Le Mans 24 Hours: Hours 13-15
Relative calm has fallen over the Le Mans 24 Hours as the sun rises at the Circuit de la Sarthe with Peugeot's #2 car continuing to lead the way in the French classic.
The car maintains an advantage of a lap over the chasing #9Audi while the #8 has suffered some minor delays that mean it has dropped further back from the leading pair in third place.
Showing the pace of the Peugeot, Nicolas Minassian posted the quickest lap of the race for the leading machine in the 15th hour.
Minassian isn't the only quick driver on track however, with Marc Gene in the recovering #1 Peugeot lapping consistently quicker than anyone else as he attempts to climb back up the order. The car now sits fourth after its earlier mechanical issues and is ahead of the #7 Audi on the road.
The delayed Oreca Peugeot is sixth but a lap down on the Audi while the two factory Aston Martins, the #15 Kolles Audi and the Signature Plus Lola-Aston remain static in positions seven through to ten.
Rebellion Racing's dire race came to an end when Neel Jani ground to a halt on the entry to the pit lane while Drayson Racing has continued to battle against a myriad of issues and is more than 90 laps behind the leader after requiring work on a number of problems. The team is currently working hard to try and rejoin the race.
A slight delay in the pits to replace the rear bodywork means Highcroft Racing has been unable to make inroads into the lead held by Strakka Racing in LMP2, with the #42 HPD ARX-01 now lying eleventh overall with a three lap class lead.
The leading OAK Pescarolo remains third but the RML Lola Coupe is now fourth after the Quifel-ASM Ginetta-Zytek lost time with a driveshaft problem.
GT1 continues to be headed by the Larbre Saleen from the #73 Corvette, although the second of the Luc Alphand Aventures-entered machines has now slipped to fourth in class behind the Young Driver Aston Martin after a strong stint from Tomas Enge.
The Matech Ford that had led the early stages before its clash with an LMP2 car was forced out with engine failure but - after spending more than three hours in the pits undergoing gearbox repairs - the JLOC Lamborghini is now back on track and turning laps, albeit miles behind the rest of the field. The focus for the Japanese team will now be on trying to complete enough laps to be classified as a finisher.
GT2 continues to be led by the two Corvettes, with the #64 heading the #63 and the two having extended their advantage over the third-placed Felbermayr-Proton Porsche, which was delayed in the pits while undergoing a brake change. That has brought the IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche into contention for a place on the GT2 podium.
