SportsCars

Le Mans: Peugeot still leads at 12-hour mark

Autoracing1

The No. 9 Peugeot leads the Audi by 1-lap

The factory No. 9 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP continues to lead at the halfway mark in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Marc Gene has handed the leading French prototype back to Alexander Wurz, and the car still holds a one-lap lead over the No. 1 Audi of McNish.

It's 3:00 AM now and rain is forecast around sunrise.

Allan McNish in the Audi and Stephane Sarrazin in another Peugeot are running within a few seconds of each other in the battle for 2nd. Sarrazin's Peugeot is attacking McNish's Audi, but through traffic McNish continued to hold the faster Peugeot off.

McNish has been running a fast pace through the night, and Sarrazin has been able to match him lap-for-lap. The closest Sarrazin came to overtaking McNish was just over 1 second, attempting to pass on the run down to Indianapolis.

Completing the top five are the #17 Pescarolo Peugeot, currently driven by Simon Pagenaud, and the #007 AMR Eastern Europe Lola Aston Martin with Jan Charouz behind the wheel. The lead Kolles Audi R10 TDI still runs sixth, a lap back of Charouz.

P2 leader is still Casper Elgaard in the Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder, 4 laps up on the sister Porsche from Navi Team Goh driven by Seiji Ara.

The GT1 Corvettes are still on the same lap, Oliver Gavin roughly 2 minutes behind Jan Magnussen. In GT2, the #82 Risi Ferrari F430 GT leads from the #92 JMW Motorsport Ferrari and #76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche.

Quotes

Nicolas Minassian (N°7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP): "It's going well… and not so well. I felt comfortable in the car, but it was tough being eliminated from the fight for first place barely an hour into the race. The main thing, though, is that the leading car is a Peugeot. Team Peugeot Total deserves to be in front. I have so much respect for this team."

Franck Montagny (N°8 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP): "It's not so good being the chaser. I don't enjoy pushing my car so hard and the last thing I want is to tangle with another car, especially since we haven't yet reached the halfway point."

David Brabham (N°9 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP): "So far so good. We're doing exactly what we wanted and my car handled really well. I didn't feel under any particular pressure from behind. Maintaining the gap wasn't a problem and that's the target."

Olivier Quesnel (Director, Peugeot Sport): "Halfway into the race, there are three Peugeots in the top-4. There's just one Audi splitting us, and that's the best one; the one that has a habit of winning… We intend to let N°9 defend its lead without taking any undue risks, with N°8 pushing to take 2nd spot, which would give us a little security with two cars in front. And N°17 is there providing cover.

