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H11: Peugeot pulls further away

Nicolas Minassian embarked on a successful quadruple stint as he continued to stretch his lead at the front of the field in the 11th hour of the Le Mans 24 Hours

The Frenchman extended his advantage over the No.2 Audi to 2 minutes and 50 seconds before pitting for fresh tyres and fuel close to the end of the hour.

Christian Klien took over the No.9 Peugeot from Franck Montagny behind Allan McNish, who remains on the lead lap in his pursuit of the leading 908.

Alexandre Premat took over from Lucas Luhr in the fourth-placed No.3 Audi, which had a small spin at Mulsanne Corner halfway through the hour.

"I was sideways, but I had to let it go into a spin or I would have ended up in the gravel," explained Luhr. "It is always slippery in the night. You have gravel on the track from other people going off, like usual at night."

Emanuele Pirro is fifth in the third of the Audis while Benoit Treluyer has climbed to sixth after more problems for the No.8 Peugeot.

Pedro Lamy ended the hour in eighth, after the French car required a battery change.

Jeroen Bleekemolen continues to lead LMP2 in the Van Merksteijn Porsche ahead of the Team Essex example with Sascha Maassen. Andrea Belicchi is third in the Speedy Racing Lola.

Darren Turner now has a 45 second lead over Jan Magnussen in the GT1 battle. The Aston Martin driver is currently pulling away from the Corvette driver. Karl Wendlinger in the No.007 Aston is third, with all three cars on the same lap.

Mika Salo handed the leading GT2 Risi Ferrari over to Gianmaria Bruni and promptly apologised to his team for continually flat-spotting his tyres.

"The track is very cold and difficult," he explained. "I flat-spotted two sets! A lot of oil is coming out of some of the prototypes. The tyres get cold on the long straights, so you lock up when you hit the brakes.

"You can't even feel it though, which is strange, and something I have never experienced before. It's still fun though."

Tim Mullen remains second in class, two laps behind the leader, while Matteo Malucelli is third in the BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari.

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