LM24 H2: Audi opens up decisive advantage over Toyota
Audi pulled clear of Toyota in the second hour of the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours, although the latter led for the first time due to its superior fuel economy
It was the Japanese marque that had stormed up the order in the opening laps of the race, but after a lengthy safety-car period in the first hour the pattern was reversed, with Audi coming to the fore.
Andre Lotterer edged away from the chasing pack in the #1 R18 e-tron quattro, while behind him Toyota men Nicolas Lapierre and Anthony Davidson slipped back behind the sister R18s of Allan McNish and Lucas di Grassi.
Lapierre in particular struggled, falling off the front-running pace and dropping from second to fifth.
Davidson also dropped back, but was still able to briefly move into the lead of the race when all three Audis pitted; with Lapierre following him through into second.
That held for two laps, by which time both Toyotas had pitted and rejoined in fourth and fifth, with Davidson ahead.
For a while he was well-placed to take advantage as McNish and di Grassi squabbled for second, but the pair gradually eased away even as the battled raged.
Twice they swapped position down the Mulsanne straight, before McNish eventually gained the upper hand heading down to the Porsche Curves two-thirds of the way into the second hour.
Fuel economy also shaped the complexion of the LMP2 battle.
Olivier Pla in the #24 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan led for large swathes of the hour, but team-mate Bertrand Baguette, driving the sister car and Oliver Turvey in the #38 Jota Zytek-Nissan took spells leading when Pla pitted.
Behind them Tom Kimber-Smith moved the #41 Greaves Zytek-Nissan to fourth in class following a fraught battle during which the #47 KGMG and #33 Level 5 machines touched; the former later spinning into the Indianapolis gravel after Alexandre Imperatori collided with Wolf Henzler's GTE Am Porsche.
GTE Pro continues to be led by Darren Turner in the #97 Aston Martin, just ahead of a fantastic battle between Marc Lieb's #92 Manthey Porsche and Rob Bell in the sister #99 Vantage.
The trio were gifted an advantage of around a minute over the chasing pack when they managed to slot in behind the first safety car during the opening hour.
Further down the class order Toni Vilander (AF Corse Ferrari) and Jorg Bergmeister (Porsche) collided in the pits when the former was waved out into the path of his German rival.
Henzler led GTE Am for the majority of the second hour in the #67 Imsa Porsche, despite his moment with Imperatori, although the superior fuel economy of the #61 AF Corse Ferrari means the lead changed hands as the stops cycled.
