Audi won a gripping Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race for the 10th time in 12 years with Germany's Andre Lotterer taking the chequered flag by 14 seconds in the German manufacturer's number two car.
Audi's two other works cars both crashed spectacularly on Sunday leaving a tight battle to the finish with the three works Peugeots but Lotterer just held off Simon Pagenaud to maintain Audi's dominance of the race at the Circuit de la Sarthe circuit.
Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer were Lotterer's co-drivers, for all three this was a first win in the iconic endurance test, while Nicolas Minassian finished third for Peugeot.
Victory was particularly sweet for Audi following the crashes on Sunday that destroyed both their other cars after they had swept the front row in qualifying.
The drivers escaped without serious injury, though Germany's Mike Rockenfeller was kept in hospital overnight.
Former British winner Allan McNish was lucky to escape unhurt when he clipped a slower Ferrari and crashed the number three Audi spectacularly in the opening hour, bringing out the safety car.
Rockenfeller then wrote off the number one R18 TDI when he hit another Ferrari while travelling at full speed on the fast stretch leading to Indianapolis with eight hours gone and darkness descending.
