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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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