Audi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the twelfth time!

This year's edition of the toughest endurance race in the world - 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours, managed to continue the tradition of being one of the most unique car shows, the overruns, the outstanding scenery, and the restless rainy weather were the main components that animated the French circuit for 24 hours. Unfortunately, the Le Mans race of this year will go down in history for a tragic moment as well - the Aston Martin Racing team racer, Allan Simonsen, died following an accident that occurred in the very first laps of the weekend race (the Aston Martin, number 95, piloted by the 34-year-old Dane, that started from the pole position in its class snapped sideways on the exit of the Tertre Rouge corner and violently slammed into the steel barrier on the outside of the circuit).

The Audi crew from the bolide number 2 (Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, Loic Duval) managed to cross the finish line first after the 24 hours of the race, Kristensen counting the ninth victory in the most famous endurance race in the world. "It's a victory that dedicates to Allan Simonsen. He was a fantastic pilot. This trophy is for him ", said Kristensen. For his crew fellows, Allan McNish and Loic Duval, this was the third, and respectively the first Le Mans won. Audi managed to adjudicate third place on the podium as well, with Audi's number 3 crew (Oliver Jarvis, Marc Gene, and Lucas Di Grassi).

The Japanese manufacturer has managed to reach the second position with Toyota's prototype No. 8 (Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, and Stephane Sarrazin). The three Audi cars started from the top position, but the Japanese have taken advantage of the higher top speed. The Japanese had hoped for even more than that, relying on the much lower consumption of its prototypes, but the repeated rounds of rain and the 11 inputs of the Safety Car overturned Toyota's plans.

Martin Plowman, Ricardo Gonzalez, and Bertrand Baguette came seventh, with the Morgan-Nissan racer number 35, managing to win the LMP2 category. Porsche, in its turn, has won the two categories of the GT-s. The crew formed of Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz, and Romain Dumas was victorious in the GT-Pro class, while Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret and Jean-Karl Vernay won with the Porsche number 76 the GTE-Am category, dedicated to the amateur pilots.

Audi and Toyota will compete within the 24 Hours of Le Mans the next year as well when Porsche - the producer that holds the highest number of victories in the French race: 17 will return into the LMP1 main category.