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LM24 H3: Benoit Treluyer resumes lead of Le Mans 24 Hours as #2 Audi hits trouble

Benoit Treluyer took over from Andre Lotterer and kept the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro at the head of the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours after three hours

The sister #2 R18 Ultra of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello meanwhile hit trouble while running in second, as an apparently routine stop turned into a spell in the garage.

The unexpected delay - the third issue Audi has suffered across its four cars so far this race - dropped the #3 car down to fifth.

In their stead Loic Duval moved the #2 Audi R18 Ultra into second, only to pit shortly before the end of the third hour.

Duval's stop, combined with Kristensen's delays, allowed Nicolas Lapierre to bring the #7 Toyota TS 030 into second. Lapierre had been shadowing Duval in the middle part of the third hour, getting to within a couple of second of the R18, but dropped off slightly before the former's stop.

Sebastien Buemi likewise gained two spots, meaning that Toyota currently hold second and third positions.

After his delay Kristensen resumed the race in fifth, behind Buemi but just over 25s ahead of the fourth Audi, the #4 Audi R18 Ultra currently driven by Marco Bonanomi.

Neel Jani took over from Nick Heidfeld in the #12 Rebellion Lola, which remains the highest non-factory LMP1 car in seventh despite Heidfeld suffering a spin early on in the third hour.

Olivier Pla continues to lead in LMP2 in the #24 OAK Racing Morgan-Judd, although Bas Leinders - taking over from David Heinemeier-Hansson in the #35 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan - moved into second.

The spot had previously belonged to the the #44 Starworks HPD, in which Ryan Dalziel took over from the flying Tom Kimber-Smith.

A titanic battle reigned for the lead of the GTE Pro class as Corvette, Aston Martin and Ferrari's lead representatives were often covered by less than two seconds.

Tommy Milner in the #74 Corvette and Darren Turner in the #97 Vantage traded top spot several times, while Gianmaria Bruni closed relentlessly in the #51 AF Corse.

Ferrari's ability to stay out far longer than its counterparts was however rewarded as Bruni pulled a gap of more than a minute over his rivals, even if he is yet to complete his third stop.

In contrast, GTE Am continues to be dominated by the #79 Flying Lizard Porsche 911, with Spencer Pumpelly right on the back of the Pro class top four.

- The quickest LMP1 qualifier, Strakka Racing's HPD, was pushed back into the garage before the start and joined the race on lap six.

- The #17 Pescarolo started the race from the pitlane after an engine change ran late. The team's #16 Dome also pitted with drivetrain issues.

- Misfire for #99 Aston Martin Vantage hands #79 Flying Lizard Porsche sizeable GTE Am lead.

- Titanic GTE Pro scrap between Corvette, Aston Martin and Ferrari

- Garage checks for Tom Kristensen in the #2 Audi, the third unexpected delay for the marque across its four cars

