Audi wins 24 Hours of Le Mans

Audi takes 1-2 in hard-fought battle against Toyota and Porsche.

For the fifth year in a row and after a hard fought battle between Toyota and Porsche, Audi has won the 2014 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Audi's R18 e-Tron Quattro scored a 1-2 finish, with the No. 2 car of Mark Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Trelyuer crossing the line first, and Felipe Albuquerque, Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis's No. 1 following three laps behind.

Toyota, with a pole position qualifying run by Kazuki Nakajima, seemed like a strong contender in their pair of TS040 Hybrids. After taking an early lead with one of their LMP-H racers, Toyota held it until hour 14 when the the car stalled out due to what the team is reporting as a failure in the electrical loom. The No. 7 Toyota driven by Anthony Davidson, Nicholas Lapierre and Sebastien Buemi, despite a minor crash at the beginning, finished third after some quick repairs.

Fan favorite Porsche returned to Le Mans after a 16 year absence, fielding a pair of 919 Hybrids. After challenging Audi and Toyota early on, fell by the wayside. For a while, it seemed as Porsche might take the overall win, leading the pack with four hours left to go. However, mechanical maladies took out the lead car with only four hours remaining in the race.

This is the third victory for Audi's R18 e-Tron Quattro and the fourth checkered flag for Joest Racing, the team running Audi's Le Mans program.