Audi Sport has won the 24 hours Le Mans with the race debut of its new R18TDI.
It is Audi’s 10th win in 12 years of this famous sports car race, and it now overtakes Ferrari in the overall standings.
In front of 250,000 spectators, Audi’s Andre Lotterer (Germany ) and teammates Benoit Treluyer of France and Switzerland's Marcel Faessler, driving the number two Audi, took the chequered flag, beating rivals Peugeot.
Audi entered three turbo diesel-engined R18 TDI sportscars at Le Mans. This year's winning Audi clocked up over 3,000-miles, having made pit-stops for only fuel, tyres and driver changes.
It proved a thrilling finale with the Audi crossing the line just 13 seconds ahead of the Peugeot 908, representing the fourth-closest finish in the race’s 79 editions. On the 229th lap, Andre Lotterer also beat the fastest time of 3m 25.289s, which had been set in qualifying.
Several crashes in this year’s event resulted in five safety car interludes. Audi's two other works cars both crashed on Saturday, leaving it to Lotterer to hold off the Peugeot and retain the title for Audi.
