Le Mans 24 Hours, Hour 16

06:06 - SAFETY CAR - Possibly for the two cars in trouble in the Porsche Curves - the #59 car stranded in the pit entry and now under tow. and astoundingly the sister #58 car into the barriers just a short distance further back.

The #71 AF Corse car meanwhile has a crack in the transmission.

Anthony Davidson - "The tyres had just gone off and the track was so dirty plus perhaps a lapse of concentration - The rears locked up and the fronts have been locking up all day." 

The second placed in LMP2 Oreca Nissan looks to be out of the race - The car straight on at Arnage, front right corner broken and steam pouring from the car as David Hallyday tries in vain to get the car back.

The #75 Prospeed Porsche is losing coolant - the team are on the case.

The delay for the #65 Lotus was for the replacement for the diffuser followed by a further stop when James Rossiter still felt a vibration which proved to be a slow puncture.

Good news for Fassler as the Audi and the chasing Peugeots are under separate Safety Cars - the gap instantly up to 1:45 from a handful of seconds.

06:28 - We're back racing again - We believe both Luxury Racing cars retired under that Safety car.

And there may be further Ferrari woe as Perrazini clangs the wall at Karting in the #61 car which has gone no further - He was second in GTE Am at the time.

All three 908s are together on track, Montagny looking to un-lap himself and doing so from Gene almost immediately - The gap at racing speed to the Audi is c. 48 seconds.

Mailleux is back up to second in LMP2 again with the #48 evidently a retirement - Bouchut will be up to third very soon too.

Al Faisal is in the gravel again in the #88 car.

06:37 - Lotterer pits - routine - fuel only - back into third at present, then setting the fastest lap of the race with a 3:27.710, the Peugeot's lead cut to less than 40 seconds.

Rossiter is up to tenth now for Lotus, having passed the stricken Ortelli.

Blue best sectors popping up everywhere - Bourdais, Lotterer, Montagny, Lapierre, Garcia and Rossiter (4:08.4) fighting fit and pushing on.

All the Peugeots, including Oreca, are lapping below 3:30, unfortunately for them, so is #2.  Bourdais and Lotterer start to trade fastest sectors.  Approaching the two-thirds mark the pressure cooker is well and truly boiling now.  Bourdais sets a 3:27.388, does he know that qualifying was earlier in the week?

Lotterer then sets a 3:26.298, only half a second off pole time at the end of the 16th hour.  The pace at this stage could be the making or breaking of at least one of the remaining contenders.