Audi survived a collision late in the 24 Hours of Le Mans to win the endurance race for the fifth straight year and give Tom Kristensen a record eighth victory.
Kristensen, a Dane, teamed with Rinaldo Capello of Italy and Allan McNish of Britain in the Audi No. 2 that made the best of wet racing Sunday to beat the faster Peugeot cars.
“It was a perfect race,” Kristensen said. “The Audi had no problem at all. It’s really unbelievable.”
Audi’s victory thwarted Jacques Villeneuve’s bid to win the Triple Crown of auto racing.
The Audi No. 2 completed 381 laps in 24 hours, with a lead of 4 minutes, 31.094 seconds over Peugeot No. 7, driven by Villeneuve, Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian.
“The Audi team has been very impressive and intimidating,” Villeneuve told the event’s official Web site. “The Audi drivers were very strong.”
“I really have to congratulate the team on the choice of tires, which allowed us to maintain the high pressure we exercised on the Peugeots,” Kristensen said. “It paid off to give everything during the night to take the lead.”
Kristensen overtook Villeneuve in the fifteenth hour on lap 234 as the Peugeot No. 7 was refueling in the pits.
“Our car is difficult,” Villeneuve said. “You get the power down coming out of corners and it snaps around, which makes it harder to overtake the slower cars.”
McNish said: “It was a magical moment. I’m so pleased and proud. We did it with our backs to the wall because Peugeot had the quicker car. I didn’t have the faster car in 1998 either, but this was probably the hardest race I’ve ever lived through.
“The competition was strong, we couldn’t make a mistake. We had one chance, when it rained, and we took it. It was really slippery and greasy and you had to concentrate so hard or you were off. It was difficult for them because they were getting a lot of oil on their windscreens, which is a problem we don’t have.
“We knew we had a good car for the race and had to be very aggressive. We put pressure on Peugeot, hoping they would make mistakes. All the drivers did long stints in the car to make sure we were in position when the chance arose. I just hope it’s not another 10 years before I win here again!”
Kristensen said: “It was an incredible experience, and with the rain and everything, so difficult. The whole team did a fantastic job because we didn’t have the quickest car – it is unique. This is not about my eighth win, it’s about this team and what they did here.”
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