In the 82nd running of the world’s most important endurance race, Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) and Lucas di Grassi/Marc Gené/Tom Kristensen (BR/E/DK) presented Audi with a one-two victory.
It marked the 13th Le Mans victory in only 16 times the brand has run the race. Le Mans returnee Porsche and Toyota kept the tough race open till the final phase before the two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars clinched the trophy. Following a serious accident of Loïc Duval in Wednesday’s free practice, Audi Sport Team Joest had to prepare the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro in record time again from scratch and to replace Loïc Duval with Marc Gené.
Despite a powerful display by both 919 Hybrids, the LMP1 Porsche Team was left empty handed after a dramatic final stage of the 24 hours of Le Mans. In the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes however, the Porsche 911 RSR took third and second respectively, in the 82nd edition of the long distance classic.
The LMP1 crew of car no. 20 (Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley/Mark Webber) led the endurance race for a long time while the innovative and highly complex prototype too – in the hands of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb – put up a good show. Unfortunately, both suffered a powertrain problem. However, their no. 14 car made it to the finish line on its own.
