Wurz leads Le Mans 24h at halfway mark

As the Le Mans 24 hours endurance race is nearing its halfway mark, Alexander Wurz is leading the race with his Peugeot #9 by just one lap over the #1 Audi of McNish-Capello-Kristensen. Third is the fastest car on track, the Peugeot #8 with Sarrazin behind the wheel.

It was the Peugeot #8 of Montagny that took the lead ahead of Alan McNish's #1 Audi R15, but quickly the following 2 works Peugeots passed the first Audi to take the first three positions and dominate their superior speed, especially at the end of the straight where the cars topped the Audi's by approximately 10 km/h.

Few laps in the race, the Audi #3 crashed out and lost 6 laps in the pitstop to repair the bodywork damages. Later the same car lost any chance of victory due to a technical problem, dropping back 41 laps. Further on, at 21h54, the #2 Audi R15 abandoned the race, leaving Audi with just one car in the front.

As the #8 Peugeot then lost 2 laps due to a nose change, it was David Brabham behind the wheel of the Peugeot #9 that could take the lead, ahead of the #1 Audi. The other works Peugeot, the #7 fell back early on in the race due to a puncture caused by a collision in the pits with the Pescarolo Peugeot. The car completed a full lap with eventually a completely ripped open left rear part of the chassis before reaching the pit. After 11h30 they were in 7th place, 6 laps down on the leaders.

Behind the Peugeot #8, the Audi #1 and the Peugeot #9 there is the Pescarolo Peugeot 908 HDi FAP with #17, just 2 laps behind the leader. A further 2 laps down is the first petrol powered car in the shape of the Lola Aston Martin #007.

In LMP2, the Essex Porsche Spyder RS #31 is leading, is 13th overall and has a 3 lap lead over car #5. LMGT1 is led by the Corvette C6.R #63 and in LMGT2, the Ferrari F430 #27 is leading.