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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.

California readies big 'red carpet' for hydrogen cars, H2 stations

The Golden State is sinking some serious green into its hydrogen-refueling infrastructure. But California says it's rolling out the red carpet for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Maybe we'll get our colors straight eventually. With a goal to have 1.5 million zero-emissions vehicles on California roads by 2025, the California Air Resources Board is outlining plans to sink $50 million into opening 28 publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations by the end of 2015 and more than 50 ready for business by 2017. Today, California is home to all but one of the country's 11 public hydrogen stations (the other is in South Carolina). The most recent addition was at Cal State Los Angeles in May for the university's Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility. Most of the first expansion of 28 stations will be represented by a partnership Toyota and FirstElement Fuel Inc. announced this spring. FirstElement is headed by ex-General Motors and Hyundai executive Joel Ewanick. The collaboration will help build out 19 hydrogen refueling stations, which are said to be located so that anyone in the state can reach them with their H2 car. HyGen Industries, Linde and the Institute of Gas Technology are among the other entities breaking out refueling stations. Check out CARB's press release below. California agencies roll out red carpet for hydrogen electric vehicles State partnerships accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles SACRAMENTO - California state agencies are collaborating on a range of initiatives to support the goal of 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025. Last week, the California Energy Commission carried out one of these initiatives, voting to use nearly $50 million to put in place 28 new, public hydrogen refueling stations and one mobile refueler by the end of 2015. The move was one of several actions designed to help achieve a key goal of the state's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) plan: to accelerate construction of hydrogen refueling infrastructure across the state. "California is rolling out the red carpet for Californians who choose these ultra-clean hydrogen powered electric cars and for the companies that make them," said Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols.

2015 Toyota Yaris to start at $14,845* and look like this

Toyota released a new Yaris in Europe and its Vitz clone in Japan a few months ago, so we knew it would only be a matter of time before it would launch the new hatchback here in North America. And that time has come.
The new, more distinctive 2015 Yaris features far more aggressive exterior styling, a look set apart by that large lower air dam and X-motif front end. It rides on a retuned suspension hooked up to an altogether more rigid chassis, and Toyota promises it will ride more quietly and comfortably than the model it replaces. Inside the new model has additional soft-touch materials in a more comfortable cabin equipped with everything from a 6.1-inch touchscreen display to nine airbags.
The 2015 Yaris comes in both three- and five-door bodystyles, and three trim levels that seek to eliminate the need for options packages. In fact the only option to speak of is a dealer-installed nav system. Power comes from a modest 1.5-liter four with variable valve timing, dual overhead cams and sixteen valves, sending 106 horsepower and 103 pound-feet of torque through either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.