In the 82nd running of the world's most important endurance race, Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer piloted the #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro to victory after 24 hours of gruelling racing. Also, Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gene and Tom Kristensen in the #1 Audi crossed the chequered line in second, making for a one-two Audi victory.
The triumph at Circuit de la Sarthe in France yesterday marked Audi's 13th Le Mans success - in only 16 runs - as Audi Sport Team Joest prevailed against massive competition by Toyota and Le Mans juggernauts as well as cousin team Porsche.
The duelling actions between the LMP1 racers of Audi, Porsche and Toyota, in the hectic first hours, kept the spectators in awe. In an extremely tough race that was completely open for a long time, the decision in favour of the two Audi R18 e-tron quattros were only made in the final phase.
For Audi, the Le Mans 24 Hours was billed as 'Welcome Challenges' - and there were plenty of them. Following a serious accident of Loic Duval in Wednesday's free practice, Audi Sport Team Joest had to rebuild the #1 Audi along with replacing Loic Duval with Marc Gene.
Although the #1 Audi was poised for victory on Sunday morning, in the end, the change of an injector and a turbocharger narrowly prevented this feat. With a gap of three laps, Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gene and Tom Kristensen had to settle for a respectable second.
Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer in the #2 Audi took the lead for the first time on Sunday morning, after having put consistent pressure throughout the night on the Toyota that had been leading for a long time. As their car's turbocharger had to be changed as well, #2 Audi temporarily dropped to third place before moving back to the front in a remarkable recovery, where Andre Lotterer also set the fastest race lap of 3:22.567s.
Major misfortune was suffered by the squad of the third Audi R18 e-tron quattro with Filipe Albuquerque, Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis at the wheel. Following a strong early phase, the #3 Audi, during a safety car period in pouring rain, was hit in the rear by a GT Ferrari. The accident caused heavy damage to the powertrain of the former. The incident drove Marco Bonanomi to forcefully retire after just 90 minutes of track action.
