Lemans Hour 2: Toyota giving Audi fits
Eight minutes into the second hour at Le Mans, the safety cars finally came in after Allan Simonsen's big crash at Tertre Rouge and racing was at last able to recommence.
At least the hour-long pause in proceedings had allowed the weather to clear up and the track to lose some of that treacherous greasy finish to the surface that had been so problematic to the cars at the start of the race. However, the change of weather proved costly to the Toyotas neither of whom showed the aggressive race pace that they had enjoyed at the very start in the inclement conditions.
As a result, Nicolas Lapierre promptly dropped back to fourth place in the #7 Toyota TS030 hybrid while Andre Lotterer in the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro took off and rapidly pulled out a five second lead over Anthony Davidson who was now in second place in the #8 Toyota ahead of polesitter Allan McNish in the #2 Audi.
Hour 2 Standings
1. #8 Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 hybrid LMP1 * 25 laps (1 stops)
2. #1 Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 * 25 laps + 8.737s (2 stops)
3. #7 Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 hybrid LMP1 * 25 laps + 9.659s (1 stops)
4. #2 Kristensen/Duval/McNish Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 * 25 laps + 29.100s (2 stops)
5. #3 Gene/Di Grassi/Jarvis Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 24 laps (2 stops)
6. #12 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 * 24 laps (1 stops)
7. #13 Belicchi/Beche/Cheng Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 24 laps (1 stops)
8. #21 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03c LMP1 * 24 laps (1 stops)
9. #35 Baguette/Gonzalez/Plowman OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 * 24 laps (2 stops)
10. #38 Dolan/Turvey/Luhr Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan LMP2 24 laps (1 stops)
11. #41 Kimber-Smith/Lux/Rossi Greaves Motorsport Zytek Nissan LMP2 * 24 laps (1 stops)
12. #24 Pla/Heinemeier Hansson/Brundle OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 * 24 laps (2 stops)
13. #46 Thiriet/Badey/Martin Thiriet by TDS Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 24 laps (1 stops)
14. #34 Frey/Niederhauser/Bleekemolen Race Performance Oreca 03-Judd LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
15. #33 Tucker/Franchitti/Briscoe Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
16. #49 Companc/Kaffer/Minassian Pecom Racing Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 * 23 laps (2 stops)
17. #26 Rusinov/Martin/Conway G-Drive Racing Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 * 23 laps (2 stops)
18. #36 Paniatici/Ragues/Gommendy Signatech Alpine Alpine-Nissan LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
19. #32 Holzer/Kraihamer/Charouz Lotus Lotus T128 LMP2 * 23 laps (2 stops)
20. #42 Mardenborough/Ordonez/Krumm Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
21. #30 Mowlem/Hirschi/Burgess HVM Status GP Lola B12/80 Coupe-Judd LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
22. #97 Turner/Mucke/Dumbreck Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Pro * 23 laps (1 stops)
23. #92 Lieb/Lietz/Dumas Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR GTE-Pro * 23 laps (1 stops)
24. #99 Bell/Makowiecki/Senna Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Pro * 23 laps (1 stops)
25. #43 Gachnang/Mailleux/Lombard Morand Racing Morgan-Judd LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
26. #45 Nicolet/Merlin/Mondolot OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 23 laps (2 stops)
27. #51 Bruni/Fisichella/Malucelli AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Pro * 23 laps (1 stops)
28. #91 Bernhard/Pilet/Bergmeister Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR GTE-Pro * 23 laps (1 stops)
29. #71 Beretta/Kobayashi/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Pro * 23 laps (1 stops)
30. #47 Imperatori/Tung/Howson KCMG Morgan-Nissan LMP2 22 laps (2 stops)
31. #98 Auberlen/Dalla Lana/Lamy Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Pro 22 laps (1 stops)
32. #74 Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette Racing Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Pro 22 laps (1 stops)
33. #61 Gerber/Griffin/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am * 22 laps (1 stops)
34. #73 Garcia/Taylor/Magnussen Corvette Racing Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Pro 22 laps (1 stops)
35. #67 Gibon/Milesi/Henzler IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 22 laps (1 stops)
36. #48 Hartley/Patterson/Chandhock Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 22 laps (2 stops)
37. #53 Farnbacher/Dalziel/Goossens SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R GTE-Pro 22 laps (1 stops)
38. #55 Perazzini/Case/O'Young AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 22 laps (1 stops)
39. #75 Collard/Crubile/Perrodo Prospeed Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am * 22 laps (1 stops)
40. #57 Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am * 22 laps (1 stops)
41. #93 Bomarito/Kendall/Wittmer SRT Motorsport Viper GTS-R GTE-Pro 22 laps (1 stops)
42. #39 Porta/Raffin/Brandela DKR Engineering Lola B11/40-Judd LMP2 22 laps (2 stops)
43. #77 Dempsey/Foster/Long Dempsey Del Piero-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 22 laps (2 stops)
44. #66 Bertolini/Alfaisal/Qubaisi JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Pro 22 laps (1 stops)
45. #76 Narac/Bourret/Vernay IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am * 22 laps (1 stops)
46. #88 Ried/Roda/Ruberti Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am * 22 laps (1 stops)
47. #50 Bornhauser/Canal/Taylor Larbre Competition Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Am * 22 laps (1 stops)
48. #40 Downs/Dagonneau/Younessi Boutsen Ginion Racing Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 22 laps (2 stops)
49. #81 Pottolicchio/Aguas/Bright 8 Star Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am * 21 laps (2 stops)
50. #54 Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 21 laps (1 stops)
51. #96 Goethe/Hall/Campbell-Walter Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Am * 21 laps (1 stops)
52. #70 MacNeil/Rodrigues/Dumas Larbre Competition Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Am 21 laps (2 stops)
53. #25 Graves/Nakano/Hamilton Delta-ADR Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 * 20 laps (2 stops)
54. #28 Giroix/ Haezebrouck/Ihara Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80 Coupe-Nissan LMP2 * 16 laps (3 stops)
55. #31 Weeda/Rossiter/Bouchut Lotus Lotus T128 LMP2 * 16 laps (2 stops)
Ret. #95 Simonsen/Poulsen/Nygaard Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Am * 2 laps Accident