H16: Bourdais moves into fourth

Collard made contact with the GT2 AF Corse Porsche and rebounded backwards into the barriers. The car made it back to the pits and was repaired quickly, but not quickly enough to stop the second Peugeot from claiming the position.

It was an encouraging period of the race for Peugeot, who also watched Nicolas Minassian set three consecutive fastest laps for the No. 7 car, but the Audis still comfortably occupy the top two spots. Dindo Capello has stepped into the leading No. 2 car, and Frank Biela is in the second-placed sister car.

There was even more drama in GT2 when Jaime Melo crashed the No. 97 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT. The car had been comfortably leading the GT2 class at the time of the accident, and while it was able to return to the pits, it lost a lot of time while a radiator and other parts were replaced.

By the time it was able to rejoin, it had fallen nine laps back. The dramas handed Scuderia Ecosse the lead in the class, with Tim Mullen currently serving driver duties.

Aston Martin continues to lead in GT1; Rickard Rydell having taken the wheel of the No. 009 entry, but the British marque was struck a blow when the No. 007 car driven by Johnny Herbert was forced into the garage with a damaged splitter.

The delay allowed Ron Fellows to move the No. 63 Corvette up into second, while Herbert is now third.

Elsewhere in the field, the No. 12 Courage LMP1 had a scare when the left-rear tyre exploded, taking a lot of bodywork out with it, and Liz Halliday has spent much of the past hour driving the Noel Del Belllo Courage LMP2 in and out of the pits with gearbox problems.

The LMP2 class remains the domain of Binnie Motorsports, who enjoy a 10-lap lead.