POSITIONS AFTER 3 HOURS

Pos Car            Drivers                      Class  Laps Gap
 1. #1  Audi       Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer    LMP1   50   
 2. #7  Toyota     Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima       LMP1   50   +   52.281s
 3. #8  Toyota     Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin      LMP1   50   + 1m09.200s
 4. #3  Audi       Gene/Dumas/Duval             LMP1   50   + 2m10.544s
 5. #2  Audi       McNish/Capello/Kristensen    LMP1   49   +     1 Lap
 6. #4  Audi       Jarvis/Bonanomi/Rockenfeller LMP1   49   +   38.412s
 7. #12 Lola       Prost/Heidfeld/Jani          LMP1   49   + 1m26.322s
 8. #13 Lola       Belicchi/Bleekemolen/Primat  LMP1   48   +    2 Laps
 9. #22 HPD        Brabham/Dumbreck/Chandhok    LMP1   48   + 1m50.537s
10. #15 OAK        Montagny/Kraihamer/Baguette  LMP1   48   + 2m35.930s
11. #24 Morgan     Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla           LMP2   47   +    3 Laps
12. #35 Morgan     H Hansson/Leinders/Martin    LMP2   47   + 1m55.737s
13. #44 HPD        Potolicchio/Dalziel/K-Smith  LMP2   47   + 2m25.211s
14. #48 Oreca      Firth/Hartley/Hughes         LMP2   47   + 2m27.412s
15. #42 Zytek      Brundle/Brundle/Ordonez      LMP2   47   + 3m15.048s
16. #49 Oreca      Perez Companc/Kaffer/Ayari   LMP2   47   + 3m16.964s
17. #26 Oreca      Ragues/Panciatici/Rusinov    LMP2   46   +    4 Laps
18. #25 Oreca      Martin/Charouz/Graves        LMP2   46   +   11.465s
19. #23 Oreca      Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard     LMP2   46   + 1m00.479s
20. #45 Oreca      Briere/Nakano/Petersen       LMP2   46   + 1m04.670s
21. #30 Lola       Sims/Buurman/Iannetta        LMP2   46   + 1m18.467s
22. #38 Zytek      Hancock/Dolan/Kurosawa       LMP2   46   + 2m21.512s
23. #33 HPD        Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz          LMP2   46   + 3m45.807s
24. #31 Lola       Holzer/Schultis/Moro         LMP2   45   +    5 Laps
25. #41 Zytek      Zugel/Julian/Gonzalez        LMP2   45   +   18.146s
26. #46 Oreca      Thiriet/Beche/Tinseau        LMP2   45   + 2m25.884s
27. #51 Ferrari    Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander    GTEP   44   +    6 Laps
28. #74 Corvette   Gavin/Westbrook/Milner       GTEP   44   + 1m05.551s
29. #97 Aston      Mucke/Fernandez/Turner       GTEP   44   + 1m13.208s
30. #77 Porsche    Lietz/Lieb/Henzler           GTEP   44   + 2m35.535s
31. #73 Corvette   Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor      GTEP   44   + 3m08.174s
32. #79 Porsche    Neiman/Pumpelly/Pilet        GTEA   44   + 3m17.941s
33. #40 Oreca      Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry        LMP2   44   + 3m41.225s
34. #43 Norma      Rosier/Haezebrouck/Thirion   LMP2   43   +    7 Laps
35. #59 Ferrari    Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher   GTEP   43   + 1m50.619s
36. #67 Porsche    Pons/Armindo/Narac           GTEA   43   + 2m46.582s
37. #66 Ferrari    Walker/Cocker/Wills          GTEP   43   + 3m24.657s
38. #88 Porsche    Ried/Roda/Ruberti            GTEA   43   + 3m40.934s
39. #81 Ferrari    Perazzini/Cadei/Griffin      GTEA   43   + 4m23.951s
40. #58 Ferrari    Ehret/Jeannette/Montecalvo   GTEA   43   + 4m31.521s
41. #21 HPD        Leventis/Kane/Watts          LMP1   43   + 4m32.633s
42. #50 Corvette   Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy        GTEA   43   + 4m46.584s
43. #83 Ferrari    Rodrigues/Illiano/Ferte      GTEA   42   +    8 Laps
44. #57 Ferrari    Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo         GTEA   42   +    1.925s
45. #61 Ferrari    Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers       GTEA   42   + 1m41.161s
46. #70 Corvette   Bourret/Gibon/Belloc         GTEA   42   + 3m42.884s
47. #17 Dome       Minassian/Bourdais/Ara       LMP1   41   +    9 Laps
48. #55 Porsche    Daniels/Palttala/Camathias   GTEA   41   +10m22.178s
49. #71 Ferrari    Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci      GTEP   41   +11m38.773s
50. #80 Porsche    Bergmeister/Long/Holzer      GTEP   40   +   10 Laps
51. #75 Porsche    al Faisal/Curtis/Edwards     GTEA   38   +   12 Laps
52. #0  DeltaWing  Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama    CDNT   36   +   14 Laps
53. #28 Lola       Giroix/Badey/Johansson       LMP2   31   +   19 Laps
54. #99 Aston      Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen     GTEA   24   +   26 Laps
55. #16 Pescarolo  Collard/Bouillon/Hall        LMP1   19   +   31 Laps
56. #29 Lola       Ihara/Deletraz/Rostan        LMP2   17   +   33 Laps

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