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Mark Webber hospitalized as Porsche takes first WEC victory, Toyota wins championship [UPDATE]

It was a mixed bag for the Porsche team at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo this weekend – the last race of its first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship. On the one hand, the German team took its first win since launching its LMP1 effort at the start of this season. On the other, its star driver suffered a massive crash that left him in the hospital. The crash occurred with less than half an hour to go when Mark Webber, who was running sixth in the #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid, lost control at Turn 14 at the Interlagos circuit – the same spot where he crashed his Jaguar F1 car during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix – and crashed tail-first into the barrier. Both Webber and Matteo Cressoni (driver of the #90 Ferrari 458 Italia with which Webber collided) were evacuated to the trackside medical center and were then taken to the nearby Hospital Bandeirantes. Both were reportedly conscious throughout but are undergoing further testing, described as being in "satisfactory" condition by the FIA medical official on the scene. The occurrence of the crash so close to the end of the race, and the time it took to clear the wreckage, meant there was not enough time for a restart, so the race was completed under the safety car. But when the field did cross the finish line, it was the #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Mark Lieb that took the checkered flag – marking the first time that Porsche has won an endurance prototype race since 1989. Of course, that solitary victory was not enough for Porsche to take the title, which went to the Toyota TS 040 driven by former F1 drivers Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson, who finished the race in second place ahead of the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro driven by the retiring Tom Kristensen and his co-pilots Lucas di Grassi and Loic Duval. Top honors for the season in LMP2 went to Sergey Zlobin for SMP Racing in the Oreca-Nissan, while Ferrari took the GT title. UPDATE: Mark Webber released the following statement on his condition: "I'm quite sore this morning, am pretty bruised and have got a stinking headache. I've got no recollection of the accident or how it happened. The team is looking into the details to find out more.

Car companies may need to start curbing model proliferation

Looking at the current automotive landscape, especially from German makers, you quickly get the impression that less definitely isn't more. BMW alone offers its 3 Series platform in practically every segment possible, including the regular sedan and 4 Series Gran Coupe, which would seem to be direct competitors. Porsche might be the winner, though, with 20 different variants of the 911 listed for sale on its US website. However, some of this model madness might be reaching an end as companies begin cutting back spending or shifting money to other priorities.
According to Yahoo Finance, the offerings from the German automakers are up 25 percent over the past three years to over 200 models in Europe. The peak is expected to come around 2018 at 230 separate vehicles, according to consulting company PwC.
Amazingly, BMW, which is among the poster children for this model explosion, might be changing its tune. "I'm sure there will be points in the future where we look at certain cars and say, 'Maybe we need to think differently now,'" said head of sales Ian Robertson in an interview, according to Yahoo Finance. The statement certainly sounds shocking coming from a company rumored to have 23 front-wheel-drive vehicles all using a single platform on the way.

A spotter's guide to Super Bowl LIV car commercials

Set to kick off on Fox at 6:30 ET on Sunday, February 2, from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, the big game will feature the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. Throughout Super Bowl LIV, viewers will see about 50 commercials, each of which costs as much as $5.6 million per 30 seconds, according to AdWeek. Originally, there were more than 77 ad slots, so several companies could be paying well more than $10 million for a single, longer commercial. Numerous car companies have already announced their commercials, or their intentions to show commercials, during the game. Here's a roundup of the ones we know about so far. During the game on Sunday, we'll be livestreaming and adding links to the new commercials as they become available, so check back with us for that post.  Audi: E-Tron Sportback Maisie Williams has experience wearing many faces, and in Audi's Super Bowl commercial, she does her best Elsa impression. In the spot, titled "Let It Go," Williams faces the rigorous task of getting through L.A. traffic, but she's alleviated by the comfort of the Audi E-Tron Sportback electric crossover. The commercial is meant to signal the company leaving its gas past behind and moving forward to a sustainable future.  Genesis: GV80 Genesis makes its Super Bowl debut with a commercial that will show its all-new SUV, the GV80, to viewers around the world (many of which will be seeing the vehicle for the first time). The ad features Chrissy Teigen and John Legend as the purveyors of "new luxury," while "old luxury" is left for the birds. GMC: Hummer General Motors is bringing back the Hummer nameplate as a premium electric GMC truck. GM says it will have 1,000 horsepower and will be capable of going zero to 60 mph in three seconds. GM brought in NBA legend and Hummer fanboy LeBron James for the debut commercial. Hyundai: Sonata Hyundai is known for bringing in the big-time celebrities for its commercials, and 2020 is no different. A new advertisement called "Smaht Pahk" features John Krasinski, Chris Evans, and Rachel Dratch, all three of whom are from the Boston area. The trio gets into full character as they discuss the new high-tech parking feature on the redesigned 2020 Hyundai Sonata, and David Ortiz makes a cameo at the end. Even when New England isn't in the Super Bowl, New England is in the Super Bowl.