H7: #2 Audi still holds the edge

Despite the better fuel mileage of the Peugeots, the extra pace of the R18 is keeping it ahead. Towards the end of the hour, Lotterer was able to make the car's ninth stop and still get out ahead of the #7 Peugeot, which has only stopped eight times.

With the Audis and Peugeots on different strategies, the #1 Audi, currently driven by Mike Rockenfeller is third at present. He had caught Pedro Lamy in the #9 Peugeot before the 908 driver made his stop.

The #8 Peugeot is also in contention in fifth, holding a significant advantage over the older ORECA-run 908.

The battle at the front of the unofficial petrol class continues to rage between the #16 Pescarolo and the two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas. With Jean-Christophe Boullion making a scheduled stop in the #13 Rebellion car just before the turn of the hour, Emmanuel Collard currently leads the petrol runners in seventh overall.

After losing ground with Nick Leventis at the wheel, the Strakka HPD is now lapping quickly again in the hands of Jonny Kane. He has been further delayed by a stop to change the legality plate, and a stop-go penalty for an earlier infringement, but is still fourth in LMP2.

The #74 Chevrolet Corvette continues to lead GTE Pro. The #56 BMW M3 had been nibbling away at the gap, but has just gone into the pits with an electronic problem.

Fine stints by Jean-Philippe Belloc in the #70 Porsche and Julien Canal in the #50 Corvette have moved Larbre Competition into first and second in the GTE Am category.

NOTES:

- 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 the Scot was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but appears to be unhurt.

- 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 SEVEN HOURS

Pos  Car            Team                      Class   Gap
 1.  #2  Audi       Audi Sport Team Joest     (LMP1)  
 2.  #7  Peugeot    Peugeot Sport Total       (LMP1)  +   21.258
 3.  #1  Audi       Audi Sport Team Joest     (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 4.  #9  Peugeot    Team Peugeot Total        (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 5.  #8  Peugeot    Peugeot Sport Total       (LMP1)  +    1 Lap
 6.  #10 Peugeot    Team Oreca-Matmut         (LMP1)  +   2 Laps
 7.  #16 Pescarolo  Pescarolo Team            (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
 8.  #12 Lola       Rebellion Racing          (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
 9.  #13 Lola       Rebellion Racing          (LMP1)  +   4 Laps
10.  #48 Oreca      Team Oreca-Matmut         (LMP2)  +   7 Laps
11.  #22 Lola       Kronos Racing             (LMP1)  +   8 Laps
12.  #41 Zytek      Greaves Motorsport        (LMP2)  +   8 Laps
13.  #39 Lola       PeCom Racing              (LMP2)  +   8 Laps
14.  #24 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP1)  +   8 Laps
15.  #42 HPD        Strakka Racing            (LMP2)  +   9 Laps
16.  #33 Lola       Level 5 Motorsports       (LMP2)  +   9 Laps
17.  #26 Oreca      Signatech Nissan          (LMP2)  +  10 Laps
18.  #49 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP2)  +  10 Laps
19.  #35 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP2)  +  11 Laps
20.  #74 Corvette   Corvette Racing           (GTEP)  +  12 Laps
21.  #56 BMW        BMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  12 Laps
22.  #73 Corvette   Corvette Racing           (GTEP)  +  12 Laps
23.  #75 Porsche    Prospeed Competition      (GTEP)  +  12 Laps
24.  #59 Ferrari    Luxury Racing             (GTEP)  +  13 Laps
25.  #51 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEP)  +  13 Laps
26.  #80 Porsche    Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP)  +  13 Laps
27.  #55 BMW        BMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  13 Laps
28.  #36 HPD        RML                       (LMP2)  +  13 Laps
29.  #44 Norma      Extr                      (LMP2)  +  14 Laps
30.  #66 Ferrari    JMW Motorsport            (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
31.  #77 Porsche    Team Felbermayr-Proton    (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
32.  #76 Porsche    IMSA Performance Matmut   (GTEP)  +  14 Laps
33.  #70 Porsche    Larbre Competition        (GTEA)  +  15 Laps
34.  #50 Corvette   Larbre Competition        (GTEA)  +  15 Laps
35.  #57 Ferrari    Krohn Racing              (GTEA)  +  15 Laps
36.  #61 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEA)  +  15 Laps
37.  #81 Porsche    Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA)  +  15 Laps
38.  #60 Aston      Gulf AMR Middle East      (GTEA)  +  16 Laps
39.  #65 Lotus      Lotus Jetalliance         (GTEP)  +  17 Laps
40.  #71 Ferrari    AF Corse                  (GTEP)  +  17 Laps
41.  #40 Oreca      Race Performance          (LMP2)  +  17 Laps
42.  #63 Porsche    Proton Competition        (GTEA)  +  18 Laps
43.  #88 Porsche    Team Felbermayr-Proton    (GTEP)  +  19 Laps
44.  #83 Ferrari    JMB Racing                (GTEA)  +  19 Laps
45.  #62 Ferrari    CRS Racing                (GTEA)  +  22 Laps
46.  #68 Ford       Robertson Racing          (GTEA)  +  23 Laps
47.  #89 Ferrari    Hankook Team Farnbacher   (GTEP)  +  24 Laps
48.  #64 Lotus      Lotus Jetalliance         (GTEP)  +  37 Laps
49.  #58 Ferrari    Luxury Racing             (GTEP)  +  38 Laps
50.  #5  Oreca      Hope Racing               (LMP1)  +  42 Laps
51.  #15 OAK        OAK Racing                (LMP1)  +  55 Laps
52.  #79 Aston      Jota                      (GTEP)  +  32 Laps
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