Le Mans 24 Hours, Hour 3

17:03 - And we are racing again after 1 hour 12 minutes - Instantly we have a change at the front as the leading cars are released halfway down the Mulsanne Straight - Treluyer leads from Timo Bernhard.

The #8 Peugeot is the Peugeot that had a delay in the pits Sarrazin is immediately going about a recovery drive, already.

Jonny Kane pits from the LMP2 lead - That should see Tom Kimber Smith take the class lead in the #41 car but he pits, fuel only and takes the advantage - Premat takes the class lead as a consequence.

17:08 The Audis pit, Bernhard now ahead of Treluyer, to allow the cars to pit in the correct order in the pitlane - Wurz now leads in the #7 Peugeot from Bourdais.

Nick Tandy is pushing hard in the #88 Porsche - He goes by Beretta for second in GTE Pro.

With thanks to Martyn Pass - Allan McNish has been looked over by both circuit and Audi doctors and is going to hospital to have a scan to ensure he is 100%.

There's oddness at the front of the race - Bernhard leads lap 30 by 4 seconds but is caught and passed on the Mulsanne - The #1 car has a problem, damage we believe at the front of the car - He's being caught fast by Wurz in the #7 908.

Melo and Bruni are both on a charge - both go by Farfus and now Bruni goes by Tandy too for second in class.

17:32 Wurz blows by Bernhard to second - Audi are clearly leaving out a struggling #1 car to keep it as close as possible to its chosen strategy.

Anthony Beltoise

"Really, I was on my line. I checked my mirror exiting the Dunlop curve and was concentrating on the two Porsches I was fighting with. I held my position and the next thing was that I felt a small hit at the back and I am looking at the roof of an Audi. It was a big shock. The damage to the car is bodywork only, there is no suspension damage and we will be out again soon."

Darren Turner:

“We are working on the engine on the #007 car and I believe it’s the same problem with #009, which is (was) still stuck out on track. I managed to get it back to the pits on idle."

“It’s obviously all quite challenging, but we know why we’re here. Other teams are able to run their new car programmes in parallel with their old cars, but we are a smaller outfit and don’t have that luxury. I think perhaps we have set the bar very high with what we’ve achieved quite quickly before, but this is a completely new car that had a late start. We are trying to reach a level of performance we believe is right for the time we’ve spent on the car, and a lot of that work has been in public."

“For me as driver it’s frustrating. The car is actually really good to drive; the chassis is spot on through the Porsche curves and the other twisty bits, which is really enjoyable. But we don’t have enough straight line speed. We have learned a lot this week - once the engine is fixed, we’ll be back out and learn some more.”

Adrian Fernandez

“What can I say? I’ve done eight laps all week and only two of those were consecutive."

“We should have been able to put in a better run. I’ve had some low points in my career but this is unusual because the team is so good and the guys are working so hard, but really we have so many things that are problems at the same time."

“The ACO rules came so late and I think this project became very ambitious. It’s a shame because the car is quite good to drive – through the Porsche curves we are very quick, which says a lot about the chassis. But there are many things to improve with the engine. For me I have a contract for the rest of the year, but I guess David and his team have to make some decisions on the way forward.”

17:36 - The #1 R18 pits and gets new front bodywork - rejoining without further delay.

17:37 - Hope is fading! The #5 car is cruising to a stop on the Mulsanne.

Magnussen takes over in the leading Vette as Melo moves up to third, Tandy pitting in the #88 Porsche.

In LMP2 Kaffer had led briefly for Pecom but Premat is now back ahead after going wheel to wheel on the run to the second Mulsanne chicane.

The Kronos Lola Aston pits, has its front suspension checked and rejoins.

Further problems for the #58 Luxury Ferrari - a right rear puncture on the Mulsanne - Beltoise still at the wheel.

17:48 Leader pits and takes fuel but no tyres 37 laps completed - that's a quadruple stint on the Michelins.

The #49 Pescarolo is another car to join the right rear puncture club.

Giroix leads GTE AM for Gulf Team Middle East.

As we get to the end of the hour Wurz is due to pit from the lead, he currently has a 52 second lead from Treluyer with Simon Pagenaud having just taken over from Bourdais in the #9 Peugeot from third - Davidson climbs aboard the lead Peugeot as Treluyer blasts by to take the lead.