Sarrazin still hopeful of a podium

Sarrazin led the race in the early stages until a problem downshifting forced the car into the pits for 20 minutes. Along with his co-drivers, the Frenchman has recovered to sixth place - setting the fastest lap in the process - but is still five laps behind the Audis immediately ahead.

"I'm still pushing very hard," he told autosport.com. "We have no problems at all and the car is very fast. I'll keep pushing and I hope we'll catch everybody and be on the podium.

"We still have 15 hours and we'll push very hard until the end and we'll see what can happen.

The Frenchman is frustrated that the No.8 car's race has been ruined by what turned out to be a failure of a single small part.

"This problem with the gearbox we've never had with the 908 throughout its history," he said. "It was a piece that cost just one Euro. It's amazing, it was just nothing, just a fixation of the hydraulic system that moved a bit and broke.

"But this is Le Mans, you never know what will happen. You can be the fastest but that doesn't mean you win."