Quiet morning at Le Mans

Le Mans (Motorsport.com) -- The morning at Le Mans has been quiet, as teams continue to work toward the objective of finishing the race, an objective that now begins to look attainable.

Several showers and light rain punctuated the morning's racing, forcing teams to switch to intermediate tires, but the level of caution exercised by the teams, no mishaps ensued.

The Joest-run factory Audi R8s continue to show their strength, and hold a ten-lap lead over the second-place Bentley. None of the top three teams has been experiencing any reliability issues this morning, and the gap has been fairly static.

Behind them, though, the battle for the fourth through seventh places is quite tight. After 19 hours, the #16 Oreca Chrysler LMP held a slim lead of two laps over the Courage-Peugeot, with the #63 Corvette C5-R close behind. Cadillac's LMP900 prototype has fallen back slightly due to lengthy pit stops.

With the closing hours at hand, the questions center mainly on the reliability of the Bentley and Chrysler prototypes -- neither has yet finished a modern Le Mans race -- and the question of whether the Corvette might still be able to make up enough ground to challenge for fifth place.