This past weekend, Audi made automotive history when their E-Tron became the first hybrid car to win the the world’s biggest auto-racing endurance event, the 24-hour LeMans.

The fact that an Audi won the event isn’t exactly life-changing: they’ve won 11 out of the last 13 years. And, by the sounds of it, most people saw it coming. However, that they did it in a hybrid is very noteworthy indeed. Oh, and that they got second, and third, is not bad. That second spot was also in a hybrid.

By achieving this further success at the world’s most important endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological expertise in a particularly impressive way,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.

Audi’s race winner, however, is not your run-of-the-mill hybrid: it swaps out large, clunky batteries for a diesel-powered V6 turbo-charged engine and a sophisticated flywheel that collects energy generated from braking which it converts into power for an electric motor. These technological advancements not only secured them the top two podium spots, it also earned them the fastest time with the highest overall average top speed.

Said race winner, Benoît Tréluyer:

This result is the fruit of so much hard work. We prepared well for the race, and Marcel, André and I felt more confident after our win in 2011. We also worked with the same technical staff, including our race engineer Leena and our mechanics. We are really motivated by the hybrid project. Today, I think we wrote a fresh page in motor racing history.

Sounds like the kind of hybrid more people would be willing to go for, if only a production model was available.

[Source: Mashable, Jalopnik, LeMans Live]