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The pre-race and first in-race report from Le Mans

The 2013, 90th anniversary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has begun, tragedy marking the opening laps with the death of Allan Simonsen. We're at the track now as a guest of Audi and plan to stay through the evening, and even we haven't been able to find out what caused the accident - the only video is from just after the incident, and beyond the statement from ACO there's been no more news. The Aston Martin in the LM GTE Am class and its all-Danish drivers had taken pole in its class and was one of the favorites to win.
The pre-race report will come first, and even thought we can't spoil the race because we're only five hours into it at the time of writing, we'll put all of the news at the end in case you don't even want the updates.
Or you can go straight to the high-res galleries above.

DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.

First 2014 Toyota Corolla commercial dances through time

Despite the fact that the Toyota Corolla pretty much sells itself, the eleventh-generation 2014 model is getting a huge marketing push that aims to appeal to both Millennials (of course), as well as the older generations that have lived with the stalwart Japanese compact for decades. The first television advertising spot, called, "Style Never Goes Out of Style," shows that the Corolla has had a place in mainstream culture since its launch in the 1960s. We have to admit, it's pretty cool to see older models from the '60s, '70s and '80s come out to play for this commercial, especially the latter of those, as it gives us enthusiasts fond memories of the infamous AE86.
The whole web/broadcast/print/social media marketing campaign surrounding the 2014 Corolla is called "Elevate," because, according to Toyota:
Extensive market research shows that Millennials are looking to take their career to the next level and are looking to buy their first 'real' car to get them there. The design of the all-new Corolla is significantly elevated from the previous generations, creating a more dynamic and desirable image for the Corolla nameplate that will appeal to these younger buyers.