This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans has been one of extreme excitement, thrilling cars, new records and, ultimately, sadness.
When it comes to record breaking, Tom Kristensen is the leader of the pack. Kristensen along with fellow drivers Allan McNish and Loic Duval, was the winning Audi team, and thus, this victory marks Kristensen’s ninth win at Le Mans – meaning he still firmly holds on to his already existing record.
This is Audi’s fourth consecutive win and twelfth overall at Le Mans. The Audi team crossed the finished line one lap ahead of the Toyota TS030.
The last bit of the race surely kept people on the edge of their seats. After 23 hours of stiff competition, the race became even more intense as the leading Audi and Toyota cars were on the same lap.
Fortunately for Audi, Kristensen was able to pass Sebastien Buemi’s Toyota with just minutes remaining to win by one lap over his rival.
Audi’s winning team:
But it was not all smiles at this year’s event. On Saturday, a mere 10 minutes into the race, Aston Martin driver Allan Simonsen crashed his Aston Martin Vantage and died as a result of his injuries.
Record-breaking champion, Kristensen, later dedicated his win to Simonsen, a fellow Dane. This was the first fatality at Le Mans since 1986 (another fatality occured in 1997, when Sebastien Enjolras crashed during pre-qualifying)
The organisers and sponsors were just as shocked and saddened as the Aston Martin. Managing director of Aston Martin racing, John Gaw said: ”I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the individuals, and families whose friends or loved ones were involved in today’s terrible tragedy”
In the end, Buemi finished in second position overall, giving Toyota its best-ever result at Le Mans. Third place went to the No. 3 Audi driven by Lucas Di Grassi, Marc Gene and Oliver Jarvis.
All in all – Le Mans 2013 was an exhilarating event that was sure to please car and racing fans worldwide!
Have a look at the highlights of Le Mans 2013 in the video below:
