Kristensen makes Le Mans history

Dane Tom Kristensen made history at Le Mans when he clinched a record seventh win in the motor-racing classic in searing heat on Sunday.

Kristensen, sharing with German Marco Werner and Finn JJ Lehto in an Audi R8, beat the previous record of six wins set by Belgian Jacky Ickx between 1969 and 1982.

The 37-year-old won the world's most famous endurance race on his first attempt in 1997 and every year from 2000.

A Pescarolo driven by Frenchmen Eric Comas, Emmanuel Collard and Jean-Christophe Boullion finished second, two laps behind.

Another Audi R8, with Briton Allan McNish, German Frank Biela and Italian Emanuele Pirro sharing the wheel, came home third, six laps off the pace.
German carmaker Audi has now won at Le Mans five times in the last six years.

The two Pescarolo cars set the early pace, but both suffered from mechanical failure, and one crashed out.

Frenchman Soheil Ayari, one of the car's three drivers, was at the wheel when he missed a curve and crashed into a tyre barrier after 288 laps. The car could not be repaired in time to restart.

"It's a pity," said Frenchman and current world champion Sebastien Loeb. "We have had a lot of problems since the start. We would have loved to make it to the end, but that's motor racing."

There were reminders of less happy times this weekend, with the organisers commemorating the 50th anniversary of the most serious accident in the race's history.

On June 11, 1955, Pierre Levegh's Mercedes hit Lance Macklin's Austin Healey before flying into the crowd. Seventy-nine people died.

A commemorative plaque was unveiled a week before this year's race, on the straight alongside the pit lane.

Loeb's participation and the fine weather attracted 230,000 spectators to the track, a figure that matched the 1974 attendance record.