Le Mans 24 Hours - Hours 13-15

The 3 o’clock hour saw each of the Peugeots make rather disturbing stops that included visits, albeit short ones, to the garage. For each car, dry ice type coolant was shot into the system as overheating alarms were beginning to sound in the cockpits. It is the coolest part of the 24 hours, when engines should run their most efficiently, yet there are concerns among the lions.

No. 9 lost the lead to No. 7 during this exchange and a more or less scheduled stop for No. 7 promoted the No. 2 Audi into the lead for the briefest moment. Jacques Villeneuve in Peugeot No. 7 regained the top spot, but the gap is under one minute. Zonta is third in No. 9, a tad under a lap clear of Audi No. 3.

Ten past four and the rain begins to fall. Perhaps as a consequence, the leading LMP2 - the #34 van Merksteijn Porsche Spyder - calls into the pits and is dragged backwards into the garage to have work done on the floor of the car after seemingly having gone off somewhere around the circuit.

The No. 5 Courage is getting attention to its gearbox, while the No. 34 Porsche, the LM P2 class leader, is in with some damage to the front. Jos Verstappen lost most of his margin but the Van Merksteijn entry still keeps the lead.

The dice are rolled again at 04:15. The long promised rain envelops most of the circuit, from south to north. Soheil Ayari is caught out and spins, stalling briefly before getting a bit of push out of his dangerous spot. This further pushes the Courage out of the Petrol class lead, now occupied by the No. 17 Pescarolo of Christophe Tinseau.

Tyre choice is not clear. The #8 and #9 Peugeots stop for intermediates, while the #34 Porsche resumes on full wets.

Jacques Villeneuve pits a lap later and he takes on full wets. Which is the better choice? We will no doubt find out soon.

It looks like wets was the right choice as the #9 Peugeot stops again to disgorge the inters. The pitlane is suddenly very busy.

Most of the remainder of the field comes in to take on full wets. Xavier Pompidou didn’t make it quite back, coming to a halt right on pit lane with some body parts flung hither and yon on the no longer Speedy Sebah entry after contact with something rips the front of the car off. It is pushed into the pitlane, before Xavier Pompidou manages to restart it and drives it back to its pit.

Frank Biela fishtails out of pit lane.

Peugeot #7 pits, followed down the pit lane by the #2 Audi. Villeneuve gets out and Gene takes over, but Kristensen stays in and takes the lead. The Dane's lead at the end of the out lap is 32 seconds.

There are some chaotic scenes as several cars barely miss each other in the extended scrum that takes several minutes to sort out. A cautious lap by Ricardo Zonta lets Mike Rockenfeller past, making it an Audi 2-3 for the first in hours, perhaps all day.  The #5 ORECA Courage spins as the rain gets harder.

Tom Kristensen laps ten seconds faster than Villeneuve on lap 224 and the gap from first to second comes down to 35 seconds.

Lap times expanded by about 40 seconds, but after several laps of bedding-in, the leaders improved lower and lower in the 4:05 range. It seems that the rain has at least stabilized or perhaps subsided a bit.

Mike Rockenfeller appears to be more confident in the wet than Ricardo Zonta and moves up to third at the expense of the Peugeot.

Tom Kristensen laps ten seconds faster than Villeneuve on lap 224 and the gap from first to second comes down to 35 seconds.

Initially the GT1 class was unaffected by the rain. That is, the relative speeds and delays were spread evenly among the healthy Astons and Corvettes. Then that begins to unravel as Andrea Piccini is unable to refire after a normal stop in the third in class No. 007 DBR9. This leaves it a 1:1 Aston vs. Chevrolet fight—20 seconds between Garcia and O’Connell.

The Dome dove directly into the tires in the uphill portion of the circuit. Although it was a hard hit, Daisuke Ito was quickly extracted and continued around to the pits, exhibiting light damage.

As the 14th hour finishes, the gap from first to second has shrunk to just 17 seconds.

The LMP2 leading van Merksteijn Porsche is pushed back into the garage for more work, but it has a four lap cushion over the Team Essex Spyder.

An hour after the rain started (it still continues), the big drama is the rate at which Mike Rockenfeller from third place, and more importantly Tom Kristensen from second, are catching up to a relatively slow Jacques Villeneuve in the lead. Kristensen is a couple of laps down, but the two leaders stop simultaneously and the Audi took on only fuel while Villeneve handed over to Gene and the Peugeot received new Michelins. That, along with the Audi’s pit spot helped propel No. 2 into a 33 second lead at 5:24 a.m.

By 05:30, the lead is almost a minute, while in LMP2 the gap is still four laps from first to second. In GT1, Aston Martin #009 leads the #63 Corvette by 2:22; and it's getting closer in GT2, with Tim Sugden bringing the Virgo Ferrari to within two laps of the #82 Risi Ferrari.

The No. 34 Porsche lost two laps thanks to a right front wheel problem, but remains two laps clear of the similar No. 31 Essex entry.

The skies lighten such that the improved visibility somewhat cancels out the continued dampness. The lap times of the leaders have stabilized, but quite interestingly they are different for the Peugeots than for the Audis. All three of the German cars are 4-5 seconds per lap quicker than the French ones. Indeed, it must be easier to see out of the spyder than the coupe.

All was not sanguine with the lead Audi either though. Tom Kristensen had to straight line one of the chicanes. Meanwhile, conditions have improved enough that times improve ever so slightly. The fastest of the Audi drivers, Mike Rockenfeller, turned the first sub-four minute lap in the last 90 minutes.

With the delay to the #34 Porsche, the Rollcentre Pescarolo moves into tenth place overall.

The #31 Essex Racing Porsche's earlier troubles of late have included a tag with the wall and the dreaded electrical problem.