The Charouz Racing Systems team secured a fine ninth place finish on the Le Mans 24 Hours debut for the closed coupe LMP1 Lola Aston Martin, despite an accident that threatened to force the team into retirement in the early stages.

Having qualified in sixth place, ahead of one of the diesel-powered Audi R10s, Stefan Mucke ran well inside the top ten in the early stages before pitting to hand the car over to young Czech team-mate Jan Charouz. However, at the end of the second hour, he suffered a high-speed accident approaching the Dunlop Curve which saw the car almost roll before making heavy rear contact with the barrier.

Having managed to return to the pits, despite another scare at Tetre Rouge when the front of the car started to disintegrate, the team then set about making repairs with the car eventually returning to the race down in 48th place.

Although there were other unscheduled stops during the remainder of the race, the car made its way back through the field and it was left to Tomas Enge to take the flag as third of the petrol runners inside the top ten.

"It is always nice to see the chequered flag after 24 hours and I actually realised that it was the first time I had crossed the finish line in the car!" he said. "The team put in a huge effort and we had a technically relatively trouble-free race, which was very positive after challenging test day and qualifying sessions.

"Driving a prototype was a whole new experience for me and I liked it. On the other hand, it was clear that we can not be a match for the factory diesels, so we were never really in a fight for overall victory. At least we were mostly the quickest of the petrol cars. Last but not least, I want to congratulate my former GT1 team-mates for taking the GT1 class win with the Aston Martin DBR9."

Team principal Antonin Charouz was pleased to see the car perform strongly during the race, being one of only two petrol cars to lap quicker than 3mins 30secs, and said the Lola Aston Martin had established itself as the car to beat amongst the petrol runners with its strong comeback.

"We have reasons to be happy," he said. "It was the first start of the car at Le Mans and unfortunately Jan had an off during his first stint after he lost downforce. It looked like we were finished as he stopped twice, but finally managed to bring the car back to the pits. We had some other niggling problems, but we finished the race.

"We started twice at Le Mans and we have two finishes, which is good. The car clearly demonstrated that speed-wise it is the class of the petrol field and it is not surprising that factory diesels were in a different league. As a privateer, it is always difficult to fight against mighty factory teams with huge resources, regardless of the engine technology. We pushed hard, gained back a lot of time on our direct rivals, so I am happy."