Allan McNish conceded to feeling "very hollow" after seeing his dream of a long-overdue second Le Mans victory bite the dust.
McNish, along with co-drivers Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen had led the endurance classic for all but the run to the first corner when disaster struck after 16 and a half hours.
Capello's 43rd birthday today will be one he will want to forget as a nut broke on the left-rear wheel of the Audi, a part of the car the team had had problems with in an earlier pit stop.
That sent the tyre hurtling off as the Italian approached one of the fastest parts of the 13.629km circuit at the Indianapolis corner.
Capello's car then spun through 360 degrees before slamming into a tyre wall and into retirement, leaving one Audi to fight the two Peugeots.
A dejected McNish, who has led all eight Le Mans in which he has competed but only won once back in 1998, said: "It's difficult to put into words.
"We'd been in a dominating car for more than 16 hours, had a four-lap lead that came about through sheer speed, the team, the car itself, and with a very strong driving crew.
"But then Le Mans bit, and at this moment in time I'm extremely disappointed and I feel very hollow because the knowledge is it's another year before you can have another crack at this race.
"The sister Audi that was running second four laps down is now sitting in pole position.
"But with the three Audis at the start, and now only one, we are hoping nothing goes wrong with that one."
Capello, meanwhile, was thanking his lucky stars he was uninjured following the 160mph smash.
"I was lucky to be in an Audi due to the safety of the car because after such a big accident I am in one piece," said Capello.
"At the moment, that's enough, because if I think of the race I have no words to express my feelings."
Mike Rockenfeller initially crashed out after 90 minutes yesterday when the German caught a damp part of the track before hurtling backwards into a barrier at Tertre Rouge.
With five and a half hours remaining, the only Audi running is that of reigning champions Emanuele Pirro, Frank Biela and Marco Werner.
With Pirro at the helm, the trio held a five-lap cushion to the first of the Peugeots driven by Marc Gene, with the sister car of Pedro Lamy a further three laps down.
The GT1 battle remains an enthralling one, with David Brabham - son of the legendary Sir Jack - out in front in one of the works Aston Martins by a lap from Jan Magnussen's Corvette.
The all-British driver line-up of Bill Binnie, Allen Timpany and Chris Buncombe were on course for victory in the LM P2 category in their Lola Zytek, holding a 15-lap lead to their nearest rivals.
In the ever-changing battle in GT2, mainly due to retirements, the Porsche 911 of Raymond Narac held a five-lap cushion to his closest challenger.
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