H11: Bourdais hunting leading Audi
Benoit Treluyer continued to lead Le Mans after 11 hours but the #2 Audi was being caught by a flying Sebastien Bourdais in the #9 Peugeot in second position
Bourdais who found himself separted by two third of a lap at the start of the hour, thanks to the staggered nature of the safety cars, set about hunting down the final remaining Audi, posting some stunning lap times and a couple of fastest overall middle sectors in the process.
By the end of the hour the former Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver had the gap down to 1m45s.
Some 25s further back was Alex Wurz in the #7 Peugeot ahead of Stephane Sarrazin who was also still on the lead lap in the #8 908.
Loic Duval remains fifth in the year-old Pug, and the ORECA-run car is still only a lap behind the factory cars. Christophe Tinseau runs sixth in the petrol-powered Pescarolo.
It was all change in LMP2 after long-time leader - the #48 ORECA - stopped for a long while with an electrical problem. Alex Premat was at the wheel at the time and dropped to fourth in the process. He climbed back to third by the time he handed over to Dominik Kraihamer.
That became second when Matias Russo crashed the PeCom Lola at the end of the hour at the Esses. While all this was going on Olivier Lombard moved to the front of the class for Greaves Motorsport.
Jan Magnussen took over from Oliver Gavin in the leading #74 Corvette in GTE Pro. The car has more than a lap's advantage over Toni Vilander's Ferrari.
Gabriel Gardel moved into the lead of the GTE Am class in the Larbre Corvette but remained locked in a battle with the team Porsche driving by Pascal Gibon.
NOTES:
- Mike Rockenfeller was taken to hospital following a frightening accident that totally destroyed the #1 Audi in the seventh hour of the race. The German had been running third when he made contact with a GTE Ferrari at kink after Mulsanne. Audi confirmed that their driver climbed from the car before medical crews got to him.
- The #3 Audi of Allan McNish crashed out of the race in the first hour having just taken second position. The Scot collected the #58 Luxury Racing Ferrari in the right-hander after the Dunlop Bridge. The heavy impact destroyed the car and McNish was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but was later released with an all-clear.
- Both Aston Martin AMR Ones ran into trouble on the first lap of the race. Darren Turner spinning with mechanical trouble and Adrian Fernandez stopping out on the Mulsanne. The #007 car of Turner was recovered to the pits where it was discovered an alternator belt tensioner was to blame.
POSITIONS AFTER 11 HOURS Pos Car Team Class Gap 1. #2 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) 2. #9 Peugeot Team Peugeot Total (LMP1) + 1 Lap 3. #7 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1 Lap 4. #8 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 1 Lap 5. #10 Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP1) + 2 Laps 6. #16 Pescarolo Pescarolo Team (LMP1) + 5 Laps 7. #12 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 5 Laps 8. #13 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 6 Laps 9. #22 Lola Kronos Racing (LMP1) + 9 Laps 10. #41 Zytek Greaves Motorsport (LMP2) + 10 Laps 11. #42 HPD Strakka Racing (LMP2) + 11 Laps 12. #48 Oreca Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP2) + 11 Laps 13. #39 Lola PeCom Racing (LMP2) + 11 Laps 14. #33 Lola Level 5 Motorsports (LMP2) + 12 Laps 15. #26 Oreca Signatech Nissan (LMP2) + 12 Laps 16. #49 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 13 Laps 17. #74 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 15 Laps 18. #35 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 15 Laps 19. #51 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 15 Laps 20. #75 Porsche Prospeed Competition (GTEP) + 15 Laps 21. #73 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 16 Laps 22. #59 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 16 Laps 23. #55 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 16 Laps 24. #80 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP) + 16 Laps 25. #36 HPD RML (LMP2) + 17 Laps 26. #76 Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut (GTEP) + 17 Laps 27. #56 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 17 Laps 28. #77 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 18 Laps 29. #70 Porsche Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 19 Laps 30. #50 Corvette Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 19 Laps 31. #81 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA) + 19 Laps 32. #61 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEA) + 19 Laps 33. #40 Oreca Race Performance (LMP2) + 20 Laps 34. #71 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 21 Laps 35. #65 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 21 Laps 36. #63 Porsche Proton Competition (GTEA) + 24 Laps 37. #83 Ferrari JMB Racing (GTEA) + 25 Laps 38. #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 26 Laps 39. #57 Ferrari Krohn Racing (GTEA) + 27 Laps 40. #44 Norma Extr (LMP2) + 28 Laps 41. #68 Ford Robertson Racing (GTEA) + 28 Laps 42. #60 Aston Gulf AMR Middle East (GTEA) + 29 Laps 43. #89 Ferrari Hankook Team Farnbacher (GTEP) + 31 Laps 44. #66 Ferrari JMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 31 Laps 45. #64 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 44 Laps 46. #58 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) + 52 Laps 47. #5 Oreca Hope Racing (LMP1) + 61 Laps 48. #15 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) + 71 Laps 49. #24 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) + 31 Laps 50. #1 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) Retired 51. #62 Ferrari CRS Racing (GTEA) Retired 52. #79 Aston Jota (GTEP) Retired 53. #20 Zytek Quifel-ASM Team (LMP1) Retired 54. #3 Audi Audi Sport North America (LMP1) Retired 55. #007 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired 56. #009 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired
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