15hrs: Fight for fourth
With the top three positions remaining stagnant and Johnny Herbert looking comfortable in the lead, it has been left to the tiny Rollcentre Racing team to provide the drama in the 15th hour of the Le Mans 24 Hours, with team owner/driver Martin Short ending the hour in a gravel trap
The Champion R8 passed the British team's Dallara-Judd for fourth overall early in the hour, with even Rollcentre team boss describing the event as "inevitable." However, Champion found itself forced to make a length pit-stop to change brake discs, while Rollcentre's stop went to perfection, allowing Short to build a lap's lead over Emanuelle Pirro in the Champion machine.
But Short was out of luck at the end of the hour, being hit in the rear by the charging Pescarolo-Judd of Nicolas Minassian in the Esses, pitching the Briton into a spin and a gravel trap. Short had to wait to be dragged out of the gravel before he was able to continue, although he continues to hold an advantage of just over a minute over the Champion Audi.
"He was closing the door on me for two laps," said Minassian. "He damaged the front of my car a bit, but nothing major. He's not supposed to do that in endurance, it's just stupid. If he doesn't want to be passed, he shouldn't be in endurance."
The gap between race leader Herbert and the Team Goh Audi of Rinaldo Capello ebbs and flows due to the pair's contrasting pit strategies, but stabilises at around 2m30s, with both cars now running at a similar pace.
Another car to have an eventful morning is the Kondo Dome, which has dropped down to 14th overall in the pits after a lengthy spot, while Justin Wilson is back in the top ten in his Racing for Holland Dome.
Alain Menu continues to hold a comfortable GTS class lead in the Prodrive Ferrari 550, six laps clear of Jan Magnussen's Chevrolet Corvette C5-R.
Romain Dumas and the Freisinger Motorsport team continues to head the GT category, now two laps clear of the Petersen Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3.
The LM2 class leading Intersport Racing Lola-Judd has hit further problems, with Clint Field suffering a major off. "I had a little excursion with an Audi," he said. "It didn't hurt anything on the car, but I felt a little vibration. We're just checking the problems early to make sure we can run to the finish." The team can afford to play it safe - it leads its class by 25 laps.
Davies/Herbert/Smith Audi R8 LM1 235 laps completed
Ara/Capello/Kristensen Audi R8 LM1 234 laps
Ayari/Comas/Treluyer Pescarolo-Judd LM1 228 laps
Short/Barff/Barbosa Dallara-Judd LM1 226 laps
Lehto/Werner/Pirro Audi R8 LM1 225 laps
Collard/Bourdais/Minassian Pescarolo-Judd LM1 218 laps
Enge/Kox/Menu Ferrari 550 GTS 217 laps
Gavin/Beretta/Magnussen Corvette GTS 211 laps
Andre/Leuenberger/Vanni Lola-Judd LM1 211 laps
Coronel/Wilson/Firman Dome-Judd LM1 210 laps
Biela/Kaffer/McNish Audi R8 LM1 208 laps
Katoh/Michigami/Fukuda Dome-Mugen LM1 206 laps
Fellows/O'Connell/Papis Corvette GTS 206 laps
Kelleners/Ortelli/Dumas Porsche GT 204 laps
Lammers/Dyson/Kaneishi Dome-Judd LM1 202 laps
Hindery/Lieb/Rockenfeller Porsche GT 202 laps
Stirling/Lupberger/McGarrity Nasamax-Judd LM1 201 laps
Maasen/Bergmeister/Long Porsche GT 201 laps
Kurosawa/Nishizawa/Oriodo Porsche GT 200 laps
Nielsen/Elgaard/Moller Lister LM1 198 laps
Alphand/Laveille/Almeras Porsche GT 197 laps
Bouchut/Goueslard/Dupard Ferrari 550 GTS 197 laps
McRae/Rydell/Turner Ferrari 550 GTS 197 laps
Burgess/Collin/Bagnall Porsche GT 196 laps
Wilson/Montain/Hugenholtz Ferrari 360 GT 194 laps
Donaldson/Fisken/Nielsen Porsche GT 194 laps
Berridge/Caine/Stockton TVR GT 190 laps
Khan/Smith/Sugden Porsche GT 185 laps
Newton/Erdos/Kinch Lola-MG LM1 182 laps
Hezemans/Deletraz/Barde Ferrari 575 GTS 182 laps
Tomlinson/Greensall/Evans TVR GT 181 laps
Binnie/Field/Sutherland Lola-Judd LM2 173 laps
Bosch/Sullivan/Biagi Ferrari 575 GTS 163 laps
Terada/Roussel/Porta WR LM2 151 laps
Sharpe/Hyde/Cunningham Morgan GT 135 laps
Bouvet/Gommendy/Briere WR LM2 96 laps
Wallace/Brabham/Shimoda Zytek LM1 167 laps
Rosa/van Merkstein/Caffi Porsche GT 146 laps
Melo/Daoudi/de Fournoux Ferrari 360 GT 133 laps
Frei/Gounon/Hancock Courage-AER LM2 127 laps
Jeanette/Pickering/Derlot Courage-Willman LM2 124 laps
Maurylaribiere/Boulay/Besson Reynard-Lehman LM1 122 laps
Belmondo/Gosselin/Saviozzi Courage-AER LM2 80 laps
Vasiliev/Fomenko/Nearn Porsche GT 65 laps
Bourdais/Blanchemain/Berville Panoz LM1 54 laps
Andrews/Lockie/Kumpen Lola-Caterpillar LM1 35 laps
Field/Dayton/Connor Lola-Judd LM1 29 laps
Warnock/Matthews/Daniels Porsche 27 laps
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