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Porsche 919 Hybrid used 500 gallons of fuel to win Le Mans

After 395 laps and over 3,300 miles covered, Porsche claimed its record seventeenth overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. Those, however, were only a few of the numbers that went into the German team's landmark campaign, the fourth one-two victory in the history of its assault on the endurance race. And now it has released some of the other mind-boggling figures behind its win. Over the course of 24 grueling hours of competition, the winning Porsche 919 Hybrid averaged a staggering 139 miles per hour, reaching a top speed of over 211 mph. Along the way, the winning car changed gears over 25,000 times. We can imagine the drivers worked up quite a sweat in a cockpit, whose temperature topped 80 degrees, with less than a quart of water to drink during each stint between pit stops – the longest of which lasted over ten hours. Little wonder that Mark Webber lost over six and a half pounds by the end of the ordeal. Naturally, pit stops played a huge part in the campaign, and the team – whose headcount topped 120 – carried out 90 stops (30 per car) over the course of the race. All told, the three cars went through 116 tires, each car had its oil refilled entirely, and the winning car alone swallowed up 500 gallons of fuel. And that's not even counting the energy recuperated by the electric component of the hybrid powertrain, which would be enough to power a family home for three months. Those are just some of the most notable figures, but they give us a pretty good idea of the enormity of the whole endeavor. Want to read more? There's a whole list of numbers in the press release below. Related Video: The 17th overall victory for Porsche at the Le Mans 24-Hours 395 laps to victory Stuttgart. On Sunday, 14th June 2015, the trio of Earl Bamber (NZ), Nico Hulkenberg (GER) and Nick Tandy (GBR) took the 17th overall victory for Porsche at the Le Mans 24-Hours. They were followed across the line by the sister car of Timo Bernhard (GER), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AUS). This made it the fourth one-two result for the brand after achieving this in 1971, 1987 and 1998. But there are more interesting facts and figures about the race. • The winning team completed 395 laps (5,382,82 kilometres). This year's race was only two laps short of the longest distance covered in Le Mans back in 2010. • The average speed of the winning Porsche 919 Hybrid was 224.2 km/h.

Topiary Joe sculpts the ultimate in green cars

Efficient cars are all the rage these days, but Joe Kyte has made a business of crafting some of the coolest green cars around – literally. Kyte is better known by his nickname Topiary Joe, and in addition to being a talented artist, he is also a real gearhead. Kyte has been creating topiaries for the last 20 years. It began when he was marketing greenhouse products to Walt Disney World and saw their plant sculptures. He realized that he could do that and since then, has done around 3,400 pieces. His most intriguing creations are the rolling sculptures that move and turn. Prices for those start at about $18,000 and can be as high as $30,000. While, the wheels are machine-bent, Kyte said all the other parts are done with a table vice and a Lincoln Electric arc welder. Topiary Joe is taking the Porsche (pictured above) to Palm Beach later this year to sell or says he may donate it to Porsche North America. If you really want it, the sculpture is currently on Craigslist for sale for $24,000. Topiary Joe has also had a life-long love of cars. "I was driving my first MG Midget before I was 14," he told Autoblog. He grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, where the Manhattan Project was partially developed. He says the town was full of recent college grads driving Mercedes, and he caught the bug. His automotive mentor was a nuclear physicist who taught him to repair and restore the Mercs. Kyte has completed commissions for Sandals Resort, Dreamworks, Absolut, and many more. Among his favorite creations is the Ferrari that he created at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that is now exhibited at the airport each year before the race. Check out his website for a wider look at his work.

Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller throws hat back in ring for VW CEO job

Toward the end of February it got leaked that Porsche CEO Matthias Muller was being promoted to Volkswagen's supervisory board. Muller's credentials and his success over 36 years at the VW Group have, for observers, put his name in the pool of potential candidates to succeed current group CEO Martin Winterkorn when Winterkorn retires in two years. But the 61-year-old Muller told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung earlier in February, "It's no solution to put a 63-year-old at the head of Volkswagen," and the statement was taken to mean he wasn't considering the job. Muller now says the quote was misunderstood. In a report in Automotive News, the newly minted board member says he was commenting on what it would mean for the supervisory board and the Group if they nominated a 63-year-old to replace a 69-year-old - that it wouldn't result in a "generation change." However, if that's what they choose to do, Muller feels great: "I stand ready to take over any assignment," he said. Muller's name re-enters the candidacy pool, but we still have no idea who leads the running for the role and Winterkorn isn't saying a word. It could be three years before we know: Winterkorn's contract concludes at the end of next year but there is speculation he'll re-up for two years to see out the end of the Strategy 2018 initiative.