The two Audi e-trons were nose-to-tail again with four hours remaining at Le Mans, as Benoit Treluyer, in the #1 R18 e-tron quattro, held a narrow lead ahead of Allan McNish in the #2.
The #2 came in from the lead with Dindo Capello at the wheel, but could not quite get out in time to prevent Treluyer – back in the car after a longer than expected rest period due to illness – from sweeping through back into the lead.
Audi's top four sweep could be in jeopardy though, as the #4 car has run into difficulty. The car has twice slowed to a crawl within the last hour, first with Marco Bonanomi at the wheel, then Oliver Jarvis. Each time it has been able to get back up to speed, and it remains third ahead of the sister #3 ultra despite the recurring glitch.
Rebellion still holds fifth place with its #12 car, while the #13 is back in 13th overall following a 37-minute clutch change. JRM's HPD therefore completes the top six.
Soheil Ayari's recovery drive has brought the Pecom ORECA back up to second in LMP2, still a lap behind the leading Starworks car.
AF Corse's GTE Pro lead is up to three laps after the Luxury Ferrari required a brake change. The latter car remains second in class, but could come under pressure from the flying Aston Martin, currently driven by Stefan Mucke.
NOTES
- #1 Audi gets rear bodywork damage in incident with #74 Corvette, then goes wheel to wheel with #2 after repairs in next pitstop
- Mucke damages the #97 Aston Martin in a crash at Indianapolis, dropping it away from GTE Pro leaders
- The #48 ORECA-Nissan driven by Brendon Hartley has retired after contact with the Status Lola
- Faisal spins the #75 Porsche at Porsche Curves, hitting the wall to bring the safety car out
- Marcel Fassler spins the #1 Audi e-tron at the Porsche curves, handing the lead to McNish
- Dumas tipped into a spin while passing traffic at Ford chicane
- Davidson confirms he sustained a broken back as a result of huge earlier crash
- Westbrook loses a wheel, and with it the lead of the GTE Pro class
- Peter Dumbreck suffers blow-out in the #22 JRM HPD
- Spin at Ford chicane for #21 Strakka HPD
- Problems for the #7 Toyota following collision with DeltaWing at the restart
- #29 Gulf Racing Lola B12 the first official retirement
- #40 hit with a two-minute stop and go penalty for second pitlane
speeding offence
- 30s pit stop penalties for #40 and #49 LMP2s for speeding in pitlane
- Audi hits early niggles, with Tom Kristensen the third unexpected delay for the marque across its four cars
- Early GTE Pro scrap between Corvette, Aston Martin and Ferrari
- #99 Aston Martin Vantage suffers early misfire and then retires with damage
POSITIONS AFTER 20 HOURS
Pos Car Drivers Class Laps Gap
1. #1 Audi Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer LMP1 316
2. #2 Audi McNish/Capello/Kristensen LMP1 316 + 3.068s
3. #4 Audi Jarvis/Bonanomi/Rockenfeller LMP1 313 + 3 Laps
4. #3 Audi Gene/Dumas/Duval LMP1 307 + 9 Laps
5. #12 Lola Prost/Heidfeld/Jani LMP1 306 + 10 Laps
6. #22 HPD Brabham/Dumbreck/Chandhok LMP1 297 + 19 Laps
7. #44 HPD Potolicchio/Dalziel/K-Smith LMP2 295 + 21 Laps
8. #21 HPD Leventis/Kane/Watts LMP1 295 + 30.885s
9. #46 Oreca Thiriet/Beche/Tinseau LMP2 294 + 22 Laps
10. #49 Oreca Perez Companc/Kaffer/Ayari LMP2 294 + 10.567s
11. #26 Oreca Ragues/Panciatici/Rusinov LMP2 292 + 24 Laps
12. #25 Oreca Martin/Charouz/Graves LMP2 290 + 26 Laps
13. #13 Lola Belicchi/Bleekemolen/Primat LMP1 289 + 27 Laps
14. #41 Zytek Zugel/Julian/Gonzalez LMP2 289 + 3.732s
15. #35 Morgan H Hansson/Leinders/Martin LMP2 282 + 34 Laps
16. #42 Zytek Brundle/Brundle/Ordonez LMP2 281 + 35 Laps
17. #23 Oreca Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard LMP2 281 + 1m05.728s
18. #51 Ferrari Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander GTEP 280 + 36 Laps
19. #59 Ferrari Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher GTEP 277 + 39 Laps
20. #97 Aston Mucke/Fernandez/Turner GTEP 276 + 40 Laps
21. #50 Corvette Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy GTEA 273 + 43 Laps
22. #67 Porsche Pons/Armindo/Narac GTEA 273 + 48.443s
23. #73 Corvette Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor GTEP 273 + 1m38.341s
24. #38 Zytek Hancock/Dolan/Kurosawa LMP2 271 + 45 Laps
25. #45 Oreca Briere/Nakano/Petersen LMP2 270 + 46 Laps
26. #71 Ferrari Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci GTEP 270 + 19.702s
27. #57 Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo GTEA 268 + 48 Laps
28. #40 Oreca Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry LMP2 263 + 53 Laps
29. #79 Porsche Neiman/Pumpelly/Pilet GTEA 259 + 57 Laps
30. #70 Corvette Bourret/Gibon/Belloc GTEA 256 + 60 Laps
31. #55 Porsche Daniels/Palttala/Camathias GTEA 254 + 62 Laps
32. #43 Norma Rosier/Haezebrouck/Thirion LMP2 254 + 1m47.302s
33. #61 Ferrari Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers GTEA 251 + 65 Laps
34. #83 Ferrari Rodrigues/Illiano/Ferte GTEA 239 + 77 Laps
35. #74 Corvette Gavin/Westbrook/Milner GTEP 204 + 112 Laps
36. #17 Dome Minassian/Bourdais/Ara LMP1 201 + 115 Laps
37. #33 HPD Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz LMP2 240 Retired
38. #30 Lola Sims/Buurman/Iannetta LMP2 239 Retired
39. #88 Porsche Ried/Roda/Ruberti GTEA 222 Retired
40. #15 OAK Montagny/Kraihamer/Baguette LMP1 219 Retired
41. #66 Ferrari Walker/Cocker/Wills GTEP 204 Retired
42. #48 Oreca Firth/Hartley/Hughes LMP2 196 Retired
43. #77 Porsche Lietz/Lieb/Henzler GTEP 184 Retired
44. #75 Porsche al Faisal/Curtis/Edwards GTEA 180 Retired
45. #31 Lola Holzer/Schultis/Moro LMP2 155 Retired
46. #58 Ferrari Ehret/Jeannette/Montecalvo GTEA 146 Retired
47. #24 Morgan Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla LMP2 139 Retired
48. #7 Toyota Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima LMP1 134 Retired
49. #80 Porsche Bergmeister/Long/Holzer GTEP 114 Retired
50. #28 Lola Giroix/Badey/Johansson LMP2 92 Retired
51. #8 Toyota Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin LMP1 82 Retired
52. #0 DeltaWing Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama CDNT 75 Retired
53. #81 Ferrari Perazzini/Cadei/Griffin GTEA 70 Retired
54. #99 Aston Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen GTEA 31 Retired
55. #16 Pescarolo Collard/Bouillon/Hall LMP1 20 Retired
56. #29 Lola Ihara/Deletraz/Rostan LMP2 17 Retired