Hour 15: Pescarolo Takes Second
Tom Kristensen was handed a huge boost for a record seventh Le Mans victory after the second placed car of Allan McNish ran off the circuit into the tyre barriers towards the end of the 15th hour
McNish damaged the front bodywork of the #2 Audi R8 after running off the circuit into the tyre barrier at Indianapolis corner, forcing his Champion Racing team to pull the car back to repair front wishbone and suspension damage.
Kristensen's #3 car now has virtually a three-lap advantage over the Pescarolo Sport of Jean-Christophe Boullion who inherited second place. The Frenchman had ran off the circuit at the second Mulsane chicane in pursuit of fast lap times to close the gap on the leaders.
Kristensen also produced blistering pace in response to the threat of Pescarolo as dawn broke.
Just minutes into Kristensen's stint, he recorded the car's fastest lap of the race on two successive laps. The Dane managed to get the car's best down to 3m 39.781s.
Kristensen also showed the kind of luck that could make him that record seven-time Le Mans winner. Jean-Marc Gounon's fourth placed Team Oreca Audi R8 missed his braking point and ran off the track at high speed at the final Ford Chicane. Gounon rejoined infront of Kristensen, narrowly missing the Dane.
Martin Short's Rollcentre Dallara was pushed back into the garage at the top of the hour from 13th place.
GT1 was again led by Pedro Lamy's #58 Aston Martin, still battling it out on the same lap with the #64 Corvette.
The number 36 Paul Belmondo Racing car of Claude Yves Gosselin led the LMP2 class, which was notable for the spin of the 24 car of Yojiro Terada at the Dunlop Curves. Terada blocked the circuit briefly, before finding neutral and the marshals being able to push him into a safe place to restart.
Marc Lieb's Alex Job Porsche continued to hold a one-lap advantage over Patrick Long's White Lightning Porsche in GT2.
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