Penske lead Petit Le Mans after hour 1

The incidents began even before the start, when Allan McNish crashed his Audi on the way to the grid, having lost control on cold tyres at the Esses. He was able to join the race two laps down, and although he is back up to 15th, he has been unable to regain any of the lost laps yet.

That took the pressure off the pole-sitting Peugeot, which duly led the early running ahead of the No.2 Audi.

Another significant accident occurred just 16 laps into the race, when LMP2 title contender Scott Sharp crashed the Highcroft Acura at Turn 10B, ending his and David Brabham's participation in the event. The Highcroft team had only just rebuilt the car from the ground up following a crash in Thursday practice.

Most of the leaders pitted under the yellow for Sharp's accident, but two of the Penske Porsches and the new LNT Ginetta Zytek stayed on track.

The Ginetta team then enjoyed a moment of glory as Danny Watts thrust the Zytek past Briscoe just after the restart, and the Briton held the lead until making his first scheduled pitstop.

Amongst the cars that have already pitted, Marco Werner has now put the No.2 Audi ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in the Peugeot, having overtaken the 908 in traffic. Both were closing on Briscoe as the first hour neared completion.