Team Bentley after eight hours

Le Mans, 16TH June 2001 midnight... Following the retirement of the number 7 Bentley EXP 8 prototype, its number 8 sister is going well, running as high as third before stopping to change the electronics for its gearbox. This 20-minute stop dropped the car to fifth from where it has climbed back to its current fourth place.

RICHARD LLOYD, team principal: `Butch suffered almost exactly the same problem with his gearbox as that which caused the retirement of the number 7 car. The only difference is that Butch was stuck in fourth rather than sixth gear so was able to get back to the pit. It's a problem we would probably have found during testing had we had the chance to run in wet weather. The good news is Andy, Butch and Eric are doing a great job and, with new electronics, the car is currently behaving.'

BUTCH LEITZINGER: `These are the worst conditions I have ever experienced. There are rivers running across the track, cars off everywhere and people everywhere trying to recover them. The car is great considering what it's going through and the tyres are working well. The team did an incredible job changing the gearbox electronics, so at the moment we're looking OK.'

k-Bentley