André Loterrer took over behind the wheel, and when the Audi rejoined the race, it was third by 40 seconds behind the #7 and #9 Peugeots. Lotterer set fastest lap of the race, but couldn’t close the gap.
Bourdais equalled that, so Lotterrer did 3:25.289, faster than the fastest qualifying lap.
On lap 226, with eight hours left in the race, Peugeot held the first two positions comfortably.
Simon Pagenaud made a staetment after exiting the #9 Peugeot: “The car is effective in these conditions with the tires we’re using.
“We re now in contention for the win, everything is going well. Let’s hope we can stay there to the end.
“There still a good way to go, and it’s going to be hard. The conditions are not easy, we have to stay focussed.”
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Le Mans 24 Hours 15-Hour Report: Three Seconds Separate Audi, Peugeot
With nine hours left in the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, Audi leads but Peugeot is trailing by the slightest of margins.
Marcel Fässler in the #2 Audi leads Anthony Davidson in the #7 Peugeot by a mere three seconds. The Peugeots turned up the wick in the night, switching to soft tires which really worked with the Peugeot chassis. Suddenly Simon Pagenaud and Anthony Davidson were eating up the two-minute advantage Audi held over Peugeot.
When they lead dropped below half a minute, the two teams started swapping the lead again on pit stops. Anthony Davidson pushed hard, setting the race’s fastest lap. Finally on lap 198 both Peugeots got past the Audi. Their lead was not to last, as a wreck involving the #13 Rebellion Lola brought out the race’s third Safety Car period.
With 212 laps complete, both Peugeots were within 20 seconds of Fässler’s Audi, turning laps in the high 3:29s. It seemed likely that the Peugeots might finally take the first two positions after the next Audi pit stop.
But could the Peugeots keep running the soft tires as the sun started rising? As the day grew hotter, would the Peugeots be forced to use the medium tires, and would their lap times drop to the levels of the day before?
Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Directorissued this statement: “There have been a lot of incidents in the first half of the race. Our rivals have adopted a quicker pace than us, but two of their three cars have crashed. As long as the drivers escape unscathed, then racing can resume.
“We are in a strong position. Our role is now to push on, but the night is not over yet! Last year, our problems started in the early hours of the morning, so we mustn’t get carried away.
Six minutes past the 15-hour mark, the #58 Luxury Ferrari crashed, bringing out yet another yellow flag. This brought the Peugeots into striking distance of the Audi once again.
While under yellow the LMP2 Oreca-Nissan, which had been second in class, hit something, tearing off its nose and breaking the right front suspension.
The Team Pescarolo Pescarolo-Judd is the fastest of the gasoline cars, with a three-lap cushion over the remaining Rebellion Lola.
In P2 the Greaves Zytec Nissan holds the lead, after the Oreca wrecked, also three laps ahead of its nearest competitor.
The #74 Corvette still leads the GTE-Pro class, ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, both a lap ahead of the #73 Corvette.
In GTE-Am, the #81 Flying Lizard Porsche holds a lap lead over the two Larbre cars.
