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Kristensen reigns in the wet at Le Mans

As teams settle into the rather damp Circuit de La Sarthe, Audi has shown that it has the advantage in the wet over the Peugeots. The No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest R10 TDI of Tom Kristensen has taken over the lead, pulling out to a one-minute ...

As teams settle into the rather damp Circuit de La Sarthe, Audi has shown that it has the advantage in the wet over the Peugeots. The No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest R10 TDI of Tom Kristensen has taken over the lead, pulling out to a one-minute advantage over the No. 7 Team Peugeot Total 908 HDi-FAP of Marc Gene.

#3 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10: Mike Rockenfeller, Alexandre Pr?mat, Lucas Luhr.
Photo by John Dagys.

By the middle of the 15th hour, Kristensen got within three seconds of Jacques Villeneuve, before both cars pitted - Villenueve handing over to Gene. But once both cars exited the pits, the silver and red Audi was out front and opened up to a 32-second lead on his first lap.

The Audi's began settling into lap times in the low four-minutes; with the Peugeots four to five seconds a lap slower per lap, costing them valuable time. The question now is: will the rain last the duration of the race or will it dry out? Teams have reported that the rain has started to ease up, with portions of the 8.5-mile Circuit de La Sarthe drying up in places.

LM P2 leader Jos Verstappen in the No. 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS Spyder now enjoys a five-lap lead over John Nielsen aboard the No. 31 Team Essex Porsche.

One contender in LM GT1 faced a setback in the 14th hour, as the third-placed No. 007 Aston Martin DBR9 of Andrea Piccini was wheeled to the garage with a battery change. The Gulf-liveried machine lost five laps to the leaders. Piccini's teammate, Antonio Garcia continues to lead in class.

In LM GT2 land, Jamie Melo's No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT now holds a one-lap advantage over the other Ferraris in class.

Weather will surely play a factor in the outcome of this race. It sure has spiced things up during the usually dull late night / early morning portion of the 24-hour enduro.

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