Peugeots ahead after three hours

But while Peugeot has established itself in one-two formation over recent stints, Aston Martin and Drayson Racing are both still on the lead lap.

The Drayson Lola fell back from the Peugeots and dropped to fourth behind Aston when it made its second pitstop and Emanuele Pirro handed over to Jonny Cocker. The young Briton caught up with the Aston Martin again, then lost further ground when he almost ran out of fuel and had to cruise back to the pits.

Stefan Mucke is currently in the Aston and is only 9s behind Davidson, with Cocker a further 29s adrift.

Highcroft HPD continues to lead LMP2 by a lap over the Cytosport Porsche. Dyson is now back in the race, its Lola-Mazda re-emerging from the paddock after an hour-long stop to replace an oil pump.

Fortuitous yellow flag timing helped Risi Ferrari vault to the front of the GT2 pack, where it has remained as its closest rivals ran into trouble just before the three hour mark.

The #92 Rahal Letterman BMW was second until going off the road just after its most recent pitstop and filling its air intake with grass and mud. That briefly elevated the #4 Corvette to second - until the two Corvettes tangled into the pitlane after a miscommunication, damaging both cars. The #3 entry had already been delayed by a stop for steering rack attention.

Flying Lizard therefore picked up second with its #45 car, having been battling with the #4 Corvette before the pit drama.

Level 5's #55 car has a two-lap advantage in LMPC over the Genoa car, with the second Level 5 machine having recently headed into the paddock, and the Green Earth Gunnar car having lost time by spinning and stalling. The #81 Alex Job Porsche leads in GTC.