Eddie Cheever on the demise of the #11 United Autosports Audi:

"The car went slower and slower and then the power just cut off completely after I’d heard a loud mechanical noise from the back. I’m very disappointed – it’s such a shame for the team and my co-drivers. We ran on different tires to what we did last year, so we were always chasing the right balance. It was fun to drive here again – I’m just gutted.”

And his team-mates:

Mark Patterson

“Matt had done a great stint before I took over. Immediately after a Safety Car period the revs increased but the speed didn’t when I hit the accelerator. I tried different gears so pitted. We replaced the ECU but dropped nine laps and after that the Audi felt like a brand new car and I drove the single best stint of my life. The R8 LMS was just fantastic. It’s such a shame we went out so early.”

Matt Bell

“The start of the race was manic. The car’s handling wasn’t great as I was on worn tires but made an adjustment in the pit stop which improved the balance. Near the end of my stint the car suddenly lost power and went into ‘safe’ mode so I had to do a re-set. What with the weather conditions on Thursday and going out so early in the race, it’s been a bit of a baptism of fire in terms of my maiden 24 hour race but it’s all good experience.” 

Mark Blundell

“I am personally disappointed but more for the entire team who worked very hard and the sponsors who have supported us. Of course it would have been nice to drive with my co-drivers and get to the end of the 24 hours and claim a top result like last year. It has been great to work with Mark, Eddie and Matt.” 

Bad news then for the #11 squad but thee's continued good news for the #90 Team Preci Spark Mercedes team - DSC caught up with David Jones after his latest stint with the car lying in an excellent 15th overall:

"We've had no major problems at all, we've kept out of trouble when others have been been throwing it off, particularly early on in the race.

"We're single stinting drivers and double stinting the tyres, keeping our fingers crossed that we don't get rain because the (Avon) wets are a real problem, we can't get heat into them and they are destroyed in 8 or 9 laps."

On the Safety Car:

"We simply can't catch it at 120 km/h, it's going too quickly"

Down at Ecurie Ecosse, Chris Needell was looking pleased with progress, the #79 car having no problems at all since the early race power steering issue:

"We're battling away at our own pace in a little gaggle of cars between 17th and 20th.  The boys are doing a great job, playing a waiting game and keeping it on the island."   

The #57 RMS Cup Porsche has stopped at the bottom of Eau Rouge.

00:14 Rain - again

The #888 Haribo, #18 de Lorenzi and #57 RMS Porsches all receive drive through penalties for exceeding the maximum driver stint time.

00:24 The #92 Marc VDS Mustang is up into the top 20, passing the Ecurie Ecosse Aston as it does so.

The #55 Graff Mercedes is in the gravel at T13 Piff Paff, the car had been running in 12th

Antony Kumpen reports that the KRK Mercedes, despite being strong in the wet was almost undriveable in damp conditions. The team had no communication from Mike hezemans but it is clear that the car has been in the wall and has lost a wheel - Confirmed retirement.

The GT4 battle is still on between the Lotus and Nissan, the 370Z's issues earlier though have given the Evora a near 4 lap cushion.

Cars #41 (Marc VDS Ford GT), and #43 Faster Racing BMW Z4) get dribve throughs for exceeding stint length maximum.

00:39 More rain but only at some parts of the track

00:44 - SAFETY CAR as we have heavy rain here - unaware at present whether it is simply weather related or we have a further incident

the #98 Phoenix Audi had moved up to second overall but has now stopped twice in quick succession we believe - It's losing laps to the leading pair and will soon start to drop down the order.

The Safety Car is out because the much troubled #42 Sport Garage Ferrari is on fire at Les Combes

The #60 Mclaren is also in the pits and is losing laps

The #76 BMW is up into third with the #98 Audi still pit bound

01:00 - Green flag - and the #99 Phoenix Audi pits too, a  longer than normal stop but the #99 rejoins in second (#33 WRT Audi leads), the #98 car though continues to tumble, as does the vonRyan Mclaren.

01:13 spin for the #50 AF Corse Ferrari

01:19 spin for the #3 Hexis AMR Aston Martin

01:21 Drive through for the Vita4One Ferrari #1. It has overtaken the #36 Porsche under yellow.

Pit stop for the leading Audis. McLaren #60 and Audi #98 still in the pit.

Interesting? Only one car that started in the top 10 is still there, the #33. Rest started outside top 10

Car 35 given a stop go for exceeding driving stint time

01:30 The issue for the delayed #60 Mclaren is that it's been off the circuit, the repairs looking set to take around an hour.

In very sharp contrast to the helpfulness shown by Mclaren at a challenging time the DSC Editor has just been treated to a most un-Audi like 'welcome' at Team Phoenix.  After a polite request to be allowed to wait by the rear door of the garage for a senior team member to be available to explain the ongoing issue for the #98 car I was eventually physically pushed backwards by no fewer than three 'security' guards, one of whom attempted to remove my media pass!  Team Phoenix can be reassured that thanks to the tireless efforts of these brave heroes the team will remain undisturbed by DSC for the remainder of the race. 

We believe the car is actually in the midst of a very lengthy stop to replace the gearbox after the near race long lack of a second gear we reported earlier. At 01:55 the car is dropping out of the top 30 over 20 laps down on the leader.

In addition the #99 car, which had another issue, lost second place briefly to the #76 BMW before the Z4 pitted in turn.