PLAY to your strengths. It's something the German car makers have done to such good effect in sports car racing. Audi won the 24 hour classic endurance race at Le Mans over the weekend with a thumping 1-2-3 victory - the fourth time the Audi sports racers have finished the race in such a formation.

And where was the faster Peugeot opposition? Gone pop, that's what. All four cars. If nothing else, the Le Mans 24 Hours reinforces our business car buying prejudices: efficiency and reliability are Audi hallmarks and part of the attraction of the brand.

It's the same with Porsche, which currently competes in the more road-car oriented GT2 class at Le Mans. Outstanding reliability of the German Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, driven by works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Wolf Henzler (Germany), meant the Porsche held a two-lap advantage over the second-placed Ferrari at the end of 24 hours of racing.

Unfailing clockwork reliability is another prized brand asset of Porsche - and again it was demonstrated at Le Mans.

As a point of history, it was the also the ninth time Audi has won the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours, which means Audi has equalled Ferrari's position in the roll of honour in the French endurance classic. Only Porsche's track record reflects more victories at the French circuit.

The victorious Audi R15 TDI was driven by Timo Bernhard (Germany), Romain Dumas (France) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany). The trio completed a total of 397 laps in the 24 hours. With the covered distance of 5,410 kilometres, the trio broke the 1971 record set by Dr Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep in the Porsche 917 that was considered unbeatable because the Hunaudières straight at that time had no chicanes - another demonstration of the car's exceptional performance.

After the race, Audi chairman Rupert Stadler commented: "Everyone at Audi can be proud of this historic exploit. Reliability, efficiency and sustainability are particularly important topics for car manufacturers today. And these are exactly the areas in which we have demonstrated our expertise this weekend."

It's a point well made.

TAGS: Le Mans