Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer kept Audi at the front of the Le Mans field at the end of the 13th hour, although Peugeot was able to make significant inroads into the overall lead.
Audi had enjoyed a gap of almost two minutes at the halfway stage of the race, but lost time as Treluyer handed over to Fassler in the pitlane.
Sebastien Bourdais meanwhile handed the reigns of the lead No. 9 Peugeot to Simon Pagenaud, and the Frenchman steadily reduced the arrears to Fassler - even moving back into the lead when the Audi made its 15th stop of the race.
Pagenaud stopped shortly after, but came back out just 40s behind Fassler - with the gap then staying fairly constant as the 13th hour concluded.
The No. 7 and No. 8 Peugeots swapped places twice, with Anthony Davidson in the No. 7 908 ending just eight seconds ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in the No. 8 car.
Julien Jousse took over in the No. 16 Pescarolo-Judd and re-enforced his team's lead in the gasoline standings, with the gap to the No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola now more than a lap.
In LMP2, a flying Dominik Kraihamer in the No. 48 ORECA successfully hounded down Karim Ojjeh in the No. 41 Zytek-Nissan to recapture the class lead. Having made one stop less, Ojjeh trails Kraihamer by 14sec.
Having once lain second, the No. 42 Strakka HPD has thus far been unable to return to the track following a recurring problem toward the halfway stage of the race.
In the GTE Pro class, Jan Magnussen handed a healthy lead to his No. 74 Corvette team-mate Richard Westbrook. Gianmaria Bruni currently lies second in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, more than two minutes down the road.
Jean-Philippe Beloc leads the GTE Am field in the No. 70 Larbre Porsche 911.
POSITIONS AFTER 13 HOURS
Pos Car Team Class Gap
1. No. 2 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1)
2. No. 9 Peugeot Team Peugeot Total (LMP1) + 35.889
3. No. 7 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1:10.739
4. No. 8 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1:20.210
5. No. 16 Pescarolo Pescarolo Team (LMP1) + 5 Laps
6. No. 12 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 7 Laps
7. No. 13 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 7 Laps
8. No. 10 Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP1) + 8 Laps
9. No. 22 Lola Kronos Racing (LMP1) + 11 Laps
10. No. 48 Oreca Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP2) + 12 Laps
11. No. 41 Zytek Greaves Motorsport (LMP2) + 12 Laps
12. No. 26 Oreca Signatech Nissan (LMP2) + 14 Laps
13. No. 33 Lola Level 5 Motorsports (LMP2) + 14 Laps
14. No. 49 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 15 Laps
15. No. 35 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 18 Laps
16. No. 74 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 18 Laps
17. No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 19 Laps
18. No. 75 Porsche Prospeed Competition (GTEP) + 19 Laps
19. No. 59 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 19 Laps
20. No. 73 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 19 Laps
21. No. 55 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 20 Laps
22. No. 80 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP) + 20 Laps
23. No. 76 Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut (GTEP) + 21 Laps
24. No. 56 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 21 Laps
25. No. 77 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 21 Laps
26. No. 36 HPD RML (LMP2) + 22 Laps
27. No. 81 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA) + 23 Laps
28. No. 70 Porsche Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 23 Laps
29. No. 50 Corvette Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 24 Laps
30. No. 61 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEA) + 24 Laps
31. No. 40 Oreca Race Performance (LMP2) + 25 Laps
32. No. 65 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 26 Laps
33. No. 71 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 26 Laps
34. No. 63 Porsche Proton Competition (GTEA) + 29 Laps
35. No. 83 Ferrari JMB Racing (GTEA) + 30 Laps
36. No. 66 Ferrari JMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 35 Laps
37. No. 68 Ford Robertson Racing (GTEA) + 35 Laps
38. No. 88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 39 Laps
39. No. 60 Aston Gulf AMR Middle East (GTEA) + 41 Laps
40. No. 89 Ferrari Hankook Team Farnbacher (GTEP) + 50 Laps
41. No. 44 Norma Extr (LMP2) + 52 Laps
42. No. 64 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 56 Laps
43. No. 58 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 72 Laps
44. No. 5 Oreca Hope Racing (LMP1) + 73 Laps
45. No. 42 HPD Strakka Racing (LMP2) Retired
46. No. 39 Lola PeCom Racing (LMP2) Retired
47. No. 57 Ferrari Krohn Racing (GTEA) Retired
48. No. 24 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired
49. No. 1 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) Retired
50. No. 62 Ferrari CRS Racing (GTEA) Retired
51. No. 15 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired
52. No. 79 Aston Jota (GTEP) Retired
53. No. 20 Zytek Quifel-ASM Team (LMP1) Retired
54. No. 3 Audi Audi Sport North America (LMP1) Retired
55. No. 007 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired
56. No. 009 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired