H14: Pagenaud and Peugeot take lead
The 14th hour of the 2011 Le Mans was one of the most absorbing yet as the lead swung backwards and forwards between Audi and Peugeot through the pit cycle
By the end of the hour Simon Pagenaud had got the #9 Peugeot into the lead by dint of the fact that Marcel Fassler pitted with 20 minutes to go.
But while the Audi would inherit a comfortable lead whenever the Peugeots pitted, when the situation reversed Fassler found himself under immense pressure from Anthony Davidson in the third placed #7 Pug.
The Briton set a new fastest lap in his ferocious pursuit of the Audi and in the end he got his man down the Mulsanne straight to run second. Fassler came back at him, but he was cut off by Rui Aguas in the Waltrip Ferrari through the second chicane on the following lap, allowing Davidson to escape.
Nicolas Minassian got back in the #8 Peugeot to run fourth, but still the French Peugeot circulated a distant 2m20s away from the leader. That car's cause was not helped by being caught behind the second safety car.
Emmanuel Collard ensured that Pescarolo remained in the top five and first of the petrol runners as Neel Jani's Rebellion Lola pursued in sixth - a lap back.
Just at the turn of the hour the safety car came out for a third time in the race to recover Jean-Christophe Boullion's sister Rebellion Lola, which crashed at the Porsche Curves
LMP2 was similarly enthralling as Tom Kimber-Smith, in the Greaves Zytek, and David Hallyday's Oreca swapped the lead through the stops. When the race was frozen there was only 3s between them.
Richard Westbrook continued to keep the #74 in charge of the GTE Pro class, while Darren Law lead the Amateur class for the Flying Lizard team.
NOTES:
- Jean-Christophe Boullion crashed the Rebellion Lola-Toyota in the 14th hour at the Porsche Curves. He had been running eighth at the time of the shunt.
- Mike Rockenfeller was taken to hospital following a frightening accident that totally destroyed the #1 Audi in the seventh hour of the race. The German had been running third when he made contact with a GTE Ferrari at kink after Mulsanne. Audi later confirmed that the German would be kept in overnight for observation but that he was okay.
- 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 McNish was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but was later released with an all-clear.
- 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 14 HOURS Pos Car Team Class Gap 1. #9 Peugeot Team Peugeot Total (LMP1) 2. #7 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 23.699 3. #2 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) + 27.654 4. #8 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1 Lap 5. #16 Pescarolo Pescarolo Team (LMP1) + 6 Laps 6. #12 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 8 Laps 7. #13 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 9 Laps 8. #10 Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP1) + 9 Laps 9. #22 Lola Kronos Racing (LMP1) + 12 Laps 10. #41 Zytek Greaves Motorsport (LMP2) + 14 Laps 11. #48 Oreca Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP2) + 14 Laps 12. #33 Lola Level 5 Motorsports (LMP2) + 16 Laps 13. #26 Oreca Signatech Nissan (LMP2) + 16 Laps 14. #49 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 17 Laps 15. #74 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 20 Laps 16. #35 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 21 Laps 17. #51 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 21 Laps 18. #75 Porsche Prospeed Competition (GTEP) + 21 Laps 19. #59 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 21 Laps 20. #73 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 22 Laps 21. #80 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP) + 22 Laps 22. #55 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 23 Laps 23. #76 Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut (GTEP) + 23 Laps 24. #56 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 23 Laps 25. #77 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 24 Laps 26. #36 HPD RML (LMP2) + 25 Laps 27. #81 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA) + 27 Laps 28. #50 Corvette Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 27 Laps 29. #61 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEA) + 27 Laps 30. #70 Porsche Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 27 Laps 31. #40 Oreca Race Performance (LMP2) + 28 Laps 32. #71 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 29 Laps 33. #63 Porsche Proton Competition (GTEA) + 32 Laps 34. #65 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 32 Laps 35. #83 Ferrari JMB Racing (GTEA) + 33 Laps 36. #68 Ford Robertson Racing (GTEA) + 38 Laps 37. #66 Ferrari JMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 40 Laps 38. #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 47 Laps 39. #44 Norma Extr (LMP2) + 69 Laps 40. #58 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 76 Laps 41. #5 Oreca Hope Racing (LMP1) + 84 Laps 42. #42 HPD Strakka Racing (LMP2) Retired 43. #60 Aston Gulf AMR Middle East (GTEA) + 58 Laps 44. #39 Lola PeCom Racing (LMP2) Retired 45. #89 Ferrari Hankook Team Farnbacher (GTEP) + 62 Laps 46. #64 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 73 Laps 47. #57 Ferrari Krohn Racing (GTEA) Retired 48. #24 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired 49. #1 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) Retired 50. #62 Ferrari CRS Racing (GTEA) Retired 51. #15 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired 52. #79 Aston Jota (GTEP) Retired 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
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