The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours

It is a supreme eighth victory for the great Dane. He is simply untouchable around La Sarthe.

The LMP2 class is won in dominant style by the Van Merksteijn Porshe RS Spyder with drivers Peter van Merksteijn, Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen.

Nicolas Minassian rues what might have been as he is the only other car in the field to finish on the lead lap. Minassian crosses the line in the Peugeot No.7 908 HDI to finish second.

The 009 Aston Martin DBR9 wins LMGT1 with drivers David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner.

Minassian, Villeneuve and Marc Gene finish second to the majestic Audi R10.

It's a Peugeot two-three on the podium as the No.9 car finishes third, with Franck Montagny, Ricardo Zonta and Christian Klien.

In LMGT2 it was the No.82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 taking the class win, driven by Mika Salo, Jaime Melo and Gianmaria Bruni.

Aston Martin celebrate victory in the GT1 class. The No.009 Aston DBR9 with David Brabham, Darren Turner and Antonio Garcia.

A huge crowd of fans has been unleashed from the grandstands and are gathering under the podium.

The master of ceremonies is whipping up enthusiasm from the huge crowd under the podium.

Peter van Merksteijn, Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen take to the podium for their LMP2 win.

They are joined by the third-place LMP1 crew of Franck Montagny, Ricardo Zonta and Christian Klien.

Minassian, Villeneuve and Marc Gene are out on the podium and are joined with a roar from the crowd by the winners Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello.

Each driver is presented with Rolex watches and a sizable trophy.

The winning Audi crew hoist the massive trophy aloft.

The German national anthem rings out for Audi.

The champagne is sprayed as the top drivers celebrate their achievements in a fascinating race.

Le Mans 2008 has been an unforgettable experience. Peugeot and Audi would go head to head in what everyone expected to be a close, exciting encounter. They were not wrong ...

The Speed of the Peugeots in qualifying gave everyone a taste of what was to come during the race. Audis were struggling, or so observers thought.

The flying Peugeots took the lead in the opening stages of the race. But soon the familiar cracks began to show themselves, as the French stable effectively lost one of their cars in the chase for victory within three hours of the race.

Through the evening Peugeot held sway with their remaining two contenders, but Audi were always within striking distance should anything go wrong. At two O'clock in the morning the rains came and the whole complexion of the race changed.

Slowing Peugeots in the wet, allied to what can only be described as a stunning demonstration of driving by Allan McNish during his night-time quadruple stint, reversed the roles completely. When dawn came, It was Audi No.2 in front to the tune of almost three minutes.

From that moment the chase was on, as the No.7 Peugeot fought to close down the gap. In the end it wasn't to be. The Audi team performed fantastically: Great pitstops, solid strategies and most importantly they didn't lose their heads in the final hour when others lost theirs.

This was the 2008 24 Heures du Mans commentary on autosport.com Live. We hope that you've enjoyed following the race with us.

Formula One is on the menu again next weekend as we embrace round eight of the 2008 World Championship. But that lies in the future. Today, Audi proved just what a great manufacturer they really are.