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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