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Audi's grip on the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours tightened as the sole remaining Toyota TS030 hit trouble at the race's restart just after the six-hour mark.
The green flags flew almost exactly an hour after Anthony Davidson's massive crash brought out the safety car for the first time, but it took barely 30 seconds before Toyota hit further trouble.
Marcel Fassler's lead #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro got bottled up as it tried to navigate its way past the sister #4 R18 ultra of Oliver Jarvis and through a group of post-safety car traffic.
Nakajima in the #07 TS030 was perched right on the tail of the two Audis, and in the initial melee jinked to the right going into the Porsche curves – right into the path of compatriot Satoshi Motoyama in the Nissan DeltaWing.
The DeltaWing was sent crashing into the wall in the process, while the Toyota pitted initially for a new rear section. One lap later Nakajima returned to the pits, however, the car being pushed into the garage and up onto the jacks as the Toyota crew fought to assess the full damage from the clash.
The team's woes were a boon to Audi, which was able to occupy the top three positions as a result.
Fassler still leads in the #1 R18, ahead of Rinaldo Capello in the sister #2 e-tron quattro and the #4 ultra currently driven by Oliver Jarvis.
Brendon Hartley moved into the lead of the LMP2 class at the wheel of the #48 Murphy ORECA-Nissan, 15s ahead of Jacques Nicolet in the #24 OAK Morgan-Judd which had led the class for much of the race.
Hartley had lain fourth just after the restart, but fought his way past those in front as the pit stops cycled through.
The top five LMP2 runners are now all on the same lap, with only Vicente Potolicchio's #44 Starworks HPD having completed more than eight stops.
Oliver Gavin managed to edge away from Toni Vilander as Corvette and Ferrari resumed the fight for GTE Pro honors.
Vilander had closed to within four seconds of the lead #74 Corvette, but dropped back when he completed the #51 AF Corse Ferrari's sixth stop.
Only Marc Lieb in the #77 Porsche has been able to stay on the same lap as the lead pair, with the #97 Aston Martin Vantage – previously in the scrap for the front – dropping to sixth after pitting immediately before and after the safety car period.
Pedro Lamy's #50 Corvette meanwhile leads Nicolas Armindo's #67 Porsche in the fight for GTE Am honours.
NOTES
• Problems for the #7 Toyota following collision with DeltaWing at the restart.
• Huge crash for Anthony Davidson in the #8 Toyota, leading to lengthy safety car period.
• #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.
• Garage checks for Tom Kristensen in the #2 Audi, the third unexpected delay for the marque across its four cars.
• Titanic GTE Pro scrap between Corvette, Aston Martin and Ferrari.
• Misfire for #99 Aston Martin Vantage hands #79 Flying Lizard Porsche sizeable GTE Am lead.
• The #17 Pescarolo started the race from the pitlane after an engine change ran late. The team's #16 Dome also pitted with drivetrain issues.
- The quickest LMP1 qualifier, Strakka Racing's HPD, was pushed back into the garage before the start and joined the race on lap six.
