Intoxicating beauty of Le Mans cars at sunset

The sun has already rising on Le Sarthe, but the cars looked amazing as twilight gave way to no light. How is it that Gulf Oil livery looks better as the sun goes down?

Second Audi R18 crashes at 24 Hours of Le Mans

Another massive accident has marred Audi's 79th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Just hours after Audi's Allan McNish suffered a heavy shunt, the sister R18 of Mike Rockenfeller, who had been running second at the time, was involved in an enormous crash between Mulsanne and Indianapolis.

Race control immediately sent out the safety car and recovery trucks and ambulances were quickly on the scene of the accident, which had strewn debris over a wide area.

Le Mans 2011 - The New GT Cars

With great fanfare, a bulk of the fan focus for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will zoom in on Audi’s and Peugeot’s new prototypes expected to battle for the overall victory. Since each of the two powerhouse manufacturers first launched diesel-powered cars in 2006 and 2007, respectively, they have never gone into Le Mans with new cars at the same time as they are this year.

In the class where production relevance is more evident, GTE Pro, it’s worth noting a number of cars have also gracefully ridden off into the sunset while newer, hungrier cars take their place. 

The biggest one, of course, is the new Ferrari F458 Italia, the replacement for the F430 GT. Visually stunning, the 458 in race trim features a modified nose and front hood with a trio of inlets, far curvier sides, and a fiercer rear body.