Audi driver Tom Kristensen, sharing a car with Britain’s Allan McNish and France’s Loic Duval, won the famous Le Mans 24 Hours motor race for a record ninth time Sunday. The victory, however, was overshadowed by a rare fatal crash on Saturday.
Audi recorded their 12th win in the Le Mans 24 hour race on Sunday but it was a victory overshadowed by the death of Danish driver Allan Simonsen.
Simonsen’s compatriot Tom Kristensen, 45, was part of the winning trio of drivers extending his all-time record of nine victories in the historic race but first since 2008. Kristensen’s team-mates were Scotsman Allan McNish, tasting victory for the third time, and Frenchman Loic Duval, who was winning for the first time. Simonsen, 34, died as a result of injuries he suffered after a horror high-speed crash at the wheel of an Aston Martin on Saturday. A brief tribute was paid to Simonsen before the podium ceremony on Sunday by six-time winner Jacky Ickx and Pierre Fillon the president of the organising committee.
The Audi – which gave the manufacturer their fourth successive win and 11th in the last 13 editions – came home a lap clear of the Toyota, whose trio of drivers were Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin and former Formula One duo England’s Anthony Davidson and Swiss Sebastien Buemi Audi’s two-time defending champions Marcel Fässler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer had led the race until they came to a halt in front of the stands late on Saturday night and lost 43 minutes while they changed their alternator.
Race Results At Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France
1. Loic Duval, France; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Allan McNish, Britain; Audi No. 2, 348 laps.
2. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland; Anthony Davidson, Britain; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Toyota No. 8, one lap behind.
3. Lucas Di Grassi, Brazil; Marc Gene, Spain; Oliver Jarvis, Britain; Audi No. 3, one lap behind.
4. Nicolas Lapierre, France; Kazuki Nakajima, Japan; Alexander Wurz, Austria; Toyota No. 7, seven laps behind.
5. Marcel Fassler, Switzerland; Andre Lotterer, Germany; Benoit Treluyer, France; Audi No. 1, 10 laps behind.
6. Jonny Kane, Britain; Nick Leventis, Britain; Danny Watts, Britain; Honda No. 21, 16 laps behind.
7. Bertrand Baguette, Belgium; Ricardo Gonzalez, Mexico; Martin Plowman, Britain; Morgan-Nissan No. 35, 19 laps behind.
8. Alex Brundle, Britain; David Heinemeier Hansson, Denmark; Olivier Pla, France; Morgan-Nissan No. 24, 20 laps behind.
9. Mike Conway, Britain; John Martin, Australia; Roman Rusinov, Russia; Oreca-Nissan No. 26, 21 laps behind.
10. Michael Krumm, Germany; Jann Mardenborough, Britain; Lucas Ordonez, Spain; Zytek-Nissan No. 42, 21 laps behind.
