Allan McNish said his team had dominated the race

The No 2 car of McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello was retired with seven hours to go after Capello lost a wheel and hit a tyre barrier.

"It's very difficult to put in to words how I feel. We had a car that dominated the race for almost 17 hours," said Scotland's McNish afterwards.

The Audi driven by Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro won the race.

Second place went to the Peugeot 908 driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy.

I feel very hollow because it's another year before I can come back and have another crack at winning it again Allan McNish

Audi's winning car was the only one of their three to complete the contest, which ended in a torrential downpour.

McNish, 37, said he was disappointed after dominating the race for long periods.

"We had a lead of over three laps thanks, not only to the speed of our Audi, but fantastic strategy plus great teamwork," he said.

"But then Le Mans bit us and I feel very hollow because it's another year before I can come back and have another crack at winning it again."

The Dumfries driver said he was relieved Capello was uninjured in the crash.

"The rear left wheel came adrift at Indianapolis corner at about 150mph - not a great 43rd birthday present for Dindo - and he was just a 'passenger', unable to do anything to prevent the crash," he said.

"Thankfully he was uninjured in the heavy impact but obviously the accident ended our race."