A serious accident at the beginning of the 14th hour required the course to be neutralized as medical crews rushed to the aid of Benoit Treluyer in the stricken #17 Pescarolo Peugeot 908.

Sebastien Bourdais was the main beneficiary of the 45-minute safety car period and is now only 90 seconds behind the lead Peugeot driven by Marc Gene, raising the possibility of an all-out duel to the checkered flag.

Audi brought the #1 R15 into the garage for further work to an overheating turbocharger twice under the safety car. It is now running a lap behind the leader with Rinaldo Capello at the wheel.

Stefan Mucke is running fourth in the #007 Aston Martin LMP1. The car required a nose change during the safety car period because one of its headlamps had failed.

The rest of the positions remain largely unchanged owing to the full-course caution. Risi Competizione brought the GT2 class-leading Ferrari F430 GT in for a brake pad change under the safety car but Mika Salo still emerged ahead of the #92 Ferrari, which is now just four seconds clear of Fabio Babini in third.