Hour 16: It's easy being green

The Champion Racing Audi is at least keeping close enough to the British cars to keep them honest. Emanuele Pirro is three laps back from the lead, which demonstrates that Bentley still can't afford to relax just yet.

A grey Sunday morning at the Circuit de la Sarthe has seen the Riley & Scott machine finally give up its fight, with a blown engine causing the car to retire.

The Spyker team is still fighting, although the car has spent most of the past two hours in the pits having its gearbox changed. Meanwhile, two of the GTS class front-runners have hit trouble. The Luc Alphand Ferrari 550 Maranello had to make a lengthy pit stop for some steering problems, whilst the #53 Corvette has also spent much time in the pits with mechanical issues.

The battle for the GT class continues to rage, with the Alex Job Racing Porsche snatching back the lead from rivals Orbit Racing. This one looks set to go the distance.

Perhaps the biggest news of the morning is the weather. Grey skies cloud the circuit, and weather reports indicate a strong probability of rain at some point this morning.

Kristensen/Capello/Smith Bentley 252 laps
Brabham/Herbert/Blundell Bentley 251 laps
Pirro/Lehto/Johansson Audi 250 laps