Audi wins Le Mans 24 Hours race for 13th time

Audi won the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race for the 13th time on Sunday in a one-two finish after a battle through the night with the factory Porsche and Toyota teams.

Switzerland's Marcel Fassler, Frenchman Benoit Treluyer and Germany's Andre Lotterer took the victory in the number two car ahead of the number one driven by Denmark's Tom Kristensen, Spaniard Marc Gene and Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi.

Toyota took third place with Britain's Anthony Davidson, Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre and Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi.

Kristensen had been chasing a record-extending 10th Le Mans victory after his triumph last year.

Treluyer, Fassler and Lotterer won the race for the third time, following successes in 2011 and 2012, thus denying Kristensen, who already holds the record of nine race wins, the chance to reach an unprecedented double figures.

It was quite a turnaround in fortunes for the Audi teams after they suffered a series of misfortunes.

Kristensen's luck ran out again after he had taken the lead early on Sunday morning when Stephane Sarrazin's Toyota was forced to retire after holding a commanding lead for more than 10 hours, with the two Audis trailing in its wake.

The Toyota spluttered to a halt at the side of the track, victim of an electrical fault in the early hours of Sunday morning.

That handed first place to Treluyer's Audi with a three-lap advantage over its sister car.

But two hours later, the leading Audi was forced to make a long stop for a turbo change, surrendering six laps in the process and Kristensen's Audi, the car that had to be rebuilt after a massive accident during Wednesday's practice session, became the race's fourth leader since the start.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Audi also had to stop for more than a quarter-of-an-hour to change a turbo, a similar fate to that which had befallen Treluyer hours earlier.

Austrialian former Formula One ace Mark Webber then took the lead in his Porsche 919 hybrid, and was ahead with just three hours to go before being forced to abandon the race with transmission problems, leaving the road clear for the Audis.

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