The No. 9 Peugeot leads the Audi by 1-lap

The factory No. 9 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP continues to lead at the halfway mark in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Marc Gene has handed the leading French prototype back to Alexander Wurz, and the car still holds a one-lap lead over the No. 1 Audi of McNish.

It's 3:00 AM now and rain is forecast around sunrise.

Allan McNish in the Audi and Stephane Sarrazin in another Peugeot are running within a few seconds of each other in the battle for 2nd. Sarrazin's Peugeot is attacking McNish's Audi, but through traffic McNish continued to hold the faster Peugeot off.

McNish has been running a fast pace through the night, and Sarrazin has been able to match him lap-for-lap. The closest Sarrazin came to overtaking McNish was just over 1 second, attempting to pass on the run down to Indianapolis.

Completing the top five are the #17 Pescarolo Peugeot, currently driven by Simon Pagenaud, and the #007 AMR Eastern Europe Lola Aston Martin with Jan Charouz behind the wheel. The lead Kolles Audi R10 TDI still runs sixth, a lap back of Charouz.

P2 leader is still Casper Elgaard in the Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder, 4 laps up on the sister Porsche from Navi Team Goh driven by Seiji Ara.

The GT1 Corvettes are still on the same lap, Oliver Gavin roughly 2 minutes behind Jan Magnussen. In GT2, the #82 Risi Ferrari F430 GT leads from the #92 JMW Motorsport Ferrari and #76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche.

Quotes

Nicolas Minassian (N°7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP): "It's going well… and not so well. I felt comfortable in the car, but it was tough being eliminated from the fight for first place barely an hour into the race. The main thing, though, is that the leading car is a Peugeot. Team Peugeot Total deserves to be in front. I have so much respect for this team."

Franck Montagny (N°8 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP): "It's not so good being the chaser. I don't enjoy pushing my car so hard and the last thing I want is to tangle with another car, especially since we haven't yet reached the halfway point."

David Brabham (N°9 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP): "So far so good. We're doing exactly what we wanted and my car handled really well. I didn't feel under any particular pressure from behind. Maintaining the gap wasn't a problem and that's the target."

Olivier Quesnel (Director, Peugeot Sport): "Halfway into the race, there are three Peugeots in the top-4. There's just one Audi splitting us, and that's the best one; the one that has a habit of winning… We intend to let N°9 defend its lead without taking any undue risks, with N°8 pushing to take 2nd spot, which would give us a little security with two cars in front. And N°17 is there providing cover.

