Settling deep into the second hour, the race did settle slightly. It allowed for taking stock of the positions. In the overall and LM P1 lead McNish was about 6 seconds clear of the Toyota and a lap clear of the two other cars in the class, the delayed Audi and the privateer Lola.
Brundle was about 4 seconds ahead of Plowman in LM P2 with a similar gap to Walker in the No. 26 Oreca.
As is so often the case, some of the best action was in GTE Pro where there was a strong fight for second place between Bruno Senna in the No. 99 Aston Martin (relieving Makowiecki) and Kamui Kobayashi, replacing Vilander in the No. 71 Ferrari. Waiting to join the fight was Stefan Mücke in the No. 97 Aston Martin, just a few seconds behind—fourth in class. While that battle was close the actual GTE Pro leader was surprisingly far ahead—the No. 51 Ferrari of Bruni.
The GTE Am category was led by Christoffer Nygaard, who took over the No. 95 all-Danish Aston Martin from Thiim. Jack Gerber was about 4 seconds behind in the No. 81 AF Corse Ferrari while the No. 76 IMSA Porsche of Raymond Narac was a fair bit behind in third.
The second set of stops was started by the No. 2 Audi, which was handed over in a routine call to Tom Kristensen. This promoted Buemi back into the lead. The Toyota was handed over to Stephane Sarrazin and a very, very quick stop allowed the petrol powered car to keep the lead—albeit, not by much.
Thanks in part to a great run by Nicolas Minassian, the No. 49 Pecom Oreca, which had a troubled start, moved into the LM P2 car lead until it became the last of the class leaders to make the second call. The triple stinting Brundle retook the class lead.
On the overall front, Tom Kristensen used a slow car pick to gain on Sarrazin and then drafting through the Turn 11-12 complex, the Audi retook the top spot from the Toyota. A few laps later the delayed No. 1 Audi made its third stop, Benoit Treluyer taking over, just behind Nicolas Prost, who newly moved into the Rebellion Lola. In GT, Bruni relinquished the Pro class lead to Bruno Senna when the No. 51 Ferrari became the first of the production based cars to make a second stop.
Janos Wimpffen