POSITIONS AFTER TWO HOURS Pos Cl Car Drivers Laps Gap 1. P1 #1 Audi Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler 24 2. P1 #3 Audi Gene/Jarvis/di Grassi 24 + 36.119s 3. P1 #8 Toyota Davidson/Sarrazin/Buemi 24 + 39.938s 4. P1 #7 Toyota Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima 24 + 50.951s 5. P1 #2 Audi Kristensen/McNish/Duval 24 + 1m16.076s 6. P1 #12 Lola Prost/Jani/Heidfeld 24 + 1m26.127s 7. P1 #13 Lola Beche/Belicchi/Cheng 24 + 1m57.517s 8. P1 #21 HPD Leventis/Kane/Watts 24 + 2m17.561s 9. P2 #35 Morgan Baguette/Plowman/Gonzalez 24 + 3m56.641s 10. P2 #24 Morgan Pla/Brundle/H Hansson 23 + 1 Lap 11. P2 #38 Zytek Dolan/Turvey/Luhr 23 + 19.928s 12. P2 #41 Zytek Rossi/K-Smith/Lux 23 + 35.380s 13. P2 #46 Oreca Thiriet/Badey/Martin 23 + 42.242s 14. P2 #34 Oreca Frey/Niederhauser/Bleekemolen 23 + 50.175s 15. P2 #33 HPD Tucker/Franchitti/Briscoe 23 + 51.317s 16. P2 #49 Oreca P-Companc/Kaffer/Minassian 23 + 1m19.174s 17. P2 #26 Oreca Rusinov/Martin/Conway 23 + 1m53.329s 18. P2 #36 Alpine Ragues/Panciatici/Gommendy 23 + 2m12.679s 19. P2 #32 Lotus Holzer/Kraihamer/Charouz 23 + 2m23.559s 20. P2 #42 Zytek Krumm/Mardenborough/Ordonez 23 + 2m24.635s 21. P2 #30 Lola Mowlem/Burgess/Hirschi 23 + 3m11.225s 22. GTP #97 Aston Mucke/Turner/Dumbreck 23 + 3m17.486s 23. GTP #92 Porsche Lieb/Richard Lietz/Dumas 23 + 3m24.581s 24. GTP #99 Aston Makowiecki/Senna/Bell 23 + 3m25.362s 25. P2 #43 Morgan Gachnang/Mailleux/Lombard 23 + 3m42.510s 26. P2 #45 Morgan Nicolet/Merlin/Mondolot 22 + 2 Laps 27. P2 #47 Morgan Imperatori/Howson/Tung 22 + 39.454s 28. GTP #51 Ferrari Bruni/Fisichella/Malucelli 22 + 1m20.110s 29. GTP #91 Porsche Bergmeister/Pilet/Bernhard 22 + 1m25.708s 30. GTP #71 Ferrari Beretta/Kobayashi/Vilander 22 + 1m27.966s 31. GTP #98 Aston Dalla Lana/Lamy/Auberlen 22 + 1m35.914s 32. GTP #74 Corvette Gavin/Milner/Westbrook 22 + 1m45.269s 33. GTA #61 Ferrari Gerber/Griffin/Cioci 22 + 2m00.743s 34. GTP #73 Corvette Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor 22 + 2m09.187s 35. GTA #67 Porsche Gibon/Milesi/Henzler 22 + 2m16.645s 36. P2 #48 Oreca Hartley/Chandhok/Patterson 22 + 2m17.048s 37. GTP #53 SRT Farnbacher/Goossens/Dalziel 22 + 2m28.602s 38. GTA #55 Ferrari Perazzini/O'Young/Case 22 + 2m34.255s 39. GTA #75 Porsche Collard/Perrodo/Crubile 22 + 2m43.989s 40. GTA #57 Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani 22 + 2m45.778s 41. GTP #93 SRT Wittmer/Kendall/Bomarito 22 + 2m46.593s 42. P2 #39 Lola Porta/Brandela/Raffin 22 + 2m50.368s 43. GTA #77 Porsche Dempsey/Foster/Long 22 + 3m11.594s 44. GTP #66 Ferrari Bertolini/Faisal/Qubaisi 22 + 3m12.753s 45. GTA #76 Porsche Narac/Vernay/Bourret 22 + 3m37.773s 46. GTA #88 Porsche Ried/Roda/Ruberti 22 + 3m57.170s 47. GTA #50 Corvette Bornhauser/Canal/Taylor 22 + 4m39.144s 48. P2 #40 Oreca Dagoneau/Downs/Younessi 21 + 3 Laps 49. GTA #81 Ferrari Potolicchio/Aguas/Bright 21 + 1m45.655s 50. GTA #54 Ferrari Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank 21 + 2m57.046s 51. GTA #96 Aston Goethe/Campbell-Walter/Hall 21 + 3m38.978s 52. GTA #70 Corvette MacNeil/Rodrigues/Dumas 21 + 6m07.973s 53. P2 #25 Oreca Graves/Hamilton/Nakano 19 + 5 Laps 54. P2 #28 Lola Giroix/Haezebrouck/Ihara 16 + 8 Laps 55. P2 #31 Lotus Weeda/Rossiter/Bouchut 16 + 13m21.907s 56. GTA #95 Aston Simonsen/Nygaard/Poulsen 2 Retired
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