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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.

Manor GP exits bankruptcy, secures Ferrari engine deal

Those who considered Manor Grand Prix down for the count may be in for a surprise as the struggling Formula One team is clawing its way back onto the grid. According to the latest intel, the outfit has not only re-emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, but it's also secured an engine deal for this season. Now if the name Manor doesn't ring any bells for you, it's probably because it never raced under that name. At least not in F1. Manor Motorsport has been competing in lower-level formulae since 1990, and secured an expansion slot in the big leagues in 2009. By the time it actually reached the grid, it had secured title sponsorship from Virgin, and was subsequently taken over by Marussia, under whose banner it competed for several season until things started to unravel late last season. After Jules Bianchi crashed at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, it fielded only one car (that failed to finish) at the subsequent Russian Grand Prix and then dropped off the grid altogether. After failing to make it to the season closer in Abu Dhabi, the team was declared bankrupt. In an effort to regroup and make it back on the grid for the 2015 championship, it appealed to its rivals for special dispensation to run last year's car this season. Unfortunately, some of the other teams rejected the proposal, and it looked like it was all over for the struggling backmarker. But it retained its slot on the entry list and paid its fees, and has now emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, eager to get back into the action – even if it misses the season opener in a couple of weeks in Australia. The team is now focusing on completing its original design for the 2015 MR04 chassis. And it appears to have cleared a major hurdle as Ferrari has reportedly agreed to supply the team with last year's engine. We'll just have to wait and see whether that will prove enough to get the team back up and running – especially since it already sold off many of its assets. News Source: ESPN F1 (1), (2)Image Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Earnings/Financials Motorsports Ferrari F1 manor

Race Recap: 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix follows the template of this year and last [spoilers]

The sand, the wind, the penalties, the contact and the one crash - all of them collided to make the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix a surprise affair from day to day and lap to lap. Oh, and did we mention the tires? Pirelli made a last-minute swap after the amusement park ride that the Chinese Grand Prix turned into with the soft compound tire, and brought medium and hard compounds to the desert. That didn't stop things from falling apart for some teams - literally - and that didn't stop the one team that seems to love the hard compound Pirelli tire.