LE MANS, France, June, 17 – More than 260,000 spectators witnessed the team from AUDI AG continue its impressive series of victories in the Le Mans 24 Hour race under extremely difficult, rain soaked conditions. Frank Biela (Germany), Emanuele Pirro (Italy) and Marco Werner (Germany) repeated their success from last year giving Audi a seventh victory in the French endurance classic. For the second consecutive time, the Audi R10 TDI claimed victory. This revolutionary diesel sportscar from Ingolstadt is unbeaten at Le Mans.
In the 75th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race, Audi gave an impressive proof that its technology and its drivers are a formidable combination. The three Audi R10 TDIs were the fastest and the most reliable cars on the track but were also plagued by problems. From the first to the last lap, one of these diesel sportscars headed the field.
Changing weather conditions at the beginning claimed the Audi R10 TDI with start number 3 when Mike Rockenfeller left the rain-soaked track on his third lap and collided backwards into the armco barriers.
The impressive showing of Dindo Capello, Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish came to a premature end as well: After having controlled the race with a considerable margin for more than 16 hours, the left rear wheel of their Audi R10 TDI loosened on Sunday morning. Dindo Capello who celebrated his 43rd birthday on Sunday was behind the wheel of the car. He had no chance of avoiding the accident.
Now, with only last five-and-a-half hours left in the race, all hopes for Audi were left on the shoulders of the Audi R10 TDI with start number 1 of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. Torrential rain made conditions extremely rough owing as the battle heated up in the final phase of the race. The Audi drivers were unflappable and set about mastering this task. Finally, Marco Werner roared across the finish with an impressive winning margin of ten laps over the second-placed Peugeot.
Winning its seventh Le Mans moved Audi up to third place in the historic records during the 75th edition of the French endurance classic. Only Porsche and Ferrari have more wins at Le Mans than Audi.
"This was certainly the most difficult race that we have ever contested at Le Mans”, said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG after the finish. "So this victory counts even more. On the race track, we have shown once more that we have the best technology, the best drivers and the best team. Everybody within Audi can be proud of this success.”
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