Audi swept the first three places in the 24-hour endurance race in Le Mans on Sunday, with driver Tom Kristensen of Denmark winning a record-tying sixth victory.
Audi controlled the event from start to finish. But for nearly 15 hours, Kristensen's No. 5 didn't look like a winner.
The team's No. 88 car, driven by Britain's Johnny Herbert, Jamie Davies and Guy Smith, ran at the front. Even after Kristensen's car took the lead Sunday morning, another setback hit -- the vehicle burst into flames during a pit stop.
Audi, which won the endurance race from 2000 to 2002, recaptured a title it lost to Bentley last year.
Kristensen, who partnered Seiji Ara of Japan and Italy's Rinaldo Capello, completed a record 379 laps in 24 hours, eclipsing the previous mark of 377 laps set by Bentley in 2003.
Kristensen thanked his chief mechanic and his team after the race.
"We had luck this time but we worked hard for it," he said. "It is a team effort."
Capello was driving when the car was engulfed by flames in the Audi garage about three hours from the finish. Ara held off a late challenge by Herbert in the closing laps.
Herbert finished second, 41 seconds adrift.
Audi's No. 2 car, piloted by J.J. Lehto of Finland, Germany's Marc Werner and Italian Emmanuele Pirro, crossed the line in third position, 11 laps behind the winner.
The other teams were unable to match the power of Audi's prototypes on the 13.65km French circuit.
The No. 5 car snatched the lead on Sunday morning after the No. 88 car was forced to make a pit stop because of a rear suspension problem.
Davies, who started from pole position after his co-driver Herbert clocked the best lap time in qualifying Thursday, kept the top spot for nearly 15 hours.
Davies built a 23-second lead over Scottish Allan McNish's Audi No. 8 car after one hour of racing.
The No. 88 car then benefited from Capello's driving error on the eighth lap and from a collision between two Audi cars after two hours to secure a significant advantage.
Capello got off to a bad start as he dumped his No. 5 car in a gravel trap after 26 minutes and slipped to 24th.
But he pushed hard to recover lost ground and grab second place after three hours.
Meanwhile, McNish's No. 8 car collided with Lehto's No. 2 car on the 29th lap and both bounced into the tire barrier.
"The explosion of an engine left oil traces on the tarmac and that's why we collided," Lehto said.
The crash cost the cars precious time as they were brought back to the pits for repairs.
Both Audi cars managed to get back in the race, but McNish, who collapsed in the Audi garage following his accident, did not return to the wheel on the advice of doctors. His German co-drivers Frank Biela and Pierre Kaffer took over and finished fifth, 29 laps behind Kristensen.
The crash gave outsiders a chance to move up two spots. The Pescarolo Judd's No. 18 car, driven by Frenchmen Soheil Ayari, Erik Comas and Benoit Treluyer, occupied the second spot for a while but could not foil Capello's comeback.
Racing champion Colin McRae finished ninth on a Ferrari 550.
American car manufacturer Corvette placed sixth and eighth. Dome Judd with the seventh spot and Porsche with the tenth place completed the top-10 rankings.
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