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H21: Leader Lotterer hits traffic

Andre Lotterer has taken over the lead #2 Audi R18 from Benoit Treluyer for the final run to the chequered flag, leading Peugeot's Sebastien Bourdais by 18 seconds

At the beginning of the hour Treluyer came up behind Anthony Davidson in the fourth-placed #7 Peugeot, and after repeated attempts to pass were rebutted rather stiffly he eased back slightly under instruction from the team and let Davidson go on his way. Meanwhile, an ominous warning flashed up on the timing screens indicating that the stewards had requested an audience with Audi Sport's team manager.

At 11.18 Treluyer completed his epic 3hr20m and his exhausted tyres - which had been with him all the way - were also removed when he handed over to Lotterer for the remaining distance. Lotterer departed the pits seconds after Bourdais flashed by in the lead, then took over at the front when Bourdais made his routine stop twenty minutes later.

The #8 and #7 Peugeot 908s continued to run in isolation in third and fourth places respectively, two and four laps down, piloted by Franck Montagny and Anthony Davidson. At the tail end of the hour the #2 Audi once again found itself baulked behind a Peugeot, this time by Montagny, to the palpable disgruntlement of Audi Sport boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.

The leading petrol-powered LMP1, the #16 Pescarolo-Judd, has been keeping the ORECA Peugeot honest as the cars circulate on the same lap, swapping fifth and sixth places when they make their respective pitstops. In the past hour Loic Duval has climbed aboard the ORECA car and put the hammer down, lapping regularly in the 3m30s region. The sole remaining Rebellion Lola-Toyota is a further lap behind in seventh overall, driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen.

LMP2 leader Tom Kimber-Smith is eighth overall in the Greaves Zytek, four laps ahead of nearest rival Franck Mailleux in the #26 Signatech ORECA-Nissan and with the Lola-Aston Martin of Vanina Ickx separating them in the overall classification. At the turn of the hour Mailleux suddenly slowed as he crossed the line and limped back to the garage with a deflated rear left tyre.

There was a change in the GTE Pro order as the #51 Ferrari was stymied by a clunky pitstop and then refused to fire up immediately when Toni Vilander tried to leave. Antonio Garcia now leads in the #73 Corvette by a slim margin from Vilander, with Dirk Muller in third for BMW after overhauling the #77 Porsche.

In GTE Am Julien Canal leads by a lap from Larbre team-mate Christophe Bourret.

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 21 HOURS

Pos  Car            Team                      Class   Gap
 1.  #2  Audi       Audi Sport Team Joest     (LMP1)  
 2.  #9  Peugeot    Team Peugeot Total        (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 3.  #8  Peugeot    Peugeot Sport Total       (LMP1)  +   2 Laps
 4.  #7  Peugeot    Peugeot Sport Total       (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
 5.  #10 Peugeot    Team Oreca-Matmut         (LMP1)  +  12 Laps
 6.  #16 Pescarolo  Pescarolo Team            (LMP1)  +  12 Laps
 7.  #12 Lola       Rebellion Racing          (LMP1)  +  14 Laps
 8.  #41 Zytek      Greaves Motorsport        (LMP2)  +  22 Laps
 9.  #22 Lola       Kronos Racing             (LMP1)  +  23 Laps
10.  #26 Oreca      Signatech Nissan          (LMP2)  +  27 Laps
11.  #33 Lola       Level 5 Motorsports       (LMP2)  +  29 Laps
12.  #73 Corvette   Corvette Racing           (GTEP)  +  35 Laps
13.  #51 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEP)  +  35 Laps
14.  #49 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP2)  +  35 Laps
15.  #36 HPD        RML                       (LMP2)  +  36 Laps
16.  #56 BMW        BMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  37 Laps
17.  #77 Porsche    Team Felbermayr-Proton    (GTEP)  +  37 Laps
18.  #55 BMW        BMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  38 Laps
19.  #76 Porsche    IMSA Performance Matmut   (GTEP)  +  38 Laps
20.  #80 Porsche    Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP)  +  39 Laps
21.  #40 Oreca      Race Performance          (LMP2)  +  44 Laps
22.  #50 Corvette   Larbre Competition        (GTEA)  +  44 Laps
23.  #70 Porsche    Larbre Competition        (GTEA)  +  45 Laps
24.  #65 Lotus      Lotus Jetalliance         (GTEP)  +  52 Laps
25.  #83 Ferrari    JMB Racing                (GTEA)  +  52 Laps
26.  #35 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP2)  +  54 Laps
27.  #75 Porsche    Prospeed Competition      (GTEP)  +  55 Laps
28.  #66 Ferrari    JMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  57 Laps
29.  #68 Ford       Robertson Racing          (GTEA)  +  59 Laps
30.  #44 Norma      Extr                      (LMP2)  + 103 Laps
31.  #74 Corvette   Corvette Racing           (GTEP)  +  95 Laps
32.  #81 Porsche    Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA)  +  95 Laps
33.  #48 Oreca      Team Oreca-Matmut         (LMP2)  + 106 Laps
34.  #63 Porsche    Proton Competition        (GTEA)  + 107 Laps
35.  #13 Lola       Rebellion Racing          (LMP1)  Retired
36.  #61 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEA)  + 118 Laps
37.  #59 Ferrari    Luxury Racing             (GTEP)  + 123 Laps
38.  #71 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEP)  + 128 Laps
39.  #88 Porsche    Team Felbermayr-Proton    (GTEP)  + 137 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)  + 170 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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