POSITIONS AFTER 7 HOURS
Pos Car Drivers Class Laps Gap
1. #1 Audi Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer LMP1 102
2. #2 Audi McNish/Capello/Kristensen LMP1 102 + 1m08.536s
3. #4 Audi Jarvis/Bonanomi/Rockenfeller LMP1 101 + 1 Lap
4. #12 Lola Prost/Heidfeld/Jani LMP1 100 + 2 Laps
5. #13 Lola Belicchi/Bleekemolen/Primat LMP1 99 + 3 Laps
6. #22 HPD Brabham/Dumbreck/Chandhok LMP1 99 + 29.204s
7. #7 Toyota Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima LMP1 98 + 4 Laps
8. #24 Morgan Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla LMP2 97 + 5 Laps
9. #35 Morgan H Hansson/Leinders/Martin LMP2 97 + 5.614s
10. #48 Oreca Firth/Hartley/Hughes LMP2 97 + 57.536s
11. #44 HPD Potolicchio/Dalziel/K-Smith LMP2 96 + 6 Laps
12. #26 Oreca Ragues/Panciatici/Rusinov LMP2 96 + 1m08.268s
13. #25 Oreca Martin/Charouz/Graves LMP2 96 + 1m09.700s
14. #49 Oreca Perez Companc/Kaffer/Ayari LMP2 96 + 2m38.251s
15. #23 Oreca Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard LMP2 96 + 3m03.387s
16. #3 Audi Gene/Dumas/Duval LMP1 95 + 7 Laps
17. #33 HPD Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz LMP2 95 + 32.887s
18. #45 Oreca Briere/Nakano/Petersen LMP2 95 + 38.871s
19. #30 Lola Sims/Buurman/Iannetta LMP2 95 + 1m07.720s
20. #15 OAK Montagny/Kraihamer/Baguette LMP1 95 + 1m11.207s
21. #38 Zytek Hancock/Dolan/Kurosawa LMP2 95 + 1m16.071s
22. #46 Oreca Thiriet/Beche/Tinseau LMP2 95 + 2m14.295s
23. #21 HPD Leventis/Kane/Watts LMP1 94 + 8 Laps
24. #41 Zytek Zugel/Julian/Gonzalez LMP2 94 + 1m43.185s
25. #42 Zytek Brundle/Brundle/Ordonez LMP2 93 + 9 Laps
26. #40 Oreca Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry LMP2 93 + 18.023s
27. #31 Lola Holzer/Schultis/Moro LMP2 92 + 10 Laps
28. #74 Corvette Gavin/Westbrook/Milner GTEP 92 + 6.367s
29. #51 Ferrari Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander GTEP 92 + 10.970s
30. #77 Porsche Lietz/Lieb/Henzler GTEP 91 + 11 Laps
31. #59 Ferrari Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher GTEP 91 + 25.055s
32. #73 Corvette Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor GTEP 91 + 26.977s
33. #97 Aston Mucke/Fernandez/Turner GTEP 91 + 2m40.404s
34. #50 Corvette Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy GTEA 90 + 12 Laps
35. #61 Ferrari Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers GTEA 89 + 13 Laps
36. #67 Porsche Pons/Armindo/Narac GTEA 89 + 17.421s
37. #88 Porsche Ried/Roda/Ruberti GTEA 89 + 40.647s
38. #66 Ferrari Walker/Cocker/Wills GTEP 89 + 56.906s
39. #57 Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo GTEA 89 + 1m56.914s
40. #43 Norma Rosier/Haezebrouck/Thirion LMP2 89 + 3m28.797s
41. #71 Ferrari Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci GTEP 88 + 14 Laps
42. #83 Ferrari Rodrigues/Illiano/Ferte GTEA 88 + 1m39.723s
43. #70 Corvette Bourret/Gibon/Belloc GTEA 87 + 15 Laps
44. #55 Porsche Daniels/Palttala/Camathias GTEA 87 + 42.052s
45. #58 Ferrari Ehret/Jeannette/Montecalvo GTEA 85 + 17 Laps
46. #80 Porsche Bergmeister/Long/Holzer GTEP 83 + 19 Laps
47. #75 Porsche al Faisal/Curtis/Edwards GTEA 82 + 20 Laps
48. #17 Dome Minassian/Bourdais/Ara LMP1 78 + 24 Laps
49. #0 DeltaWing Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama CDNT 75 + 27 Laps
50. #28 Lola Giroix/Badey/Johansson LMP2 75 +32m40.624s
51. #79 Porsche Neiman/Pumpelly/Pilet GTEA 74 + 28 Laps
52. #99 Aston Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen GTEA 31 + 71 Laps
53. #8 Toyota Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin LMP1 82 + 20 Laps
54. #81 Ferrari Perazzini/Cadei/Griffin GTEA 70 + 32 Laps
55. #16 Pescarolo Collard/Bouillon/Hall LMP1 20 + 82 Laps
56. #29 Lola Ihara/Deletraz/Rostan LMP2 17 + 85 Laps