The Peugeot of David Brabham, Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene won the Le Mans 24 hour race on Sunday to record the French manufacturer's first victory in the competition since 1993.

The trio beat home another Peugeot driven by Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and F1 star Sebastien Bourdais while defending champions Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish in an Audi were third.

It was Audi's first defeat in the race since 1999.

Brabham was delighted to have emulated his brother Geoff, who also won in a Peugeot in 1993.

"I am just happy to have won," said Brabham. "I recall my brother Geoff saying that he was the only Brabham to have won Le Mans and I am proud to have had the chance to do this.

"However, it is not a one man show and there are a lot of people at the heart of this team who are responsible for this victory."

Kristensen was generous in defeat.

"I believe that Peugeot have performed perfectly," said Kristensen.

"They deserved their victory and I have a lot of respect for them. We congratulate them from the bottom of our hearts.

"Of course we will try and learn from this and come back and win. However, we also have to recognise the work done by the Peugeot pilots, Alex, Marc et David. It is fantastic."

Peugeot had been in charge after seven hours of action on Saturday with the French team in three of the top four places.

Montagny, on pole position, enjoyed the best possible start in bright sunshine and team-mates Sarrazin and Bourdais stayed in front for almost six hours until their car suffered a transmission problem.

The car lost nine minutes as mechanics worked to change the left rear axle.

The second Audi with German driver Lucas Luhr at the wheel had to retire after a spectacular accident when it had been running in third place.

Luhr lost control of the Audi at the Porsche curve and crashed into the trackside barriers.

AFP

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