Alan McNish finally got his Rolex at Les 24 Heures du Mans after a tough fight to victory in the legendary 24-hour race. McNish's Audi team fought hard to overcome the three Peugeots ahead on the grid, eventually took the lead after thirteen hours and never looked back, winning in front of 285,500 spectators.

Only 33 cars finished this rather wet 76th running of the 24 Heures du Mans at the Sarthe circuit, passing underneath the Rolex clock which stopped at 3pm on the dot (Paris time). Audi won the race and two Peugeots were on the podium in 2nd and 3rd overall (number 7, Marc Gené, Nicolas Minassian and Jacques Villeneuve and number 9, Franck Montagny, Christian Klien and Ricardo Zonta).

The number 2 Audi Sport R10 with Tom Kristensen at the wheel made the best of the wet conditions in the early morning of Les 24 Heures du Mans, taking the overall lead for Audi from its French rivals Peugeot during the mysterious night at Le Mans.

Now in his 12th participation, Tom Kristensen takes a phenomenal record 8th 24 Heures du Mans win, the result of a brilliant team effort that included long team stints. Italian Dindo Capello shared the win with Kristensen and Alan McNish. The Audi drivers maintained their advantage despite a downpour in the final hour that made conditions very slippery.

The race started to come together for Audi in the 13th hour, when Capello took the lead of the race for the first time after a pit stop as Villeneuve rejoined around five seconds behind the number 2 Audi R10.

The 20th hour was also decisive. Dindo Capello was lapping in 4.03.828 on wet tyres, while Jacques Villeneuve, on dry tyres, was lapping much faster in 3.57.789 and thus passed him again and retook the lead of the race.

Time was dropping again between the Audis and Peugeot. It became clear a couple hours before the end of the race that Audi and Peugeot would be together on the podium, but no one knew at this point in which order.

Creating a bit of unexpected emotion, at 12.51, the Audi number 2 spun on water at Arnage, but continued, as Kristensen got things back in a rhythm. With only two hours to go until the end of the race, the small gap of 2'44" established between the two cars shrank down to 2'32” with the rain. In the last hour, the emotion was at its highest for the spectators as the rain was falling intermittently. The danger level was growing and everyone was on edge.

An unexpected technical problem almost ruined number 7 Nicolas Minassian's efforts for second place in the 376th lap, forcing him to pit a few seconds after Tom Kristensten completed his final pit stop in the Audi, with thirteen minutes remaining in the final stint.

In the other categories, Holland's Peter Van Merksteijn took 10th position at the head of the LMP2 class, seven laps ahead of his competitors. Their position was strengthened when Casper Elgaard picked up a misfire in the Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder. The Porsche 31 from Essex finished second in their category. “The car is strong. It can stand on its own and we just needed to avoid making any mistakes,” commented Jos Verstappen, one of the co-drivers. Frankie Cheng, the first Chinese driver to be among the Le Mans finishers also went straight to the podium in his class in 3rd place, yet another great achievement.

Aston Martin number 009 took over from Corvette in the LMGT1 category, with David Brabham, Daren Turner and A. Garcia just ahead of Ron Fellow's Corvette that finished 2nd in its category, a strong competitor. “A great race,” said Fellow. “We did not expect such a tough fight. A bit disappointing though, not to win, as we were better prepared than last year, but Le Mans is still my favourite race.”

Still in LMGT1 Gavin's Corvette 64 was the third fastest ahead of 007 Aston Martin (Heinz-Harald Frentzen) which finished 4th and Polican's Corvette number 72 which finished 5th. “A great strategy. It turned out this way, but we will be back next year,” said Britain's Oliver Gavin.

Mika Salo (Ferrari number 82) was at the top of the LMGT2 category and in 19th place overall. “The car worked well,” he said. “I had no problems what-so-ever. We won everything last year except Le Mans and this year we win Le Mans but have a miserable season,” Salo laughs. “It is just a great day. I am very happy.”

The 15th of June at exactly 3pm according to the official Rolex clock, 33 out of 55 competitors finished the 2008 24 Heures du Mans, the greatest endurance race in the world.

Rolex is the Official Timekeeper for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Series. In North America, Rolex has been the title sponsor for the Rolex 24 At Daytona since 1992.

Results 24 Heures du Mans Rolex Official Timekeeper

Car n. - Group - Team - Drivers - Car - Time - Laps

LMP1 Group
2 LMP1 M Audi Sport North America CAPELLO R./KRISTENSEN T./McNISH A. Audi R10 TDI 24:00:24.085 (381 laps)
7 LMP1 M Team Peugeot Total GENE M./MINASSIAN N./VILLENEUVE J. Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 24:04:55.179 (381 laps)
9 LMP1 M Peugeot Sport Total MONTAGNY F./KLIEN C./ZONTA R. Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 24:01:26.742 (379 laps)

LMP2 Group
34 LMP2 M Van Merksteijn Motorsport VAN MERKSTEIJN P./VERSTAPPEN J./BLEEKEMOLEN Porsche RS Spyder 24:04:54.187 (354 laps)
31 LMP2 D Team Essex ELGAARD C./NIELSEN J./MAASSEN S. Porsche RS Spyder 24:05:44.070 (347 laps)
35 LMP2 M Saulnier Racing RAGUES P./LAHAYE M./CHENG CONG F. Pescarolo Judd 24:00:34.929 (333 laps)

LMGT1 Group
009 LMGT1 M Aston Martin Racing BRABHAM D./GARCIA A./TURNER D. Aston Martin DBR9 24:01:24.242 (344 laps)
63 LMGT1 M Corvette Racing FELLOWS R./OCONNELL J./MAGNUSSEN J. Corvette C6.R 24:05:48.085 (344 laps)
64 LMGT1 M Corvette Racing GAVIN O./BERETTA O./PAPIS M. Corvette C6.R 24:01:15.328 (341 laps)

LMGT2 Group
82 LMGT2 M Risi Competizione MELO J./SALO M./BRUNI G. Ferrari F430 GT 24:03:57.320 (326 laps)
97 LMGT2 P BMS Scuderia Italia MALUCELLI M./RUBERTI P./BABINI F. Ferrari F430 GT 24:01:03.257 (318 laps)
90 LMGT2 D Farnbacher Racing EHRET P./KAFFER P./NIELSEN L-E. Ferrari F430 GT 24:00:24.742 (317 laps)

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