12 Hour Standings

Pos

# Class Drivers Team Car Laps Gap
1. 9 P1 D.Brabham, M.Gene, A.Wurz Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 196 4:25.728
2. 1 P1 D.Capello, T.Kristensen, A.McNish Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI 195 –1 lap–
3. 8 P1 S.Bourdais, F.Montagny, S.Sarrazin Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 195 1:06.920
4. 17 P1 J.C.Boullion, S.Pagenaud, B.Treluyer Pescarolo Sport Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 194 –2 laps–
5. 007 P1 J.Charouz, T.Enge, S.Mucke AMR Eastern Europe Lola B09/60-Aston Martin 191 –5 laps–
6. 14 P1 N.Karthikeyan, A.Lotterer, C.Zwolsman Team Kolles Audi R10 TDI 191 2:55.744
7. 7 P1 C.Klien, P.Lamy, N.Minassian Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 190 –6 laps–
8. 11 P1 O.Panis, N.Lapierre, S.Ayari Team ORECA Matmut AIM ORECA 01-AIM 189 –7 laps–
9. 16 P1 C.Tinseau, J.Barbosa, B.Jouanny Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo 01-Judd 189 1:07.480
10. 15 P1 C.Albers, C.Bakkerud, G.Mondini Team Kolles Audi R10 TDI 189 1:11.944
11. 13 P1 A.Belicchi, N.Jani, N.Prost Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B08/60-Aston Martin 188 –8 laps–
12. 008 P1 A.Davidson, D.Turner, J.Verstappen Aston Martin Racing Lola B09/60-Aston Martin 186 –10 laps–
13. 31 P2 C.Elgaard, K.Poulsen, E.Collard Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder 184 –12 laps–
14. 12 P1 P.Ragues, F.Mailleux, D.Andre Signature Plus Courage LC70-Judd 183 –13 laps–
15. 5 P2 S.Ara, K.Kunimoto, S.Maassen NAVI Team Goh Porsche RS Spyder 181 –15 laps–
16. 33 P2 J.Kane, B.Leuenberger, X.Pompidou Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B09/80-Judd 178 –18 laps–
17. 10 P1 B.Senna, T.Ortelli, T.Monteiro Team ORECA Matmut AIM ORECA 01-AIM 176 –20 laps–
18. 6 P1 L.Tomlinson, R.Dean, N.Moore Team LNT Ginetta Zytek 09S 175 –21 laps–
19. 63 GT1 J.Magnussen, J.O'Connell, A.Garcia Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R 175 30.880
20. 64 GT1 O.Gavin, O.Beretta, M.Fassler Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R 175 2:27.832
21. 23 P1 P.Hardman, N.Leventis, D.Watt Strakka Racing Ginetta Zytek 09S 175 2:36.928
22. 30 P2 T.Biagi, M.Bobbi, A.Piccini Racing Box SRL Lola B09/80-Judd 173 –23 laps–
23. 25 P2 T.Erdos, M.Newton, C.Dyson RML Lola B09/86-Mazda 172 –24 laps–
24. 35 P2 M.Lahaye, K.Ajlani, G.Moreau OAK Racing Pescarolo 01-Mazda 171 –25 laps–
25. 73 GT1 Y.Clairay, X.Maassen, J.Jousse Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R 171 10:21.608
26. 24 P2 J.Nicolet, R.Hein, J.F.Yvon OAK Racing Pescarolo 01-Mazda 170 –26 laps–
27. 82 GT2 J.Melo, M.Salo, P.Kaffer Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT 167 –29 laps–
28. 92 GT2 R.Bell, A.Kirkaldy, T.Sugden JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT 167 3:26.232
29. 76 GT2 P.Long, P.Pilet, R.Narac IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 166 –30 laps–
30. 97 GT2 F.Babini, M.Malucelli, P.Ruberti BMS Scuderia Italia SPa Ferrari F430 GT 166 1:09.456
31. 009 P1 S.Hall, P.Kox, H.Primat Aston Martin Racing Lola B09/60-Aston Martin 164 –32 laps–
32. 80 GT2 S.Neiman, D.Law, J.Bergmeister Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 164 30.864
33. 83 GT2 T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, E.van de Poele Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT 164 3:41.680
34. 78 GT2 G.Bruni, L.Perez Companc, M.Russo AF Corse SRL Ferrari F430 GT 163 –33 laps–
35. 85 GT2 T.Coronel, J.Janis, J.Bleekemolen Snoras Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Laviolette 162 –34 laps–
36. 32 P2 J.Barazi, S.Moseley, P.Bennett Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S 162 1:49.904
37. 4 P1 J.Campbell-Walter, V.Ickx, R.Ianetta Creation Autosportif Creation Judd 161 –35 laps–
38. 99 GT2 C.Bouchut, Y.Lebon, M.Rodrigues JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT 161 4:15.504
39. 84 GT2 P.Ehret, L.Mansell, R.Rusinov Team Modena Ferrari F430 GT 160 –36 laps–
40. 87 GT2 J.Cocker, P.Drayson, M.Franchitti Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage 159 –37 laps–
41. 89 GT2 A.Simonsen, D.Farnbacher, C.Montanari Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT 158 –38 laps–
42. 96 GT2 M.McInerney, S.McInerney, M.Vergers Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT 156 –40 laps–
43. 81 GT2 P.Dempsey, J.Foster, D.Kitch Jr Team Advanced Engineering Ferrari F430 GT 154 –42 laps–
44. 3 P1 T.Bernhard, R.Dumas, A.Premat Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI 153 –43 laps–
45. 39 P2 H.Noda, J.de Pourtales, M.Marsch Kruse-Schiller Motorsport Lola B07/46-Mazda 139 –57 laps–
46. 66 GT1 L.Lichtner-Hoyer, A.Muller, T.Gruber Jetalliance Racing GmbH Aston Martin DBR9 136 –60 laps–
47. 75 GT2 D.O'Young, P.Hesnault, P.Kralev Endurance Asia Team Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 133 –63 laps–
48. 2 P1 L.Luhr, M.Rockenfeller, M.Werner Audi Sport North America Audi R15 TDI 104 –92 laps–
49. 41 P2 K.Ojjeh, C.Y.Gosselin, P.Peter GAC Racing Team Zytek 07S 102 –94 laps–
50. 70 GT2 H.Felbermayr Jr, H.Felbermayr Sr, M.Lecourt IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 102 42:51.316
51. 72 GT1 L.Alphand, P.Goueslard, S.Gregoire Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R 99 –97 laps–
52. 26 P2 P.Bruneau, T.Greaves, M.RostaN Bruichladdich Bruneau Radical-AER 75 –121 laps–
53. 40 P2 M.Amaral, O.Pla, G.Smith Quifel-ASM Team Ginetta Zytek 09S 46 –150 laps–
54. 77 GT2 M.Lieb, R.Lietz, W.Henzler Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 24 –172 laps–
55. 68 GT1 M.Apicella, A.Yogo, Y.Yamagishi JLOC Lamborghini Murcielago 1 –195 laps-