H+1: Franck Montagny takes the lead

The start of the race is at 15 p.m. In the first places, the four Peugeot 908 launches perfectly. But so did Allan McNish, at the wheel of the No. 15 Audi R7 TDI. He overtakes the No. 9 of Timo Bernhard and moves up to fifth place, in the wheels of the No. 4 Peugeot of Nico. Stone (Oreca). This is the first big duel this 24 Hours!

In the first corners of the race, the Scot tried to get into the Peugeot quarter. He comes up to Lapierre but is unable to catch him. The native of Thonon-les-Bains defended his place dearly and managed to fend off McNish.

At the end of the first round, Pedro Lamy (n°3) is ahead of Marc Gené (n°1) and Franck Montagny (n°2), while Nicolas Lapierre managed to outrun Allan McNish. In the third round, this ranking changes, since Franck Montagny overtakes Marc Gené and takes second place. The two men went wheel to wheel and, after six laps, were separated by only two tenths, the first Audi, that of McNish, being eleven seconds behind.

A few seconds later, Nigel Mansell, last in the LMP1 category after having already been in the gravel trap, made a mistake after Mulsanne and hit the safety rail. The 56-year-old Englishman was evacuated on a stretcher and the race was neutralized. The two safety cars enter the track and separate the Peugeots and Audis, the 908 having managed to pass before the arrival of the second safety car.

At the restart, the three leading Peugeots are one minute ahead of the Audi R15s. Only three Peugeots are in the lead because the fourth, the No. 908 Oreca 4, stopped in the pits under neutralization to adopt a shifted strategy. Refueling, changing all four tires, Nicolas Lapierre's 908 sets off again behind the Audis.

At 16 p.m., Franck Montagny, second, passes through his pit, the first Peugeot Total team driver to stop before being imitated, on the next lap, by Pedro Lamy. Following these refuelings, Franck Montagny took control of the race, his stop having been faster than that of the Portuguese?