![2006–2015 Stars at war at the 24 Hours of Le Mans [1/2]](https://www.lemans.org/media/cache/api_news_large/assets/fileuploads/57/4e/574edf702e003.jpeg)
24h Le Mans
Ten years separate the releases of episodes III and VII of the Star Wars saga. In the meantime, life at the world
2006: diesel wins the day! - Having handed over its R8 prototypes to privateers from 2003 to 2005, Audi came back with a works team and opened a new chapter in the history of endurance racing. For the first time ever, a diesel prototype, the R10 TDI, won the race, with Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner at the wheel.
2007-2011: Audi-Peugeot head-to-head - Peugeot joined the fray in 2007 and so began the first 21st-century tussle between carmakers. Audi took the top spot four times, in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, pole position in 2011 and three other podium places while Peugeot claimed victory in 2009, four pole positions in a row from 2007 to 2010 and six podium places.
2008-2013: Tom Kristensen from strength to strength - Having broken Jacky Ickx’s record for the number of wins in 2005, the Dane added an eighth win in 2008 and a ninth in 2013. He retired from racing in 2014, bowing out in style as World Endurance Champion driver.
2010-2011: faster and faster! - At the height of the Audi-Peugeot battle, records were broken left, right and centre and Le Mans began to resemble a 24-hour sprint. In 2010, Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller won the race in the Audi R15 TDI Plus, covering a record 5,405 kilometres at an average pace of 225 kph. In 2011, following an eight-hour nail-biting chase, Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer’s Audi R18 TDI finished just 800 metres ahead of Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud in the Peugeot 908.
2013-2015: Porsche records - In 2013, the 911 beat high-class opponents Aston Martin, Corvette and Ferrari in both the LM GTE Pro and Am classes, taking the German manufacturer to a total of one hundred wins at Le Mans. Two years later, the LM P1 919 Hybrid driven by Nico Hülkenberg, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber bumped up the figures even further, adding a seventeenth overall win to an already impressive track record.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO — Translated from French by Emma Paulay
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, LE MANS 24 HOURS, SUNDAY 18 JUNE 2006, FINISH. Ten years ago, Emanuele Pirro’s fourth win at Le Mans 24 Hours was the first ever for a diesel-powered car.
