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The 2013 Rolex 24-hour race at Daytona comes down to the last hour [spoilers, w/video]

It took 24 hours to run the race, but it was the last one was stuffed with the high action as four cars were still trying to figure out how to gain victory on the track and in the pits. Along with the obligatory crashes, spins, mechanical issues and retirements had come numerous penalties, a double-digit number of full-course yellows and two hours of fog that turned early Sunday morning into a stretch of parade laps.
The final hour would make up for the morning - drivers who might have been happy just to get on the podium had a shot at victory as the end of the race approached, and that turned into a few gambles that paid off, and at least one that didn't...

Audi debuts all-new R18 E-Tron Quattro with novel secondary hybrid system

This is the new Audi R18. It looks like the Bond villain of race cars (it has red running lamps), and if Audi's past is any indication, it'll prove difficult to beat in the LMP1 class of the 2014 World Endurance Championship.
The car's full name is the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, just like last year's car. Also like last year's car, the new R18 draws its power from a V6 turbodiesel, which powers its rear wheels, and Audi's E-Tron hybrid system, which runs its front axle. Unlike last year's car, though, this R18 has a secondary hybrid system. Audi has fitted the V6 with an electric turbocharger and figured out how to capture waste heat generated when the engine reaches its boost limit. That power can then be stored and fed back into either the turbo or the front axle's hybrid system under acceleration.
There are a number of changes to the body on the new car, forced in large part by series regulation changes. The car is narrower, particularly at the front, but it's also taller. The front end is set off by a new wing, as part of a new WEC regulation. Audi seems quite pleased about this, citing an improvement in front-end downforce and a reduction in cost. Like Formula One, the WEC contenders now have to contend with a ban on the so-called blown diffuser, which forced exhaust gases over the diffuser, creating downforce. That's necessitated some changes from Audi, although as we have no rear shots of the car, we can't tell you what it looks like.

Google poised to release Apple CarPlay rival this month

Apple and Google. They're the Michigan and Ohio State of the tech world. They're New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Real Madrid and Barcelona, or whatever sports-based rivalry you want to cook up. Bottom line, if one company expands into a segment, it's only a matter of time before the other follows suit. And now, that rivalry is about to carry over to your car's dashboard.
Unnamed sources are reporting to Automotive News that Google will unveil its very own challenger to Apple's new CarPlay in-car operating system later this month at the Mountain View, CA company's annual developer conference. The system, allegedly called Google Auto Link, will be the first product to come from the Open Automotive Alliance, a partnership between Google, General Motors, Hyundai, Audi, Honda and hardware manufacturer NVIDIA.
The official announcement is expected to be made on either June 25 or 26, at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Expect to hear a lot more about Google Auto Link then.