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2015 24 Hours of Le Mans live race report

Check back regularly for more race updates every few hours. No, you don't need to stay up for the entire 24 Hours of Le Mans, but if you want to catch any of the action, Autoblog friend Reilly Brennan has a handy guide. And to keep you up to speed on the latest race events, we'll be posting live from Le Mans with regular race reports.Hour 1: Five laps in, Audi breaks up the three Porsches at the front, with the #19 919 Hybrid, driven by Nico Hulkenburg, passed by all three R18s. Hulkenburg eventually took back fifth position only to fall back again after the first pit stop. Meanwhile, clutch trouble kept the #23 Nissan GTR-LM in the pits until 15 minutes into the race. The other two Nissans were forced to start at the back of the grid after failing to the meet the 110 percent qualifying speed regulation. At the end of the first hour, just 7.5 seconds separated the first six cars. Then the factory team #92 Porsche GTE car caught fire, with the the #13 Rebellion P1 car taking frontal damage in the ensuing carnage. With the safety car out, the field is once again bunched up.Hour 2: The slugfest between Audi and Porsche continues, with neither side backing off. Halfway through the second hour the #7 R18 passes both leading Porsches for the top position. After another round of pits stops Porsche regains the lead until lap 30, when the Audi overtake once again and quickly pulls out a three-second gap. Nico Hulkenburg passes the other two Audis to join his Porsche teammates. At the beginning of the third hour it's Audi #7, Porsche #17, #18, and #19, followed by Audi #8 and #9. 33 seconds separates this group, with Toyota a minute back from the front car.Hour 3: On track the action refuses to stop. Although it's early, Audi is looking strong with the overall lead in the #7. What's more is that the Audis run four stints per set of tires, while the Porsche cars have to change rubber every third stop. But after a quick refueling, the lead R18 gets a tire puncture and comes back in 3 laps later, allowing Porsche to take over the top two spots. Then as the hour closes out a yellow flag causes traffic to bunch up and the #8 Audi gets stuck with nowhere to slow down. Driver Loic Duval dives for the side of the road but hits the guard rail and careens across the track, damaging the front and rear bodywork. The rest of the car is still intact, though, and once in the pits Audi replaces the entire front and rear of that in only three minutes.

First all-electric Porsche will use Le Mans 919 Hybrid tech

Porsche has been testing and teasing all-electric vehicles for years, like the trio of experimental Boxsters in 2010 and a Pajun EV in 2015. Then came the Mission E, a gorgeous electric concept unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show late last year. Unlike previous test programs, this one was intended for the real world. Porsche is getting ready to ramp up its EV development, and has stated that its first all-electric vehicle, based on the Mission E, will arrive by 2020. For now, the future production version of the Mission E looks a lot like the Le Mans Prototype Porsche 919 Hybrid. Well, under the hood, anyway. Parts of the 800-volt powertrain in the Mission E are being used in the Le Mans prototype because, "The 919 served as the trial vehicle for the voltage level of future hybrid systems," Porsche says. During testing with the race car, Porsche says it is learning a lot about EV tech, including keeping the battery and electric motor cool and "extreme high-voltage" connectors. This news is not as exciting as a flashy new concept, but this is just the sort of thing that automakers need to do in the big transition from fossil fuels to electric drive. Related Video: Hybrid technology in the LMP1 Porsche 919 Hybrid Atlanta, Georgia. This weekend, the Le Mans Prototype Porsche 919 Hybrid has its only 2016 appearance in Germany. At the six-hour race to be held on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nurburgring, the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the series' leader fights to defend its title. At the same time its mission is to revolutionize the technology of future sports cars. With the 919 Hybrid, Porsche has developed a new field of technology at racing speed. For the "Mission E", a fully electric road-going concept sports car unveiled in 2015, the designers adopted the 800-Volt technology from the prototype racer. Porsche has exhausted all possibilities in designing the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner – especially in terms of the drive concept. It consists of a two-liter, V4 turbocharged gasoline engine – the most efficient combustion motor that Porsche has built up to now– and two different energy recovery systems. During braking, a generator at the front-axle converts the car's kinetic energy into electrical energy. In the split exhaust system, one turbine drives the turbocharger while another converts surplus energy into electrical energy.

Investigators blame speed in fatal Paul Walker crash

When the tragic news first came in that actor Paul Walker had been killed in a car crash, family, friends and fans were left searching for answers. They now have at least one key question answered, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department blaming "unsafe speed" for the fatal accident.
According to a statement released by the LACSD, "Investigators determined the cause of the fatal solo-vehicle collision was unsafe speed for the roadway conditions". The investigation into the November, 2013 crash determined that Walker's 2005 Porsche Carrera GT had been driven by his business partner and racer, Roger Rodas, at speeds between 80 and 93 miles per hour - less than the 100+ mph initially suspected, but still far too fast for the road on which they were traveling, which carried a posted limit of 45 mph.
In the investigation into the death of the Fast & Furious star and his friend, some people were quick to finger the Porsche in which they were riding as the culprit. The Carrera GT does, after all, have the reputation of being a notoriously difficult car to control. But after an exhaustive investigation, law enforcement officials in California have vindicated the car and dismissed any mechanical fault as the cause of the accident.