Just before the end of the first hour, with the two Peugeot 908s in the lead, the N°1 Audi suffered a puncture after driving over razor-sharp carbon debris. Unfortunately, 10 minutes later, the 2010 Le Mans winner then picked up a second puncture caused this time by body damage, and he fell back to 50th place.

That left the N°8 and N°7 Peugeot 908s and the N°2 Audi (McNish/Kristensen/Capello) to weave a path through the traffic as they traded the lead as a function of their respective pit-stop strategies and safety car interventions.

That phase of the race lasted until the fourth hour when Marc Gené (N°7 Peugeot) and Dindo Capello(N°2 Audi), who were dicing for second spot, tangled at Turn 17. The two prototypes were forced to return to their teams’ bases in the paddock – behind the grandstands – for repairs. The Audi R15 TDi rejoined some time afterwards after replacing the damaged the rear-left suspension, while the Peugeot reappeared some 30 minutes later after its front end had been changed. The N°1 and N°2 Audis are now 7th and 10th overall respectively.

Meanwhile, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud (HPD-ARX 01e/MICHELIN) had caused a surprise by finding a way past Pedro Lamy to take the lead ahead of another safety car period, during which the Oreca Peugeot inherited the lead in the hands of Panis. When competition resumed, however, the N°8 factory 908 eased back ahead again before pulling out a useful gap. At the halfway point, it had completed 158 laps and was 4.745s clear of the HPD-ARX and 6.376s ahead of the Oreca Peugeot.

In GT, Oliver Gavin (Corvette N°04) got away to a strong start ahead of pole-winner Gimmi Bruni (Ferrari). The Chevrolet driver was later involved in a tangle with the N°045 Flying Lizard Porsche and an Extreme Speed Ferrari, again at Turn 17. Ever since, the two factory BMW M3s have been engaged in a battle for first place with the Risi Competizione FERRARI 458/MICHELIN of Melo/Vilander/Salo (N°062).

The LMP2 class was dominated early on by the N°26 Oreca-Nissan of Mailleux/Ordonez/Ayari before they were delayed by a gearbox problem. Six hours into the race, the standings are topped by the N°33 Level 5 Lola-Honda of Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa. In LMPC, the N°36 FLM of Genoa Racing has survived the category’s spate of problems to emerge in front.

The provisional GT class MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge classification is led by the N°55 and N°56 BMWs, ahead of the N°004 Ford GT40, while the two Audis dominate the LMP standings.

Audi, Peugeot, Sebring