French firm Peugeot...

French firm Peugeot scored a memorable home victory in last weekendрЂ™s Le Mans 24-hour race. The squad took a convincing one-two win ahead of Audi, ending the German outfitрЂ™s domination of the classic event.

The winning car of Alexander Wurz, Marc Gene and David Brabham completed 382 laps of the 8.5 mile circuit, finishing over a lap ahead of the pole-sitting 908 HDI of team mates Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin.

After various mistakes cost Peugeot a win in the previous two years, bosses were determined not make any errors. However, their hopes for a faultless race were dashed within an hour when pit crew released the 908 HDI of Pedro Lamy into the path of the privately entered Pescarolo Peugeot.

The impact damaged both cars, with the factory backed machine losing an hour on the leaders as it underwent repairs. Disaster then struck the leading Peugeot of Bourdais, Montagny and Sarrazin after a suspension problem sidelined their car for 10 minutes.

But these issues were minor compared to trials of eight-times winners Audi. The usually well-organised German team had a chaotic race, with reliability problems and crashes holding up its trio of R15 TDI racers.

After only two laps the car of Alexandre Premat, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas suffered power steering failure, which resulted in a minor accident. Further off track excursions and repairs in the pits then sidelined it before finishing in a lowly seventeenth place.

The machine of Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner had an even more disappointing race, crashing heavily into retirement with less than seven hours of the race already run.

It was left to last yearрЂ™s winner Allan McNish to defend AudiрЂ™s honour, securing the final podium place on the R15рЂ™s Le Mans debut. However, he and fellow drivers Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen still had their fair share of niggling faults, which required a number of unscheduled trips to the pits.

Behind the leading trio, Aston Martin scored the honours for top petrol-powered car with Jan Charouz, Tomas Enge and Stephane Mucke finishing in fourth place.

Further down the field, Corvette celebrated its final appearance in the GT1 category with a dominant victory. The American squad was on course for a one-two result, with both cars within seconds of each other after 21 hours of flat-out racing. Sadly a mechanical fault sidelined one of the V8-powered machines with less than two-hours remaining.

However, there were no such concerns for the winning Peugeot of Wurz, Gene and Brabham. Their 908 HDI ran almost faultlessly for the 24 hours, taking the lead after only 7 hours racing.

рЂЗWe had a great team behind us, and a phenomenal carрЂЭ, exclaimed Wurz. рЂЗItрЂ™s a fantastic feeling to have won in France in a French carрЂЭ.

Results

1. Brabham/Gene/WurzВ В В  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP В В В  382 laps

2. Bourdais/Montagny/Sarrazin В В В  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP В В В  381 laps

3. Capello/Kristensen/McNish В В В  Audi R15 TDI В В В  376 laps

4. Charouz/Enge/MuckeВ В В  Lola-Aston MartinВ В В  373 laps

5. Panis/Lapierre/AyariВ В В  Oreca 01-AIM В В В  370 laps

6. Minassian/Lamy/Klien В В В  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP В В В  369 laps

7. Zwolsman/Karthikeyan/LottererВ В В  В В В  Audi R10 TDI В В В  369 laps

8. Tinseau/Juoanny/Barbosa В В В  Pescarolo 01-Judd В В В  368 laps

9. Albers/Bakkerud/Mondini В В В  Audi R10 TDI В В В  360 laps

10. Elgaard/Poulsen/Collard В В В  Porsche RS Spyder В В В  357 laps

11.Ragues/Mailleux/Andre В В В  В В В  Courage-Oreca LC70E-Judd В В В  344 laps

12. Leuenberger/Pompidou/Kane В В В  Lola B08/80-Judd В В В  343laps

13. Davidson/Turner/Verstappen В В В  Lola-Aston MartinВ В В  342 laps

14. Belicchi/Prost/Jani В В В  Lola B08/60-Aston Martin В В В  342 laps

15. O"Connell/Magnussen/Garcia В В В  Corvette C6.R В В В  342laps

16. Maassen/Jousse/Clairay В В В  Corvette C6.R В В В  336 laps

17. Bernhard/Premat/DumasВ В В  Audi R15 TDI В В В  333 laps

18. Melo/Kaffer/SaloВ В В  Ferrari F430 GT2В В В  329 laps

19. Babini/Malucelli/Ruberti В В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  327 laps

20. Nicolet/Hein/YvonВ В В  Pescarolo Mazda В В В  325 laps

21. Hardman/Leventis/WattsВ В В  Ginetta-Zytek 09S В В В  325 laps

22. Krohn/van de Poele/JonssonВ В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  323 laps

23. Bell/Kirkaldy/Sugden В В В  В В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  320 laps

24. Campbell-Walter/Ickx/Ianetta В В В  Creation CA07-Judd В В В  319 laps

25. Coronel/Bleekemolen/JanisВ В В  Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R В В В  319 laps

26. Bruni/Perez Companc/Russo В В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  317 laps

27. Mansell/Ehret/Rusinov В В В  Team Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  314 laps

28. Barazi/Moseley/BennettВ В В  Zytek 07S/2 В В В  306 laps

29. Rodrigues/Lebon/Bouchut В В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  304 laps

30. Dempsey/Kitch Jr/Foster В В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  301 laps

31. Lichtner-Hoyer/Gruber/Muller В В В  Aston Martin DBR9 В В В  294 laps

32. McInerney/McInerney/Vergers В В В  Ferrari F430 GT2 В В В  280 laps