Le Mans: 3 Hours – Porsche takes lead as rain wrecks havoc

Bonanomi was taken out by the #8 Toyota

Intermittent but heavy showers are continuing to ruin in the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, with Porsche moving into the lead for the first time, but only because it did not pit yet. The Porsche is not fast enough to lead on its own.

Hour three began under safety car as marshals worked to clear the debris caused by Marco Bonanomi and Nicolas Lapierre's crash, the former's #3 Audi now confirmed as out, while the #8 Toyota has been repaired and is running again, albeit 8 laps down.

The race resumed 13mins into the hour, but was placed back under safety car conditions just 13mins later when it began raining heavily again. During this time, the Muphy Prototypes Oreca of Karun Chandhok – which was third in the LMP2 class – suffered a spin into the barriers, as did the Greaves Zytek.

Taking the opportunity to pit, the leading #7 Toyota – which had established a 1min 30secs lead on the competition having benefitted from the first multiple safety car format -, came in for a third stop, with Stephane Sarrazin assuming control.

However, with the race set to restart again, the car was held at the end of the pit lane until the field streamed through, allowing the #20 Porsche of Timo Bernhard into the lead for the first time, albeit having completed just two stops and with just five seconds in hand.

The #2 Audi is in third – now with Benoit Treluyer in the car -, but more than a minute behind, while the #1 Audi of Tom Kristensen is a lonely fourth 2min 30secs behind.

Hour 3 Standings

Pos Cl Car Drivers Laps Behind
1. LMP1 #20 Porsche Bernhard/Webber/Hartley 40 +0.000s
2. LMP1 #7 Toyota Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima 40 +6.670s
3. LMP1 #2 Audi Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer 39 +1 Lap
4. LMP1 #1 Audi Di Grassi/Gene/Kristensen 39 +58.440s
5. LMP1 #12 Rebellion Prost/Heidfeld/Beche 38 +2 Laps
6. LMP2 #34 Oreca Frey/Mailleux/Lancaster 37 +3 Laps
7. LMP2 #36 Alpine Chatin/Panciatici/Webb 37 +1m08.914s
8. LMP2 #43 Morgan Klien/Hirsch/Brandela 37 +1m17.339s
9. LMP2 #35 Ligier Brundle/Mardenborough/Shulzhitskiy 37 +1m19.457s
10. LMP2 #46 Ligier Thiriet/Badey/Gommendy 37 +1m41.870s
11. LMP1 #13 Rebellion Kraihamer/Belicchi/Leimer 37 +1m42.763s
12. LMP2 #33 Ligier Cheng/Tung/Fong 36 +4 Laps
13. LMP2 #26 Morgan Rusinov/Pla/Canal 36 +1m36.667s
14. LMP2 #24 Oreca Rast/Charouz/Capillaire 36 +2m45.799s
15. LMP2 #47 Oreca Howson/Bradley/Imperatori 36 +3m05.401s
16. LMP2 #38 Zytek Dolan/Tincknell/Turvey 36 +3m10.081s
17. GTEP #92 Porsche Holzer/Makowiecki/Lietz 35 +5 Laps
18. GTEP #91 Porsche Pilet/Bergmeister/Tandy 35 +1.330s
19. GTEA #98 Aston Dalla Lana/Lamy/Nygaard 35 +24.483s
20. GTEA #77 Porsche Dempsey/Foster/Long 35 +25.127s
21. GTEP #74 Chevrolet Gavin/Milner/Westbrook 35 +25.210s
22. LMP2 #50 Morgan Ragues/Taylor/Ihara 35 +46.711s
23. GTEP #51 Ferrari Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella 35 +1m02.010s
24. LMP2 #42 Zytek Kimber-Smith/McMurry/Dyson 35 +1m09.288s
25. GTEP #97 Aston Turner/Mucke/Senna 35 +1m14.097s
26. LMP1 #14 Porsche Dumas/Jani/Lieb 35 +1m22.389s
27. GTEP #73 Chevrolet Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor 35 +1m34.511s
28. GTEA #53 Ferrari Mowlem/Patterson/Hamilton 35 +1m37.855s
29. LMP2 #29 Morgan Schell/Leutwiller/Roussel 35 +1m56.203s
30. GTEA #95 Aston Poulsen/Heinemeier-Hansson/Thiim 35 +3m03.976s
31. GTEA #72 Ferrari Bertolini/Shaitar/Basov 35 +3m14.535s
32. GTEA #67 Porsche Maris/Merlin/Helary 35 +3m15.761s
33. GTEA #88 Porsche Ried/Bachler/Al Qubaisi 34 +6 Laps
34. GTEA #57 Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Collins 34 +15.349s
35. GTEA #60 Ferrari Mann/Case/Giammaria 34 +1m28.396s
36. GTEA #90 Ferrari Montecalvo/Roda/Ruberti 34 +1m28.894s
37. GTEA #70 Ferrari Nakano/Ehret/Rich 34 +1m29.202s
38. GTEA #58 Ferrari Barthez/Pons/Ayari 34 +2m05.274s
39. GTEA #75 Porsche Perrodo/Collard/Palttala 34 +2m17.123s
40. GTEP #52 Ferrari Griffin/Parente/Leo 34 +2m34.018s
41. GTEA #61 Ferrari Perez-Companc/Cioci/Venturi 34 +2m47.589s
42. GTEA #66 Ferrari Al Faisal/Neiman/Pumpelly 34 +2m53.862s
43. LMP2 #48 Oreca Berthon/Gonzalez/Chandhok 32 +8 Laps
44. GTEP #79 Porsche MacNeil/Curtis/Bleekemolen 32 +25m57.608s
45. GTEA #62 Ferrari Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank 32 +26m14.046s
46. LMP2 #41 Zytek Munemman/Latif/Winslow 31 +9 Laps
47. LMP1 #8 Toyota Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi 31 +23m17.300s
48. GTEA #76 Porsche Narac/Armindo/Hallyday 31 +26m06.807s
49. LMP2 #27 Oreca Zlobin/Salo/Ladygin 30 +10 Laps
50. GTEP #71 Ferrari Rigon/Kaffer/Beretta 28 Retired
51. LMP1 #3 Audi Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis 25 Retired
52. GTEA #81 Ferrari Wyatt/Rugolo/Bird 22 Retired
53. LMP2 #37 Oreca Ladygin/Minassian/Mediani 9 Retired
54. CDNT #0 Nissan Ordonez/Reip/Motoyama 5 Retired