ORECA Peugeot leads Petit Le Mans amid early strategy shuffles and incidents

A string of cars that chose not to make second pitstops under the latest caution are presently at the front, with the #24 Oak Pescarolo and the Rebellion Lola-Toyota next up, on the same strategy as ORECA.

The works Peugeots were the leading cars to have made their second stops, but both have now been given 60-second penalties for missing the red light at the pit exit, handing a big advantage to the #1 Audi, which is currently seventh.

The #2 Audi is a lap down already, having sustained a puncture and front bodywork damage when Tom Kristensen clashed with Johnny Mowlem's Jetalliance Lotus.

The early stages had seen Sebastien Bourdais in the #7 Peugeot and Marcel Fassler in the #1 Audi exchange the lead twice in traffic, before both pitted during the first yellow.

That allowed Adrian Fernandez's Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston to take the lead until it pitted under the second caution, which the factory diesels also took advantage of, putting ORECA to the head of the field - the Sebring winning squad deciding the stop it had made under the earlier yellow was sufficient for now.

Similar strategy shuffles mean Ralph Firman presently leads the GT class in the #58 Luxury Ferrari, followed by the #3 Corvette and #56 BMW.

American Le Mans Series champions Chris Dyson and Guy Smith had to start their Dyson Lola-Mazda from the pitlane after an engine change was required following the warm-up.

The Risi Ferrari has missed the race entirely after Jaime Melo crashed in the warm-up and caused more damage than could be repaired in time.