WEC
Peugeot retakes control in hour five
With just over five hours complete, a Peugeot is back on top of the timing screens. Jacques Villeneuve in the No. 7 Team Peugeot Total 908 HDi-FAP now leads the 24 Hours of Le Mans, holding a 20 second plus gap over the sister No. 9 entry of Franck ...
Published: Jun 15, 2008, 5:22 AM
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With just over five hours complete, a Peugeot is back on top of the timing screens. Jacques Villeneuve in the No. 7 Team Peugeot Total 908 HDi-FAP now leads the 24 Hours of Le Mans, holding a 20 second plus gap over the sister No. 9 entry of Franck Montagny. The Frenchman has been on a tear, ripping off fast laps, including a new race-best of 3:20.600. Meanwhile the French Lion's third car of Pedro Lamy has almost cracked the top-10 after rebounding from an early race gearbox problem.
The Audis have dropped to third through fifth, as the two diesel juggernauts are caught in a game of pit strategy. Last hour, Dindo Capello in the No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest R10 TDI enjoyed a comfortable lead but has since dropped to third, not being able to match the pace set by co-driver Allan McNish. The No. 3 Audi of Alexandre Premat runs in fourth, the first car a lap back on the leading Peugeots.
What's remarkable is that all three Audis have yet to face trouble, but the three Peugeots have each faced some sort of setback - yet two of them are now leading the way. The sheer pace of the 908s have been the difference that's put them back into an early advantage.
In the "gasoline" LM P1 class, the No. 5 Team Oreca Matmut Courage-Oreca LC70 Judd continues to run in fifth, now in the hands of Soheil Ayari. The French entry holds a slim gap over the No. 17 Pescarolo Sport Judd and the No. 11 Dome Racing Team S102 Judd in eighth.
Them Essex continues to lead the way in LM P2, with Casper Elgaard now at the helm of the Danish Porsche RS Spyder. Jeroen Bleekamolen is back at the helm of the Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche, less than 10 seconds behind the Dunlop-shod car.
The LM GT1 race continues to be as tight as ever, as the No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 of David Brabahm leads, 30 seconds ahead of the No. 64 Corvette C6.R of Max Papis. Jan Magnussen runs in third, with Karl Wendlinger in fourth.
Risi Competizione's Gianmaria Bruni is in control of the LM GT2 race, holding a 40 second margin over the No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Wolf Henzler.
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