Le Mans - Hour seventeen.

The chase of Audi continues, as the minor placings in the prototype top ten remain up for grabs.

The Ingolstadt steamroller ploughs remorselessly on, with the three works cars running in numerical order - #1, #2, #3.

Behind the silver cars, Bentley continues to enjoy a three-lap advantage over the two ORECA Dallaras which, along with Jan Lammers' Dome, stay ahead of the luckless #6 Cadillac which lost three places having rear bodywork repaired. The Caddy and Dome swapped places during regular pit calls, and remain in close contact.

Much of the hour's action took place outside the senior class, with the demise of the remaining MG leaving just two cars running in the LMP675 class. Contrary to expectation, the WR-Peugeot is still in the thick of the action, and leading the class ahead of the last of the ROC Reynards, which required a suspension change.

The GTS class remains in the clutches of Corvette, the second of which saw off the challenge of the FFSA Viper in a head-to-head duel along the Mulsanne. The leading #63 car did not escape the hour unscathed however, with Olly Gavin requiring a windscreen change after pitting with a major crack obscuring his view.

While the leaders in GTS remained static, the lead of GT changed hands, with the Racer's Group Porsche moving ahead of the Freisinger entry after a night spent in pursuit.

The Seikel team remains third in class, but Morgan's assault on Le Mans may be over after it slowed dramatically with a suspected fuel system fault.

Back in the prototype ranks, Panoz continues to suffer, with the #12 car emerging after its clutch repair only to fail to fire up. The team is now thought to be considering a complete rear-end change.


Overall leaderboard

1. Biela/Kristensen/Pirro Audi Sport North America Audi R8 LMP 900 262 laps
2. Capello/Herbert/Pescatori Audi Sport North America Audi R8 LMP 900 260 laps
3. Krumm/Peter/Werner Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R8 LMP900 260 laps
4. Wallace/Leitzinger/vd Poele Team Bentley Bentley EXP S8 LMP GTP 253 laps
5 Sarrazin/Montagny/Minassian Playstation Team ORECA Dallara-Judd LMP 900 250 laps
6 Beretta/Lamy/Comas Playstation Team ORECA Dallara-Judd LMP 900 249 laps
7. Lammers/Hillebrand/Coronel Racing for Holland Dome-Judd S101 LMP 900 249 laps
8. Taylor/Angelelli/Tinseau Team Cadillac Cadillac LMP02 LMP 900 247 laps
9. Ara/Dalmas/Katoh Audi Sport Japan/Team Goh Audi R8 LMP 900 247 laps
10. Collard/Bernard/Lehto Team Cadillac Cadillac LMP02 LMP 900 240 laps

LMP900/GTP

1. Biela/Kristensen/Pirro Audi Sport North America Audi R8 LMP 900 262 laps
2. Capello/Herbert/Pescatori Audi Sport North America Audi R8 LMP 900 260 laps
3. Krumm/Peter/Werner Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R8 LMP900 260 laps
4. Wallace/Leitzinger/vd Poele Team Bentley Bentley EXP S8 LMP GTP 253 laps
5 Sarrazin/Montagny/Minassian Playstation Team ORECA Dallara-Judd LMP 900 250 laps

LMP675

16. Daoudi/de Fournoux/Bouvet Welter Racing WR-Peugeot LMP 675 227 laps
24. Deletraz/Lechner/Pillon ROC Organisation Course Reynard-VW LMP 675 215 laps
no other runners

LMGTS

12. Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin Corvette Racing Corvette C5-R LM GTS 234 laps
15. Pilgrim/Collins/Freon Corvette Racing Corvette C5-R LM GTS 230 laps
16. Belloc/Cochet/Treluyer Equipe de France FFSA Chrysler Viper LM GTS 230 laps

LMGT

18. Buckler/Luhr/Bernhard The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 LM GT 224 laps
19. Maassen/Bergmeister/Dumas Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 LM GT 223 laps
20. Rosa/Drudi/Riccitelli Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 LM GT 220 laps