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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.

2015 Porsche Cayenne S

Oh, Porsche.
Just as the dust settles over the 911 GT3's no manual gearbox kerfuffle, the Germans have gone and yanked the yummy naturally aspirated 4.8-liter V8 from the Cayenne S and replaced it with a twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6. Is nothing sacred in Porscheland?
Perhaps not... but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, Porsche famously once said they'd never build a diesel, but when they did, it was actually rather stellar.

2015 Porsche Macan S

I'd be willing to bet that 99 percent of all Porsche Macan owners will never take their vehicle on a track or see any more off-roading than a dirt path to a summer cottage, yet I maintain that there is no better venue to explore the absolute outer limits of the automaker's newest small family transport than on a racing circuit and an off-road course. It's testing at each extreme of the vehicle's operating envelope, with both challenges requiring very different capabilities. With that in mind, and looking forward to dirty floor mats and corded tires, I jumped at the opportunity from Porsche to wring out its new Macan S at Willow Springs International Raceway, located in Southern California's high desert.
The range-topping Macan Turbo (base price $72,300 plus $995 destination), with its 400 horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 gets most of the glory these days. But many, including myself, would argue that its slightly less powerful sibling, the Macan S, is actually the pick of the new litter. Despite having 60 fewer horses under the hood and giving up six-tenths of a second in the sprint to 60 miles per hour, it costs a massive $22,400 less - money better spent on equipment that improves the crossover's ride comfort and capability, or perhaps a well-used Boxster for weekends.
Despite a reasonably attractive starting price of $49,900 (plus destination), very few Porsche buyers will leave the showroom with a base model. My Dark Blue Metallic Macan S tester was equipped with a slew of mechanical upgrades, including air suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus), Sport Chrono Package and 21-inch 911 Turbo Design wheels. A Premium Package and a few other miscellaneous options bloated its price to $69,870. That's a very steep price for the premium compact crossover segment, but it's still less than a base Macan Turbo.