Toyota TS030 Hybrid being hunted down by the race winning No2 Audi.
showers that fell during the night and reduced the gap on the lead Audi to just two minutes. The two Toyotas showed stunning pace and displayed the sort of reliability you would associate with a Japanese car, as neither machine experienced any mechanical problems. There were more twists in the closing stages of the race. Nicolas Lapierre went off in the rain losing third place, while the No8 TS030 Hybrid did its best to catch the leader. It was a good effort, but ultimately in vain as the lead Audi remained just out of reach. As the No2 Audi crossed the finishing line, it gave Loïc Duval his first victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, Allan McNish his third and Tom Kristensen his ninth. In tears the Dane- regarded by many as‘ Mr Le Mans’- dedicated his victory to his friend and fellow-countryman, Allan Simonsen. Incredibly, it
was Audi’ s twelfth victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race.
Other Classes
In the LMP2 class the No35( Baguette-Gonzalez-Plowman) and No24( Pla-Heinemeier Hanson-Brundle) Oak Racing Morgan-Nissans, demonstrated
Aston Martin Racing’ s‘ Art Car.’ exemplary consistency and reliability, racking up the laps in almost identical times from the start of the race. They secured first and second places in class by the eighth hour of the race and remained there until the chequered flag fell. Behind the French team’ s
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