Currently reading: Audi wins Le Mans - pics
Favourites Peugeot crushed by mechanical failures

Audi claimed a shock 1-2-3 in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours after Peugeot's challenge collasped.

Peugeot looked almost certain for victory midway through the race, but reliability woes plagued the 908s throughout the race and each of its cars ground to a halt before the end.

See pictures of the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours

That left the race to fall into the laps of the unfancied Audi R15s, which had been unable to compete with the raw pace of the Peugeots all week long.

Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller clinched their maiden Le Mans victories in their first year together, while the car of Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer followed home in second.

The favoured Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello car was the one to hit trouble during the race - getting caught up in a controversial collision - and recovered to complete the podium.

Nigel Mansell's much-vaunted family effort with sons Leo and Greg lasted just 17 minutes, the former world champion being pitched off the track by a slow puncture with the race barely underway.

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val. 15 June 2010

Re: Audi's shock Le Mans victory

I went to Le Mans in 1991 to see the Jags, hoping they would win; but because of the then silly fuel rules they were beaten by a Mazda!

Audi said before the race that they could run at their qualifiying pace for the whole 24hrs. No surprise there then.

disco.stu 14 June 2010

Re: Audi's shock Le Mans victory

Apologies for lack of paragraphs above. Autocar does not like Safari.

disco.stu 14 June 2010

Re: Audi's shock Le Mans victory

Jon Hardcastle wrote:
I love Le Mans but it near always goes to the team with the deepest pockets
Often but not always - a lot like F1. Just ask Toyota. Or Mercedes. Or Nissan. Audi and Peugeot were the only two true works LMP1 contenders - Aston Martin were never in the hunt with the current regulations. Peugeot certainly spent a lot of money on their title defence, but couldn't take the heat from the Audis. Yes, they were fast, but never in a sustained fashion. They would put in a few blinding laps but had to back right off again, whereas the Audis could keep going at the same speed as they qualified all day long. Which is why they won. Again. None of the three cars had any mechanical problems, with the only issues being contact with slower GT cars for 2 of them. Perfect reliability resulted in a clean sweep of the podium. Not that much of a shock.