Diesel Audi takes historic Le Mans win

Audi swept to a ground-breaking victory in Le Mans yesterday to become the first manufacturer to win the 24 Hours race with a diesel-powered car.

Italy's Emanuele Pirro took the chequered flag as he and Germany's Frank Biela and Marco Werner won by four laps after completing a record total of 380 laps of the La Sarthe circuit.

The all-French Pescarolo Sport team that included double world champion Sebastien Loeb and Formula One driver Franck Montagny finished second.

But there was disappointment for Denmark's Tom Kristensen as his hopes of a record seventh win in a row and eighth overall were dashed by a series of problems in the other Audi R10.

It was the German company's sixth victory in the past seven attempts.

The triumph completed a three-year project which Audi's Head of Motorsport, Doctor Wolfgang Ullrich, had described as the toughest challenge the company had faced.

Audi led every lap as the diesel cars, as expected, enjoyed greater fuel economy but also proved quicker than their petrol-powered rivals.

The winning trio controlled the 74th running of the classic after taking the lead less than four hours into the race as the other Audi ran into mechanical problems.

Kristensen's bid for the record books had drawn around 35,000 fellow Danes to a sweltering 13.65 kms track, swelling the crowd to around 235,000.

But the so-called 'King of Le Mans' saw his hopes ended on Saturday afternoon by a fuelling problem which relegated him to 16th place.