LE MANS - Audi defended their Le Mans 24 Hours endurance title on Sunday with Germany's Andre Lotterer taking the chequered flag for the second year in a row in a 1-2-3 finish for the dominant manufacturer. Audi's 11th win in the last 13 years was a first for a diesel-hybrid car at the Sarthe circuit. They won last year with a diesel engine. The number one Audi R18 - shared by Lotterer, France's Benoit Treluyer and Switzerland's Marcel Faessler - led for most of the race and denied Denmark's Tom Kristensen a ninth win in the number two car. Germany's Mike Rockenfeller, a winner for Audi in 2010, wrapped up a sweep of the podium places as he crossed the line in third place in the non-hybrid Audi ultra. Audi overcame a scare with three hours to go when British driver Allan McNish slid the number two Audi into the barriers at the Porsche Curves only moments after Spaniard Marc Gene plunged his non-hybrid Audi into the tyres at the first chicane. McNish's car was quickly back on track, with the Scot handing over to Kristensen, but Gene's number three car lost 20 minutes and finished in fifth place with Frenchman Loic Duval at the wheel. Frenchman Nicolas Prost, son of four-times Formula One champion Alain, split the Audis by claiming fourth place for Rebellion Racing's Toyota-powered Lola B12. Scotland's Peter Dumbreck and former Formula One drivers David Brabham and Karun Chandhok, the first Indian to race at Le Mans, finished a strong sixth in the JRM team's HPD ARX 03a. Audi's works rivals Toyota saw their challenge fade overnight. They had snatched the lead after five hours of intense racing but their excitement turned to horror when Anthony Davidson, racing in one of the hybrid Toyotas, suffered a spectacular crash. The Briton's car tagged a Ferrari and took off, twisting 360 degrees in the air before plunging into the tyre barriers at Mulsanne Corner. Davidson, who clambered out of the car before gesticulating for help from the medical team, will stay in hospital until Monday after fracturing two vertebrae in the incident.
