Incredibly the Audi suffered no damage, and went on to win the race

Audi's R10 turbodiesel has won the Le Mans 24 hour race for the third time, after a close-fought race that was initially dominated by Peugeot's new turbodiesel racers.

The three Peugeots led from the start, lapping several seconds a lap faster than the Audis, but gradually the speed differential was eaten away by the Audis' better fuel consumption, which meant they needed fewer pit stops.

One Peugeot lost time with a transmission problem early on Saturday evening but rain during the night also gave the Audis an advantage, their open cockpit cars giving better visibility than the close cockpits of the Peugeots. At 5.17am the Audi number 2 of Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish to the lead.

During Sunday, with sporadic rain again, the cars of both teams suffered spins, but all recovered – the most dramatic was a collision between Kristensen's car and a backmarker in the final phase of the race. Incredibly the Audi suffered no damage, and went on to win the race, less than a lap ahead of the leading Peugeot.

This is Audi's eighth successive win at Le Mans, Kristenen's eighth Le Mans win, Capello's third win and McNish's second.