H16: Kristensen's hopes fading

The Dane's No. 7 R10 TDI, which dropped out of contention when it had to pit to have a fuel injector changed in the fourth hour and was hit by a GT1 car in the tenth, had to have its turbocharger replaced in the sixteenth hour while running in third place.

While third place wasn't lost, the diesel-powered challenger rejoined the race with Allan McNish at the wheel after standing still in the pits for over fifteen minutes, dropping to twelve laps behind the leader.

First place is still occupied by the sister No. 8 Audi, which put in some very quick laps in the hands of Marco Werner.

Franck Montagny left the reins of his second-place Pescarolo to Sebastien Loeb, with the other C60 car running in thirteenth place overall, fourth in the LMP1 class.

Some commotion was caused when the No. 30 WR-Peugeot caught fire at the Michelin chicane. Its driver Julien Briche was quickly out of the car while marshals put out the fire.

The GT1 class is taking the spotlight, with the top runners in fourth and fifth overall. These are still the Aston Martin No. 009 driven by Stephane Ortelli and the No. 64 Corvette in the hands of Jan Magnussen respectively, separated by less than a lap.

Their sister cars lie in third position in class for the British marque and sixth for the American manufacturer.

Running well in sixth place overall and first in LMP2 class is still Mike Newton's MG-Lola, ten laps ahead of the best of the rest, the No. 27 Courage-AER.

Remaining at the head of the GT2 class is the No. 83 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.