12 Hour Standings

Pos	#	Class	Drivers	Team	Car	Laps	Gap
1.	9	P1	D.Brabham, M.Gene, A.Wurz	Peugeot Sport Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	196	4:25.728
2.	1	P1	D.Capello, T.Kristensen, A.McNish	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R15 TDI	195	--1 lap--
3.	8	P1	S.Bourdais, F.Montagny, S.Sarrazin	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	195	1:06.920
4.	17	P1	J.C.Boullion, S.Pagenaud, B.Treluyer	Pescarolo Sport	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	194	--2 laps--
5.	007	P1	J.Charouz, T.Enge, S.Mucke	AMR Eastern Europe	Lola B09/60-Aston Martin	191	--5 laps--
6.	14	P1	N.Karthikeyan, A.Lotterer, C.Zwolsman	Team Kolles	Audi R10 TDI	191	2:55.744
7.	7	P1	C.Klien, P.Lamy, N.Minassian	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	190	--6 laps--
8.	11	P1	O.Panis, N.Lapierre, S.Ayari	Team ORECA Matmut AIM	ORECA 01-AIM	189	--7 laps--
9.	16	P1	C.Tinseau, J.Barbosa, B.Jouanny	Pescarolo Sport	Pescarolo 01-Judd	189	1:07.480
10.	15	P1	C.Albers, C.Bakkerud, G.Mondini	Team Kolles	Audi R10 TDI	189	1:11.944
11.	13	P1	A.Belicchi, N.Jani, N.Prost	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Lola B08/60-Aston Martin	188	--8 laps--
12.	008	P1	A.Davidson, D.Turner, J.Verstappen	Aston Martin Racing	Lola B09/60-Aston Martin	186	--10 laps--
13.	31	P2	C.Elgaard, K.Poulsen, E.Collard	Team Essex	Porsche RS Spyder	184	--12 laps--
14.	12	P1	P.Ragues, F.Mailleux, D.Andre	Signature Plus	Courage LC70-Judd	183	--13 laps--
15.	5	P2	S.Ara, K.Kunimoto, S.Maassen	NAVI Team Goh	Porsche RS Spyder	181	--15 laps--
16.	33	P2	J.Kane, B.Leuenberger, X.Pompidou	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Lola B09/80-Judd	178	--18 laps--
17.	10	P1	B.Senna, T.Ortelli, T.Monteiro	Team ORECA Matmut AIM	ORECA 01-AIM	176	--20 laps--
18.	6	P1	L.Tomlinson, R.Dean, N.Moore	Team LNT	Ginetta Zytek 09S	175	--21 laps--
19.	63	GT1	J.Magnussen, J.O'Connell, A.Garcia	Corvette Racing	Corvette C6.R	175	30.880
20.	64	GT1	O.Gavin, O.Beretta, M.Fassler	Corvette Racing	Corvette C6.R	175	2:27.832
21.	23	P1	P.Hardman, N.Leventis, D.Watt	Strakka Racing	Ginetta Zytek 09S	175	2:36.928
22.	30	P2	T.Biagi, M.Bobbi, A.Piccini	Racing Box SRL	Lola B09/80-Judd	173	--23 laps--
23.	25	P2	T.Erdos, M.Newton, C.Dyson	RML	Lola B09/86-Mazda	172	--24 laps--
24.	35	P2	M.Lahaye, K.Ajlani, G.Moreau	OAK Racing	Pescarolo 01-Mazda	171	--25 laps--
25.	73	GT1	Y.Clairay, X.Maassen, J.Jousse	Luc Alphand Aventures	Corvette C6.R	171	10:21.608
26.	24	P2	J.Nicolet, R.Hein, J.F.Yvon	OAK Racing	Pescarolo 01-Mazda	170	--26 laps--
27.	82	GT2	J.Melo, M.Salo, P.Kaffer	Risi Competizione	Ferrari F430 GT	167	--29 laps--
28.	92	GT2	R.Bell, A.Kirkaldy, T.Sugden	JMW Motorsport	Ferrari F430 GT	167	3:26.232
29.	76	GT2	P.Long, P.Pilet, R.Narac	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	166	--30 laps--
30.	97	GT2	F.Babini, M.Malucelli, P.Ruberti	BMS Scuderia Italia SPa	Ferrari F430 GT	166	1:09.456
31.	009	P1	S.Hall, P.Kox, H.Primat	Aston Martin Racing	Lola B09/60-Aston Martin	164	--32 laps--
32.	80	GT2	S.Neiman, D.Law, J.Bergmeister	Flying Lizard Motorsport	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	164	30.864
33.	83	GT2	T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, E.van de Poele	Risi Competizione	Ferrari F430 GT	164	3:41.680
34.	78	GT2	G.Bruni, L.Perez Companc, M.Russo	AF Corse SRL	Ferrari F430 GT	163	--33 laps--
35.	85	GT2	T.Coronel, J.Janis, J.Bleekemolen	Snoras Spyker Squadron	Spyker C8 Laviolette	162	--34 laps--
36.	32	P2	J.Barazi, S.Moseley, P.Bennett	Barazi Epsilon	Zytek 07S	162	1:49.904
37.	4	P1	J.Campbell-Walter, V.Ickx, R.Ianetta	Creation Autosportif	Creation Judd	161	--35 laps--
38.	99	GT2	C.Bouchut, Y.Lebon, M.Rodrigues	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430 GT	161	4:15.504
39.	84	GT2	P.Ehret, L.Mansell, R.Rusinov	Team Modena	Ferrari F430 GT	160	--36 laps--
40.	87	GT2	J.Cocker, P.Drayson, M.Franchitti	Drayson Racing	Aston Martin Vantage	159	--37 laps--
41.	89	GT2	A.Simonsen, D.Farnbacher, C.Montanari	Hankook Team Farnbacher	Ferrari F430 GT	158	--38 laps--
42.	96	GT2	M.McInerney, S.McInerney, M.Vergers	Virgo Motorsport	Ferrari F430 GT	156	--40 laps--
43.	81	GT2	P.Dempsey, J.Foster, D.Kitch Jr	Team Advanced Engineering	Ferrari F430 GT	154	--42 laps--
44.	3	P1	T.Bernhard, R.Dumas, A.Premat	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R15 TDI	153	--43 laps--
45.	39	P2	H.Noda, J.de Pourtales, M.Marsch	Kruse-Schiller Motorsport	Lola B07/46-Mazda	139	--57 laps--
46.	66	GT1	L.Lichtner-Hoyer, A.Muller, T.Gruber	Jetalliance Racing GmbH	Aston Martin DBR9	136	--60 laps--
47.	75	GT2	D.O'Young, P.Hesnault, P.Kralev	Endurance Asia Team	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	133	--63 laps--
48.	2	P1	L.Luhr, M.Rockenfeller, M.Werner	Audi Sport North America	Audi R15 TDI	104	--92 laps--
49.	41	P2	K.Ojjeh, C.Y.Gosselin, P.Peter	GAC Racing Team	Zytek 07S	102	--94 laps--
50.	70	GT2	H.Felbermayr Jr, H.Felbermayr Sr, M.Lecourt	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	102	42:51.316
51.	72	GT1	L.Alphand, P.Goueslard, S.Gregoire	Luc Alphand Aventures	Corvette C6.R	99	--97 laps--
52.	26	P2	P.Bruneau, T.Greaves, M.RostaN	Bruichladdich Bruneau	Radical-AER	75	--121 laps--
53.	40	P2	M.Amaral, O.Pla, G.Smith	Quifel-ASM Team	Ginetta Zytek 09S	46	--150 laps--
54.	77	GT2	M.Lieb, R.Lietz, W.Henzler	Team Felbermayr-Proton	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	24	--172 laps--
55.	68	GT1	M.Apicella, A.Yogo, Y.Yamagishi	JLOC	Lamborghini Murcielago	1	--195 laps-