General Info:

Date: June 18-19, 2005
Weather: sunny
Number at start: 49 cars entered, 49 cars at the start
Number of retirements: 22 with 27 cars at the finish including 24 in the standings; 230,000 spectators
Start: given by Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Audi President

Important Facts:

Audi was not officially present that year but nonetheless sent three R8s for Lehto-Kristensen-Werner (No. 3), Biela-Pirro-McNish (No. 2) and Gounon-Montagny-Ortelli (No. 4). Audi was up against the German giant, Henri Pescarolo (Pescarolo Sport), who presented two C60s for Collard-Boullion-Comas (No. 16) and Helary-Ayari-Loeb (No. 17).

Though the race seemed promised to the Pescarolo C60s which were faster than the Audi R8s penalized for extra weight and restrictors, the French cars endured mechanical problems. The No. 16 was on its way to winning but concerns of overheating ended up condemning it and it finished second two laps behind the winning Audi. Tom Kristensen took advantage and beat Jacky Ickx's six victories at Le Mans!

Some Key Numbers:

First pole position for a Pescarolo, by Emmanuel Collard
Participation of Sébastien Loeb, world rally champion, who would win another title that year and who finished second
Tom Kristensen beat Jacky Ickx's record with seven wins (six consecutive)
First best race lap for a Pescarolo, by Jean-Christophe Boullion
First 100% French (car and driver) pole in 10 years!
Last victory to-date by a car with a petrol engine
Fifth and last win for an Audi R8
A great race for the Pescarolos, one of which finished second
Audi in LM P1, Lola in LM P2, Corvette in GT1 and Porsche in GT2, same winners by class as in 2004
Two Aston Martins, back in GT1, put up a good fight with two Corvettes
Calendar change: the preliminary testing took place only two weeks before the race
The creation of the first ecology trophy, won by the No. 3 Audi

The Winners:

Overall: Audi R8 driven by J.J. Lehto-Marco Werner-Tom Kristensen
5,050.500 kms raced at an average of 210.216 km/h
Gap with 2nd: 27.4 km
Best free practice time: 3:34:715 by E. Collard in a Pescarolo-Judd C60

Best time in-race: 3:34:968 by J.C. Boullion in a Pescarolo-Judd C60

LM P1 Winner: Audi R8 driven by J.J. Lehto-Marco Werner-T. Kristensen
LM P2 Winner: MG-Lola EX264 driven by Thomas Erdos-Mike Newton-Warren Hughes
GT1 Winner: Corvette C6.R driven by Oliver Gavin-Olivier Beretta-Jan Magnussen
GT2 Winner: Porsche 911 GT3-RSR of Alex Job Racing driven by Mike Rockenfeller-Marc Lieb-Leo Hindery

 

David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Source: Infos-course

Video: Dailymotion / Spirit Of  Le Mans