H16: Peugeots continue to lead
Peugeot continues to dominate this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, with the #9 car leading from the #8 machine
A long stop to change tyres and driver in the third-placed #1 Audi briefly allowed Marc Gene in the #9 Peugeot to get two laps ahead of the German machine. But Tom Kristensen emerged from the pits just behind Gene and went past before Gene pitted at the end of the hour to hand over to David Brabham.
Thanks to the #9 stop, the #8 Peugoet is currently within three minutes of the leader.
The #007 continues to lead the petrol cars in fourth overall, six laps behind the top Peugeot. Stefan Mucke drove the Aston Martin for much of the hour and set several best laps for the car as he continued to open up a gap over the #11 ORECA Courage.
Pescarolo's #16 machine is chasing the ORECA, while seventh and eighth are held by the #13 Speedy Racing Lola-Aston Martin and the works #008 Aston.
The Kolles Audi team hit trouble during the 16th hour. The #14 Audi R10, which had run fifth, has fallen to ninth after requiring work on the gearbox, while the #15 car has fallen out of the top 10 due to an off by Giorgio Mondini that damaged the front suspension.
There have also been several retirements during the hour. After two accidents during the race, the ORECA Courage, driven by Bruno Senna, Tiago Monteiro and Stephane Ortelli has been retired.
The #30 Racing Box Lola, which had run in the top six in LMP2, dropped out early in the hour, while the retirement of the #80 Flying Lizard GT2 Porsche was confirmed after Darren Law crashed during the previous hour. The #89 Hankook Farnbacher Ferrari 430 has also retired.
The other class leaders remain the same, with the Essex #31 Porsche leading LMP2, works Chevrolet Corvette #63 ahead in GT1, and the Risi #82 Ferrari heading up GT2.
Nicolas Minassian also set a new fastest lap during the hour in the #7 Peugeot, which is now up to 10th after its earlier problems.
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