Audi Obtains Its Eighth Victory at Le Mans

At the 24 hours in Le Mans the Audi R10 TDI remains unbeaten after winning again the French classic resistance race. The drivers Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) succeeded during their third participation after a race filled with thrilling emotions from start to end.

For the 76th edition of the race more than 258,500 spectators gathered to witness the battle between the manufacturers Audi and Peugeot which was a truly cliff hanger ending with Audi as the winner.

During the entire race the Audi R10 TDI and the Peugeot 908 never separated for more than a lap. After Peugeot set the pace initially the Audi R10 TDI took control despite the rain, which accompanied the drivers at Le Mans...Dindo Capello, Tom Kritensen, and Allan McNics took the leadership to the 05:17 minute and kept it to the end.?

The track was soaked but this did not stop the Audi drivers headed with a margin of a lap. The Audi team did enter the race with better adjustments for the wet condition, as they only needed to change tires while their rival had to change vehicles.

Audi Sports Team Joest and the Audi drivers took advantage of their experience and they did everything without making mistakes. The only doubtful moment was during the dramatic final phase when a collision between the leader and that of Tom Kristensen took place. Nevertheless, the car ran without any technical problems during the 24 hours.?

The Scottish Allan McNish obtained his second victory in Le Mans after his first triumph in 1998. The year's victory was his first with Audi.? The Danish, Tom Kristensen, enlarged his record at Le Mans to eight victories. The Italian Dindo Capello won for third time after the 2003 and 2004.

For the Audi Sports Team Joest, this represents the third consecutive victory with the Audi R10 TDI. Additionally, the other two Audi R10 TDI vehicles finished fourth and sixth respectively. The young ones Lucas Luhr, Alexandre PrÃ?mat and Mike Rockefeller were in the dispute for a podium position finishing in third place but in the penultimate hour of the race they had to change their V12 TDI motor oil filter.

Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner were not very lucky: the 2006 and 2007 winning trio lost all their opportunities to reach a better result last Sunday morning when they had to change a clutch.

This has been Audi's tenth participation at 24 Hours of Le Mans...since the year 2000 the Audi technology has been a stepping stone - "This has been the driver' success, as well as the team and the efficiency of the TDI Audi technology - a consistency triumph" it has been the most intense Le Mans race I remember. We had a very strong opponent with an extremely fast car. But, once more, it was obvious Le Mans rewards especially the reliability and the efficiency. I'm proud of this team and each Audi employee and clients should be proud also," said Rupert Stadler, President of the Audi AG Direction Counsel.