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24 Hours of Le Mans
The 78th Le Mans 24 Hours
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Le Mans 2010 has shown everyone that sport - and indeed life - can be unpredictable.
On Wednesday and Thursday the world marveled at the raw pace and dominance of the four Peugeot 908s, but we sit here now looking at the official results showing an Audi clean sweep.
Heartbreak for the French manufacturer as the three factory cars and the Oreca Peugeot all fell by the wayside. Others will also leave La Sarthe disappointed. Corvette should have claimed a wonderful one-two in GT2 but come away with nothing. The Mansell story also ended cruelly within the first hour and in dramatic fashion.
This was the 78th 24 Heures Du Mans on AUTOSPORT Live. Thanks for joining us over the last day of coverage. We look forward to doing it all over again in 2011!
On Wednesday and Thursday the world marveled at the raw pace and dominance of the four Peugeot 908s, but we sit here now looking at the official results showing an Audi clean sweep.
Heartbreak for the French manufacturer as the three factory cars and the Oreca Peugeot all fell by the wayside. Others will also leave La Sarthe disappointed. Corvette should have claimed a wonderful one-two in GT2 but come away with nothing. The Mansell story also ended cruelly within the first hour and in dramatic fashion.
This was the 78th 24 Heures Du Mans on AUTOSPORT Live. Thanks for joining us over the last day of coverage. We look forward to doing it all over again in 2011!
The day of racing is not over of course, with the Canadian Grand Prix coming up later this afternoon.
Join us from 15:00 GMT for full race day coverage of the action from Montreal.
Join us from 15:00 GMT for full race day coverage of the action from Montreal.
A truly remarkable race. Unbelievably cruel for Peugeot, who had looked so good in the build up to the race, but Audi fully desrve their sweep. So much drama and so many talking points, a real treat to have followed!
Champagne, and in one moment the stresses of a quite unbelievable 24 hours are released! Audi will drink in the success, and deservedly so.
Le Mans is always one of the most evocative podiums, and the huge track invasion shows just what this race means to the hundreds of thousands all over the globe. Fantastic scenes from the race podium.
There is delight across all three steps of the podium as the massive trophies are presented to Audi's winning drivers.
As the national anthem blares and the flags ripple in the breeze, Audi celebrates an historic moment. Spare a thought for Peugeot, but Audi fully deserve this moment!
Here we go - the pitlane is a throng of passion as fans swarm to see the Audi drivers take what seemed 24 hours ago like an unimaginable clean sweep!
Drivers buzzing with excitement as they wait to step out onto the podium. Hordes of fans await them, and the #9 Audi parked out in parc ferme really does deserve the adulation of the crowds after a sensational performance. Final moments now before Dumas, Bernhard and Rockenfeller lead the celebrations.
Fans pour onto the circuit to get underneath the Le Mans podium - such a fantastic atmosphere year on year, as Le Mans keeps producing the magic.
Tom Coronel lets out a victory scream as his #85 Spyker team cross the line with an incredible battling performance.
Just a little further down the road, 11th overall, Marc Lieb takes the chequered flag to seal victory for the #77 Felbermayr Proton team in its Porsche 997 GT3. Leh Keen kept him honest and takes second in his #89 Hankook Ferrari 430, with the #97 BMW Porsche 997 GT3 piloted by Richard Westbrook completing the GT2 podium.
Coming over the line is the #50 Larbre Saleen to take GT1 honours, driven by Roland Berville, Julien Canal and Gabriele Gardel.
Timo Bernhard is absolutely delighted as he steps out of the winning Audi.
Incredible scenes as the Audis cross the line. Behind them, Danny Watts takes a superb victory in the #42 Strakka HPD, with Jan Charouz in second for the #35 OAK Racing Pescarolo-Judd and Mike Newton taking a richly deserved podium for the #25 RML Lola-HPD.
Soheil Ayari, Didier Andre and Andy Meyrick finish an amazing fourth in the Oreca AIM as attrition took its toll in the final hours.
Andre Lotterer, Marcel Faessler , Benoit Treluyer take a hard-fought second place in the #8, with Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello locking out the podium for Audi.
24h00m Mike Rockenfeller, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas win at Le Mans in the #9 Audi R15 TDI Plus.
23h58m Mechanics are out and marshals seem ready - looks like this is the final lap!
23h57m Audi's convoy crosses the line with just under three minutes remaining and this will be the final lap.
23h55m Headlights ablaze, the Audi trio cruise down the Mulsanne towards victory in Le Mans.
23h54m The Audis begin another tour with just over six minutes remaning.
23h53m Audi boss Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich is struggling to hold back the emotion as he sees his cars just eight minutes away from a sweep of the podium.
23h52m Ten minutes to go, and will we see the #26 Highcroft Racing HPD re-emerge from the pits to take the chequered flag for the squad? They had been running second in the LMP2 class until cooling problems curtailed their race...and yes, Marino Andretti leaves the pits for a final flurry. Great stuff.
23h51m The leading #9 has now completed 394 laps, which breaks the distance record for the event.
23h48m So, with ten minutes to go, we look set for an HPD win in the LMP2 class, with the Pescarolo-Judd #24 car in second and the Lola-HPD Coupe of #25 in third. The #41 Ginetta-Zytek is set for a fifth-place finish.
23h47m Excitement is building in the Audi garage as its cars continue the formation cruise to a one-two-three finish. That's in stark contrast to the Peugeot mechanics, who are slowly packing up after a disastrous 24 hours.
23h43m A long pitstop for the #97 BMS Porsche 997 squad, with Richard Westbrook surrendering two of his six lap advantage over the #95 AF Corse Ferrari 430 currently under the control of Giancarlo Fisichella. The team don't look too worried though and it should still be on course to clinch that final GT2 podium.
23h43m The GT1 leader, #50 Larbre Saleen, has been in for a final splash of fuel and a polish. The second-place car in that class is around five laps behind so the order is pretty much settled for the last GT1 podium ahead of fresh regulations next year.
23h39m Danny Watts seemingly backing the #42 Strakka HPD off in the last series of laps, and the nerves must be getting to the drivers too who have put in mammoth stints to bring the cars thus far. These last 20 minutes will feel far longer as they just pray their cars hold on for the finish line.
23h38m With so many dramatic retirements in this race, the nerves must be jangling on the pitwall as the clock ticks towards 20 minutes remaining in Le Mans 2010.
23h35m Stefan Mucke has recently taken over #007, which is sixth overall despite spending around an hour in the garage this morning for major gearbox repairs.
23h34m The #007 Lola-Aston Martin is crawling with a puncture.
23h33m The convoy of Audis heads down the Mulsanne to continue the formation drive to the finish.
23h33m The #85 Spyker is still going as well - great effort from the team, who suffered a lot of mechanical woes during the night. Peter Dumbreck comes in for fuel and is set to bring the car home.
23h32m #9, #8 and #7 stop in formation and get a final tank of diesel for the run to the flag.
23h31m Final pitstop for the #25 RML Lola-HPD car, with Mike Newton set to pilot the car for the final half an hour of the race.
23h31m All three Audis head in for nose-to-tail pitstops.
23h29m So #9 Audi leads by one lap with the #8 car in second and the #7 machine three laps down in third place.
The #6 Oreca AIM is now officially fourth but a massive 29 laps down on the leading Audi, with the #42 Strakka Racing HPD in a fine fifth spot overall.
The #6 Oreca AIM is now officially fourth but a massive 29 laps down on the leading Audi, with the #42 Strakka Racing HPD in a fine fifth spot overall.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Steven English, Sam Tremayne
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