H8: Audi leads behind safety car

Mike Rockenfeller had just taken the #1 Audi into second place when a GT Ferrari moved over on him at the high-speed kink between Mulsanne and Indianapolis. The R18 veered left, crashed into the barriers and bounced back across the road, hitting the barriers on the right.

The race was immediately paused behind the safety car, but initial reports suggest Rockenfeller got out of the car himself. His condition is unknown at present.

The accident means that Peugeots are now second, third and fourth, behind the #2 Audi currently driven by Andre Lotterer.

After the older ORECA-run Peugeot, Christoph Tinsea leads the petrol runners in the #16 Pescarolo ahead of the two Rebellion Lola-Toyotas.

The #48 ORECA-Nissan, currently driven by Alexandre Premat, continues to lead LMP2 from Tom Kimber-Smith in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan.

The #74 Chevrolet Corvette now looks comfortable in the lead of GTE Pro after its closest challenger, the #56 BMW, lost nine minutes solving a misfire. The #59 Luxury Ferrari 458 is therefore currently second.

Larbre is still one-two in GTE Am. The team's Porsche, currently driven by Christophe Bourret, heads the Corvette.

NOTES:

- The #3 Audi of Allan McNish crashed out of the race in the first hour having just taken second position. The Scot collected the #58 Luxury Racing Ferrari in the right-hander after the Dunlop Bridge. The heavy impact destroyed the car and the Scot was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but appears to be unhurt.

- Both Aston Martin AMR Ones ran into trouble on the first lap of the race. Darren Turner spinning with mechanical trouble and Adrian Fernandez stopping out on the Mulsanne. The #007 car of Turner was recovered to the pits where it was discovered an alternator belt tensioner was to blame.

POSITIONS AFTER EIGHT HOURS

Pos  Car            Team                      Class   Gap
 1.  #2  Audi       Audi Sport Team Joest     (LMP1)  
 2.  #7  Peugeot    Peugeot Sport Total       (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 3.  #9  Peugeot    Team Peugeot Total        (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 4.  #8  Peugeot    Peugeot Sport Total       (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 5.  #10 Peugeot    Team Oreca-Matmut         (LMP1)  +   2 Laps
 6.  #1  Audi       Audi Sport Team Joest     (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
 7.  #16 Pescarolo  Pescarolo Team            (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
 8.  #12 Lola       Rebellion Racing          (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
 9.  #13 Lola       Rebellion Racing          (LMP1)  +   5 Laps
10.  #48 Oreca      Team Oreca-Matmut         (LMP2)  +   8 Laps
11.  #22 Lola       Kronos Racing             (LMP1)  +   9 Laps
12.  #41 Zytek      Greaves Motorsport        (LMP2)  +   9 Laps
13.  #39 Lola       PeCom Racing              (LMP2)  +   9 Laps
14.  #42 HPD        Strakka Racing            (LMP2)  +   9 Laps
15.  #24 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP1)  +  10 Laps
16.  #33 Lola       Level 5 Motorsports       (LMP2)  +  11 Laps
17.  #49 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP2)  +  11 Laps
18.  #26 Oreca      Signatech Nissan          (LMP2)  +  11 Laps
19.  #35 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP2)  +  13 Laps
20.  #74 Corvette   Corvette Racing           (GTEP)  +  13 Laps
21.  #59 Ferrari    Luxury Racing             (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
22.  #75 Porsche    Prospeed Competition      (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
23.  #51 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
24.  #73 Corvette   Corvette Racing           (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
25.  #80 Porsche    Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
26.  #55 BMW        BMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
27.  #36 HPD        RML                       (LMP2)  +  14 Laps
28.  #76 Porsche    IMSA Performance Matmut   (GTEP)  +  15 Laps
29.  #56 BMW        BMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  15 Laps
30.  #77 Porsche    Team Felbermayr-Proton    (GTEP)  +  15 Laps
31.  #44 Norma      Extr                      (LMP2)  +  16 Laps
32.  #70 Porsche    Larbre Competition        (GTEA)  +  17 Laps
33.  #50 Corvette   Larbre Competition        (GTEA)  +  17 Laps
34.  #57 Ferrari    Krohn Racing              (GTEA)  +  17 Laps
35.  #81 Porsche    Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA)  +  17 Laps
36.  #61 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEA)  +  17 Laps
37.  #40 Oreca      Race Performance          (LMP2)  +  18 Laps
38.  #65 Lotus      Lotus Jetalliance         (GTEP)  +  19 Laps
39.  #71 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEP)  +  19 Laps
40.  #88 Porsche    Team Felbermayr-Proton    (GTEP)  +  21 Laps
41.  #63 Porsche    Proton Competition        (GTEA)  +  22 Laps
42.  #83 Ferrari    JMB Racing                (GTEA)  +  22 Laps
43.  #66 Ferrari    JMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  23 Laps
44.  #68 Ford       Robertson Racing          (GTEA)  +  25 Laps
45.  #60 Aston      Gulf AMR Middle East      (GTEA)  +  26 Laps
46.  #89 Ferrari    Hankook Team Farnbacher   (GTEP)  +  28 Laps
47.  #62 Ferrari    CRS Racing                (GTEA)  +  36 Laps
48.  #64 Lotus      Lotus Jetalliance         (GTEP)  +  41 Laps
49.  #58 Ferrari    Luxury Racing             (GTEP)  +  50 Laps
50.  #5  Oreca      Hope Racing               (LMP1)  +  53 Laps
51.  #15 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP1)  +  56 Laps
52.  #79 Aston      Jota                      (GTEP)  +  46 Laps
53.  #20 Zytek      Quifel-ASM Team           (LMP1)  Retired
54.  #3  Audi       Audi Sport North America  (LMP1)  Retired
55.  #007  AMR-One  Aston Martin Racing       (LMP1)  Retired
56.  #009  AMR-One  Aston Martin Racing       (LMP1)  Retired