H18: Audi-Peugeot duel rumbles on
The fight between the #2 Audi R18 and the three works Peugeots continues to rage after 18 hours of this year's Le Mans
Having lost his advantage thanks to the safety car period in the previous hour, Audi's Benoit Treluyer attacked Simon Pagenaud in the #9 Peugeot 908 after the restart. He was chased closely by Stephane Sarrazin in the #8 Peugeot, a lap down, and Alexander Wurz's #7 car in third.
Sarrazin unlapped himself from the sole remaining Audi, only to be boxed in at the
Porsche Curves, allowing Treluyer to dramatically repass around the outside. He then
went round the outside of Pagenaud into the second Mulsanne chicane to take the lead.
Treluyer edged away, setting some of the fastest laps of the race, until pitting with just over 15 minutes of the hour remaining. Pagenaud followed him in, allowing Wurz to take the lead for two laps before he too stopped.
That left Treluyer leading by 13 seconds from Pagenaud as the hour closed.
The #16 Pescarolo still leads the petrol entries in fifth overall, but has just come into the pits with an as-yet unspecified problem. The recovering ORECA Peugeot has now made it up to sixth, ahead of the sole remaining Rebellion Lola-Toyota, and is closing in.
The #41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan heads LMP2 in ninth overall, well clear of the #26 Signatech ORECA-Nissan.
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari is comfortably in the lead of GTE Pro, chased by the #73 Chevrolet Corvette. The long-time leader, the #74 Corvette, has now been officially retired after Jan Magnussen's crash in the previous hour.
Larbre Competition is now running one-two in GTE Am, helped by the #81 Flying Lizard Porsche being retired with no drive. The team's #50 Corvette currently heads its #70 Porsche entry.
NOTES:
- Jan Magnussen lost control of the GTE Pro-leading #74 Chevrolet Corvette and crashed into the #63 Proton Porsche during the 17th hour, putting both cars out.
- 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 18 HOURS Pos Car Team Class Gap 1. #2 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) 2. #9 Peugeot Team Peugeot Total (LMP1) + 15.395 3. #7 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1 Lap 4. #8 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 2 Laps 5. #16 Pescarolo Pescarolo Team (LMP1) + 11 Laps 6. #10 Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP1) + 11 Laps 7. #12 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 11 Laps 8. #22 Lola Kronos Racing (LMP1) + 16 Laps 9. #41 Zytek Greaves Motorsport (LMP2) + 18 Laps 10. #26 Oreca Signatech Nissan (LMP2) + 22 Laps 11. #33 Lola Level 5 Motorsports (LMP2) + 23 Laps 12. #49 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 25 Laps 13. #51 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 28 Laps 14. #73 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 28 Laps 15. #55 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 29 Laps 16. #77 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 30 Laps 17. #76 Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut (GTEP) + 30 Laps 18. #56 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 31 Laps 19. #36 HPD RML (LMP2) + 31 Laps 20. #75 Porsche Prospeed Competition (GTEP) + 32 Laps 21. #80 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP) + 32 Laps 22. #40 Oreca Race Performance (LMP2) + 33 Laps 23. #35 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 34 Laps 24. #50 Corvette Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 36 Laps 25. #70 Porsche Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 37 Laps 26. #83 Ferrari JMB Racing (GTEA) + 43 Laps 27. #65 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 43 Laps 28. #66 Ferrari JMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 48 Laps 29. #68 Ford Robertson Racing (GTEA) + 51 Laps 30. #44 Norma Extr (LMP2) + 95 Laps 31. #74 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 46 Laps 32. #81 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA) + 46 Laps 33. #48 Oreca Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP2) + 57 Laps 34. #63 Porsche Proton Competition (GTEA) + 58 Laps 35. #13 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) Retired 36. #61 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEA) + 69 Laps 37. #59 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 74 Laps 38. #71 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 79 Laps 39. #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 88 Laps 40. #42 HPD Strakka Racing (LMP2) Retired 41. #60 Aston Gulf AMR Middle East (GTEA) Retired 42. #39 Lola PeCom Racing (LMP2) Retired 43. #89 Ferrari Hankook Team Farnbacher (GTEP) Retired 44. #58 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 121 Laps 45. #64 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) Retired 46. #57 Ferrari Krohn Racing (GTEA) Retired 47. #24 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired 48. #1 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) Retired 49. #5 Oreca Hope Racing (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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