(Mon 14 Jun 10)

Audi has dominated the 78th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, taking the first three places and equalling Ferrari's total of nine outright victories.

The winning car was driven by Germans Mike Rockefeller and Timo Bernhard and Frenchman Romain Dumas, while British driver Allan McNish was part of the third-placed crew who lost time when Tom Kristensen landed in a gravel trap while trying to avoid a slower car.

This year, Audi was trying out variable turbine geometry in its turbo diesel engines for the first time. Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport, said that "we did not use the full potential of the V10 TDI engine this year", and acknowledged that his cars were never going to be the fastest in the field. Sure enough, the rival Peugeots were much quicker, taking the first three positions in qualifying, but none of them finished the race.

Aston Martin looked set to finish fourth, having established that it had the quickest petrol-fuelled combination in the event, but its lead car expired in the final hour. Another Aston finished sixth, however, one place behind the UK-based Strakka Racing team, which won the LMP category with its Honda-powered car.

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