Peugeot take controversial Monza win

The Audi squad was left fuming after Lamy, with a stop-and-go penalty pending for lapping a car under yellow flags, made contact with Rockenfeller at the first chicane on lap 162.

The timing of the incident was critical, because it left the No.2 Audi R10 TDI with a puncture, and as Rockenfeller drove back to the pits slowly, the Peugeot was able to stretch its lead enough to stop, serve its penalty and still resume in front.

Rockenfeller ended the race in second place, having lost a certain victory because of an unnecessary racing accident in which neither driver was blameless. And while tempers flared initially in the Audi garage, a decision was taken not to protest the result.

Despite a pace defecit to the 908 Hdi, smart pit strategy from Audi had allowed the Rockenfeller/Alex Premat R10 to begin the final phase of the race in the lead after a lenghty final safety car period - called to remove the wreckage of a huge accident suffered by Stephane Ortelli.

On older tyres, Lamy initially struggled to close in on Rockenfeller, but with 15 laps to go he caught the Audi into the first chicane, overshot the corner and was forced to hand the lead back.

A few laps later the Portuguese driver was given his penalty, but instead of pitting, he stayed on track for another lap and attempted to repeat his manouvre on the Audi, and that was when he made contact with Rockenfeller.

Afterwards, Lamy was unrepentant: "Ye, sure there was contact, but that's racing. That's what we are here for."

Rockenfeller's co-driver Premat didn't see it the same way however.

"I think it is very unfair from Peugeot," he fumed. "Okay, we had a puncture, but maybe the ACO need to react because the Peugeot touched us and if they hadn't then we would have had the chance to win the race.

"It's a big shame definitely."

Just as in the opening round of the Le Mans Series at Barcelona, only one car from each of the two diesel-powered teams had a trouble-free race.

The Marc Gene/Nicolas Minassian Peugeot, which led for more than half the race, was delayed for six laps when it ran into problems with its drive-train before fighting back to take fifth place at the finish.

That was one position higher than Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish, whose R10 was involved in a large accident in the first hour of the race. Incredibly Audi repaired the damage in less than 15 minutes.

Christophe Tinseau and Harald Primat finished third overall for Pescarolo after a separate battle with Stuart Hall in the Creation. With three laps to go, those two cars also made contact at the first chicane, allowing Tinseau to take the final podium spot.

The Creation team, whose weekend was marred by Jamie Campbell-Walter's qualifying accident, at least finished in fourth.

Team Essex took a relatively calm victory in LMP2.

Casper Elgaard and John Nielsen assumed the class lead in their Porsche RS Spyder when the similar Van Merksteijn Porsche pitted for bodywork damage just before half distance.

Jos Verstappen and Peter van Merksteijn fought back to finish second in class, and were aided by the Horag Racing Porsche going off into the gravel with Didier Theys at the wheel. That car recovered to finish third.

GT1 saw a cracking fight for supremacy between the Team Modena Aston Martin and one of the Corvettes.

Having drafted in factory driver Olivier Beretta, Luc Alphand's team led the class for five hours.

But just as the fight for the lead in LMP1 raged, so a charging Tomas Enge passed the American-built machine to give Aston Martin its first victory of the year.

The Richard Lietz/Raymond Narac IMSA Performance Porsche took top honours in LMP2 after a close battle with Lars Erik Nielsen/Allan Simonsen/Richard Westbrook Farnbacher 997 GT3 RSR.

And for the first time since 2006, Robert Bell failed to finish on the podium, after his Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT ran into a number of problems.

Pos  Driver                        Car                        Time         Class
 1.  Lamy/Sarrazin                 Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP        4:59:07.955  LMP1
 2.  Premat/Rockenfeller           Audi R10 TDI               +0:47.672    LMP1
 3.  Primat/Tinseau                Pescarolo Judd             +4 laps      LMP1
 4.  Kerr/Jouanny/Hall             Creation CA07 - Aim        +4 laps      LMP1
 5.  Gene/Minassian                Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP        +6 laps      LMP1
 6.  Capello/McNish                Audi R10 TDI               +7 laps      LMP1
 7.  Tappy/Ickx/Short              Pescarolo Judd             +7 laps      LMP1
 8.  Elgaard/Nielsen               Porsche RS Spyder          +8 laps      LMP2
 9.  Van Merksteijn/Verstappen     Porsche RS Spyder          +8 laps      LMP2
10.  Lienhard/Theys/Lammers        Porsche RS Spyder          +9 laps      LMP2
11.  Erdos/Newton                  MG Lola EX 265 MG          +9 laps      LMP2
12.  Ragues/Lahaye                 Pescarolo Judd             +10 laps     LMP2
13.  de Pourtales/Noda             Lola B05/40 Mazda          +11 laps     LMP2
14.  Amaral/Pla                    Lola B05/40 AER            +12 laps     LMP2
15.  Garcia/Enge                   Aston Martin DBR9          +14 laps     GT1
16.  Beretta/Moreau/Goueslard      Corvette C6.R              +14 laps     GT1
17.  Mucke/Charouz                 Lola Aston Martin          +15 laps     LMP1
18.  Hughes/Haberfield             WF01 Zytek                 +18 laps     LMP2
19.  Blanchemain/Dumez/Manopoulos  Corvette C6.R              +18 laps     GT1
20.  Rusinov/Kox                   Lamborghini Murcielago     +20 laps     GT1
21.  Narac/Lietz                   Porsche 997 GT3 RSR        +21 laps     GT2
22.  Nielsen/Westbrook/Simonsen    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR        +22 laps     GT2
23.  Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia     Lola B08/80 Coupe Judd     +22 laps     LMP2
24.  Ehret/Kaffer                  Ferrari F430 GT            +22 laps     GT2
25.  Aucott/Daoudi                 Ferrari F430 GT            +23 laps     GT2
26.  Chiesa/Leuenberger            Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R  +26 laps     GT2
27.  Kutemann/MacCormick/Casadei   Ferrari F430 GT            +27 laps     GT2
28.  Lieb/Davison                  Porsche 997 GT3 RSR        +32 laps     GT2
29.  Daniels/Paltalla/Fortsen      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR        +33 laps     GT2

Not Classified

Dumbreck/Kelleners/Vasiliev   Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R  +24 laps      GT2
Kane/Foster                   WF01 Zytek                 +27 laps      LMP2
Nicolet/Faggionato/Hein       Pescarolo Judd             +39 laps      LMP1
Ortelli/Ayari                 Courage-Oreca Judd         +43 laps      LMP1
Collard/Boullion              Pescarolo Judd             +52 laps      LMP1
Bell/Bruni                    Ferrari F430 GT            +54 laps      GT2
Barazi/Vergers                Zytek 07S Zytek            +57 laps      LMP2
Didaio/Francioni/Savoldi      Lucchini Judd              +58 laps      LMP2
Ojjeh/Gosselin/Schroyen       Zytek 07S Zytek            +79 laps      LMP2
Balandras/Lecourt/Belloc      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR        +87 laps      GT2
Burgueno/De Castro            Epsilon Euskadi Judd       +100 laps     LMP1
Salini/Salini/Roussel         WR Zytek                   +102 laps     LMP2
Panis/Lapierre                Courage-Oreca Judd         +146 laps     LMP1
Ried/Felbermayr/Felbermayr    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR        +151 laps     GT2
Rostan/Peterson/Lueders       Radical SR9 AER            +167 laps     LMP2