24 Jun 2013

Danish Le Mans winner dedicates win to dead countryman

6:08 am on 24 June 2013

Audi's Tom Kristensen has dedicated his record 9th win in the Le Mans 24 hour motor race to fellow Dane Allan Simonsen, the friend whose death cast a pall over the race's 90th anniversary.

With Danish flags at half-mast over the podium, a standing ovation was held before the victory ceremony in memory of the Aston Martin driver who died after crashing only minutes into the race at the weekend.

Kristensen, Denmark's greatest racing driver, told the crowd he had intended to pay tribute to his father but the race's first fatality in 27 years had forced a change of plan.

The race was littered with safety car periods on a wet weekend in western France before the sun came out at the finish.

It was Audi's fourth in succession and 12th in a dominant 14 years.