Audi Wins 79th edition of The 24 hours of Le Mans Amongst Drama and Controversy

The 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is in the books, and yet again, Audi have asserted their dominance over the competition. After 24 hours of racing, the #2 Audi R18 TDI crossed the start/finish line just 13 seconds ahead of the french Peugeot 908 HDI. Corvette racing also took the checkered flag in each of the two GT classes. Audi started the race fielding three R18's, but lost two cars in separate incidents during the course of the race. Alan McNish's crash occurred within the first five hours of racing, and resulted in his R18 catching some air against the ALCO barriers, before coming to a rest in the gravel surrounding the Dunlop curve. Although the car was destroyed, McNish walked away from the crash unharmed. The second crash, involving Mike Rockenfeller's R18 and a slower GT car, occurred during the night on the Mulsanne straight at nearly 200 miles per hour and resulted in an explosion of carbon fiber. Reports stated that Rockenfeller's R18 completely destroyed by the impact. Rockenfeller was transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons and was later released with a clean bill of health.

Several notable sources have reported that as the race progressed, The Peugeot factory team issued orders to the slower 908 HDI's, running within the top 5 in LMP1, but out of realistic contention, to disrupt the progress of the remaining R18. The video (attached below) shows the number 7 Peugeot repeatedly blocking the race leading R18 TDI. The two competitors made contact repeatedly during several separate incidents. This was done in an effort to stall the faster R18 and allow the top running factory Peugeot 908 to make up time on the race leader. Unfortunately, it appears that the ACO (The French governing body of the international Le Mans Series) has not and will not take any action against the Peugeot factory team for their unsportsmanlike conduct. The ACO has been accused of biased behavior in the past. Audi has , understandably, stayed quiet in the wake of these incidents. The trophy in their paddock will do all of the talking for the next year.