LM24 H20: Loic Duval still leads by nearly two laps for Audi
Audi's Loic Duval continues to enjoy an advantage of almost two laps over the chasing Toyota TS030s heading into the final four hours at Le Mans
The Japanese marque's grip on the podium's final steps meanwhile loosened following a wild spin for Kazuki Nakajima heading into the Dunlop chicane.
The ex-Formula 1 driver lost his car heading into the section and vaulted across the first of the chicane kerbs, became briefly airborne and, after narrowly avoiding clouting a GTE Am Imsa Porsche, spun backwards across the track.
Nakajima was able to rejoin immediately and was then given a clean bill of health by the Toyota pit crew, but the incident allowed Lucas di Grassi in the #3 Audi to close right in.
The Brazilian ended the hour just 34s down on the second Toyota, which has held third since the seventh hour.
There were no such dramas for Stephane Sarrazin in the sister #8 TS030, which remains within two laps of Loic Duval in the lead Audi.
That gap owes something to the fact the #1 R18 was forced to make an impromptu stop to switch from wet tyres to slicks when the race's 10th safety car - prompted by Frederic Makowiecki's Hour 19 crash - finally pulled in.
Marcel Fassler has hauled the #1 Audi back to fifth overall, while Danny Watts is sixth in the #21 Strakka HPD following a litany of problems for the Rebellion Lola squad.
The contest for the LMP2 lead continues to be played out between OAK Racing's two Morgan-Nissans.
Martin Plowman still holds the advantage in the #35 machine, although Alex Brundle has kept the #24 car on the lead lap.
Michael Krumm snatched third back at the turn of the hour for the #42 Greaves squad, but only after Mike Conway pitted in the #26 G-Drive ORECA-Nissan.
The latter car has now pitted 26 times, compared to 22 stops for Krumm's team.
With Makowiecki exiting the race one hour ago, GTE Pro has become a three-way scrap between the two works Manthey Porsches and the #97 Aston Martin Vantage.
Marc Lieb continues to lead, with Darren Turner splitting the German and Jorg Bergmeister in the sister 911.
Jean-Karl Vernay meanwhile continues to lead in GTE Am, now more than one lap clear of a chasing pack led by Piergiuseppe Perazzini's #55 AF Corse Ferrari.
POSITIONS AFTER 20 HOURS Pos Cl Car Drivers Laps Gap 1. P1 #2 Audi Kristensen/McNish/Duval 288 2. P1 #8 Toyota Davidson/Sarrazin/Buemi 287 + 1 Lap 3. P1 #7 Toyota Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima 286 + 2 Laps 4. P1 #3 Audi Gene/Jarvis/di Grassi 286 + 28.400s 5. P1 #1 Audi Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler 278 + 10 Laps 6. P1 #21 HPD Leventis/Kane/Watts 276 + 12 Laps 7. P2 #35 Morgan Baguette/Plowman/Gonzalez 272 + 16 Laps 8. P2 #24 Morgan Pla/Brundle/H Hansson 271 + 17 Laps 9. P2 #26 Oreca Rusinov/Martin/Conway 270 + 18 Laps 10. P2 #42 Zytek Krumm/Mardenborough/Ordonez 270 + 1m08.729s 11. P2 #49 Oreca P-Companc/Kaffer/Minassian 269 + 19 Laps 12. P2 #46 Oreca Thiriet/Badey/Martin 267 + 21 Laps 13. P2 #43 Morgan Gachnang/Mailleux/Lombard 265 + 23 Laps 14. P2 #38 Zytek Dolan/Turvey/Luhr 264 + 24 Laps 15. P2 #48 Oreca Hartley/Chandhok/Patterson 263 + 25 Laps 16. GTP #92 Porsche Lieb/Lietz/Dumas 261 + 27 Laps 17. GTP #97 Aston Mucke/Turner/Dumbreck 261 + 8.349s 18. P2 #36 Alpine Ragues/Panciatici/Gommendy 261 + 16.164s 19. GTP #91 Porsche Bergmeister/Pilet/Bernhard 260 + 28 Laps 20. P2 #34 Oreca Frey/Niederhauser/Bleekemolen 260 + 1m52.840s 21. GTP #71 Ferrari Beretta/Kobayashi/Vilander 259 + 29 Laps 22. GTP #51 Ferrari Bruni/Fisichella/Malucelli 258 + 30 Laps 23. GTP #74 Corvette Gavin/Milner/Westbrook 258 + 1m14.943s 24. GTP #73 Corvette Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor 257 + 31 Laps 25. P1 #12 Lola Prost/Jani/Heidfeld 256 + 32 Laps 26. GTA #76 Porsche Narac/Vernay/Bourret 253 + 35 Laps 27. GTP #53 SRT Farnbacher/Goossens/Dalziel 253 + 12.602s 28. P1 #13 Lola Beche/Belicchi/Cheng 252 + 36 Laps 29. P2 #41 Zytek Rossi/K-Smith/Lux 252 + 2h16m24.799s 30. GTA #55 Ferrari Perazzini/O'Young/Case 252 + 2h17m13.362s 31. GTA #77 Porsche Dempsey/Foster/Long 251 + 37 Laps 32. GTA #61 Ferrari Gerber/Griffin/Cioci 251 + 37.979s 33. GTA #50 Corvette Bornhauser/Canal/Taylor 249 + 39 Laps 34. GTP #93 SRT Wittmer/Kendall/Bomarito 249 + 20.057s 35. P2 #40 Oreca Dagoneau/Downs/Younessi 249 + 1m43.499s 36. GTA #67 Porsche Gibon/Milesi/Henzler 249 + 3m01.598s 37. GTA #96 Aston Goethe/Campbell-Walter/Hall 248 + 40 Laps 38. GTP #66 Ferrari Bertolini/Faisal/Qubaisi 248 + 1m57.600s 39. GTA #75 Porsche Collard/Perrodo/Crubile 247 + 41 Laps 40. GTA #88 Porsche Ried/Roda/Ruberti 246 + 42 Laps 41. GTA #81 Ferrari Potolicchio/Aguas/Bright 242 + 46 Laps 42. P2 #33 HPD Tucker/Franchitti/Briscoe 240 + 48 Laps 43. P2 #45 Morgan Nicolet/Merlin/Mondolot 237 + 51 Laps 44. P2 #39 Lola Porta/Brandela/Raffin 228 + 60 Laps 45. GTA #70 Corvette MacNeil/Rodrigues/Dumas 216 + 72 Laps 46. GTP #99 Aston Makowiecki/Senna/Bell 248 Retired 47. P2 #47 Morgan Imperatori/Howson/Tung 241 Retired 48. GTP #98 Aston Dalla Lana/Lamy/Auberlen 221 Retired 49. P2 #32 Lotus Holzer/Kraihamer/Charouz 219 Retired 50. P2 #30 Lola Mowlem/Burgess/Hirschi 153 Retired 51. GTA #54 Ferrari Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank 147 Retired 52. GTA #57 Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani 111 Retired 53. P2 #25 Oreca Graves/Hamilton/Nakano 101 Retired 54. P2 #28 Lola Giroix/Haezebrouck/Ihara 22 Retired 55. P2 #31 Lotus Weeda/Rossiter/Bouchut 17 Retired 56. GTA #95 Aston Simonsen/Nygaard/Poulsen 2 Retired
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