck lives in the Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, FL, and goes by the nickname Buster. However, its story goes back to 1968 when Porsche ordered two commercial vehicles from Mercedes and then handed them over to a Stuttgart-based outfitter for customization. The results were these racing transporters that hauled models like the 917 and 956 until the '80s. The other survived, too, with a place in Porsche's collection. Well-known racers in their own right, Brumos scooped up the transporter in 2003 and have kept driving it to vintage racing events. The interior now boasts the signatures of many of the great drivers from the era of this historic truck. Watch the video for the whole story on the Mercedes with a whole lot of Porsche inside.

Porsche recalling 24,500 Panameras for a potential HVAC coolant pump issue

A possible coolant pump problem for the HVAC system is causing Porsche to recall 24,467 units of the Panamera from the 2017 to 2020 model years. Bentley's recalling 650 examples of the sibling 2020 Continental GT for the same issue. Porsche was notified of a malfunction in the external heat pump for the Panamera's climate control in December 2022. An automaker investigation found that it's possible for excess humidity or even liquid to get past the pump seals and short out the pump's circuit board and connector. In rare instances, the malfunction could cause a fire. This can happen even when the engine is turned off because the cars in question are equipped with a residual heat function that keeps warming the cabin after shutdown. Panameras built after July 26, 2021 were fitted with a different pump. The Stuttgart carmaker's field analysis showed "a very small number of instances of thermal damage possibly attributable to this issue." Bentley changed the part in July 2019 to a model with a pressure compensation seal. Porsche said it will begin notifying owners on March 27. It also said it will reimburse any Panamera owners who have paid to have the part fixed previous to this recall. The fix is a trip to the dealer for a new pump with better sealing, sourced from a new supplier. Bentley will begin notifying owners on the same day. In Bentley's case, though, the automaker says "A hardware change will be required but the final solution is currently under investigation and cannot be confirmed at this time." Since the automaker moved to a new pump that isn't part of the recall population, we aren't sure why a resolution remains under investigation. Porsche owners can contact Porsche customer service at 800-767-7243 and refer to internal recall number APA1. Bentley owners can call 800-777-6923 and refer to RE23/02 (RC67). Anyone in that group can go straight to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration at 888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or nhtsa.gov, citing campaign number 23V033 for the Panamera or 23V034 for the Bentley. Related video: