Perry McCarthy's fifth attempt at a Le Man's finish was ruined when his Audi R8 ran out of petrol two hours into the race.
The Billericay racer's co-driver Frank Biela was at the wheel when he was unable to pit for fuel and was forced to go out on the track again.
But the triple Le Mans winner ran out of petrol before he could get back in.
"We we're looking good and it's just a pity the race ended like this," said McCarthy, 41.
"Frank is a great, great driver but we were just plain unlucky with this incident. I'm convinced we would have been on the podium."
McCarthy, Biela and Mika Salo had qualified third on the grid for the 24-hour endurance race and were running fourth when Biela's incident happened.
Essex-born Johnny Herbert took second for Bentley with fellow Brits Mark Blundell and David Brabham.
The race was won by Guy Smith, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello to give Bentley their first Le Mans win since 1930.
Published Monday, June 16, 2003
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