The fight between the #2 Audi R18 and the three works Peugeots continues to rage after 18 hours of this year's Le Mans.
Having lost his advantage thanks to the safety car period in the previous hour, Audi's Benoit Treluyer attacked Simon Pagenaud in the #9 Peugeot 908 after the restart. He was chased closely by Stephane Sarrazin in the #8 Peugeot, a lap down, and Alexander Wurz's #7 car in third.
Sarrazin unlapped himself from the sole remaining Audi, only to be boxed in at the Porsche Curves, allowing Treluyer to dramatically repass around the outside. He then
went around the outside of Pagenaud into the second Mulsanne chicane to take the lead.
Treluyer edged away, setting some of the fastest laps of the race, until pitting with just over 15 minutes of the hour remaining. Pagenaud followed him in, allowing Wurz to take the lead for two laps before he too stopped. That left Treluyer leading by 13 seconds from Pagenaud as the hour closed.
The #16 Pescarolo still leads the petrol entries in fifth overall, but has just come into the pits with an as-yet unspecified problem. The recovering ORECA Peugeot has now made it up to sixth, ahead of the sole remaining Rebellion Lola-Toyota, and is closing in.
The #41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan heads LMP2 in ninth overall, well clear of the #26 Signatech ORECA-Nissan.
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari is comfortably in the lead of GTE Pro, chased by the #73 Chevrolet Corvette. The long-time leader, the #74 Corvette, has now been officially retired after Jan Magnussen's crash in the previous hour.
Larbre Competition is now running one-two in GTE Am, helped by the #81 Flying Lizard Porsche being retired with no drive. The team's #50 Corvette currently heads its #70 Porsche entry.
NOTES:
- Jan Magnussen lost control of the GTE Pro-leading #74 Chevrolet Corvette and crashed into the #63 Proton Porsche during the 17th hour, putting both cars out.
- Jean-Christophe Boullion crashed the Rebellion Lola-Toyota in the 14th hour at the Porsche Curves. He had been running eighth at the time of the shunt.
- Mike Rockenfeller was taken to hospital following a frightening accident that totally destroyed the #1 Audi in the seventh hour of the race. The German had been running third when he made contact with a GTE Ferrari at kink after Mulsanne. Audi later confirmed that the German would be kept in overnight for observation but that he was okay.
- The #3 Audi of Allan McNish crashed out of the race in the first hour having just taken second position. The Scot collected the #58 Luxury Racing Ferrari in the right-hander after the Dunlop Bridge. The heavy impact destroyed the car and McNish was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but was later released with an all-clear.
- Both Aston Martin AMR Ones ran into trouble on the first lap of the race. Darren Turner spinning with mechanical trouble and Adrian Fernandez stopping out on the Mulsanne. The #007 car of Turner was recovered to the pits where it was discovered an alternator belt tensioner was to blame.
POSITIONS AFTER 18 HOURS
Pos Car Team Class Gap
1. #2 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1)
2. #9 Peugeot Team Peugeot Total (LMP1) + 15.395
3. #7 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1 Lap
4. #8 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 2 Laps
5. #16 Pescarolo Pescarolo Team (LMP1) + 11 Laps
6. #10 Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP1) + 11 Laps
7. #12 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 11 Laps
8. #22 Lola Kronos Racing (LMP1) + 16 Laps
9. #41 Zytek Greaves Motorsport (LMP2) + 18 Laps
10. #26 Oreca Signatech Nissan (LMP2) + 22 Laps
11. #33 Lola Level 5 Motorsports (LMP2) + 23 Laps
12. #49 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 25 Laps
13. #51 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 28 Laps
14. #73 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 28 Laps
15. #55 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 29 Laps
16. #77 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 30 Laps
17. #76 Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut (GTEP) + 30 Laps
18. #56 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 31 Laps
19. #36 HPD RML (LMP2) + 31 Laps
20. #75 Porsche Prospeed Competition (GTEP) + 32 Laps
21. #80 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP) + 32 Laps
22. #40 Oreca Race Performance (LMP2) + 33 Laps
23. #35 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 34 Laps
24. #50 Corvette Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 36 Laps
25. #70 Porsche Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 37 Laps
26. #83 Ferrari JMB Racing (GTEA) + 43 Laps
27. #65 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 43 Laps
28. #66 Ferrari JMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 48 Laps
29. #68 Ford Robertson Racing (GTEA) + 51 Laps
30. #44 Norma Extr (LMP2) + 95 Laps
31. #74 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 46 Laps
32. #81 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA) + 46 Laps
33. #48 Oreca Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP2) + 57 Laps
34. #63 Porsche Proton Competition (GTEA) + 58 Laps
35. #13 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) Retired
36. #61 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEA) + 69 Laps
37. #59 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 74 Laps
38. #71 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 79 Laps
39. #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 88 Laps
40. #42 HPD Strakka Racing (LMP2) Retired
41. #60 Aston Gulf AMR Middle East (GTEA) Retired
42. #39 Lola PeCom Racing (LMP2) Retired
43. #89 Ferrari Hankook Team Farnbacher (GTEP) Retired
44. #58 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 121 Laps
45. #64 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) Retired
46. #57 Ferrari Krohn Racing (GTEA) Retired
47. #24 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired
48. #1 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) Retired
49. #5 Oreca Hope Racing (LMP1) Retired
50. #62 Ferrari CRS Racing (GTEA) Retired
51. #15 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired
52. #79 Aston Jota (GTEP) Retired
53. #20 Zytek Quifel-ASM Team (LMP1) Retired
54. #3 Audi Audi Sport North America (LMP1) Retired
55. #007 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired
56. #009 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired