
Mucke was pushing in the #97 before sliding off track - Photo Credit: Drew Gibson / Aston Martin Racing
Andre Lotterer's #1 Audi e-tron quattro continues to lead the sister #2 car of Dindo Capello with eight hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans remaining.
1m43s separated the leading pair at the top of the hour, with Mike Rockenfeller two laps off the lead in third in the #4 ultra, which he has taken over from Oliver Jarvis.
Nicolas Prost and Rebellion Racing are still denying Audi a lockout of the top four, but Marc Gene is closing in the recovering #3 and is just a lap behind.
Enzo Potolicchio has taken over the LMP2-leading Starworks Motorsport HPD, which has slipped from seventh to eighth overall behind the JRM LMP1 HPD.
The main drama of the hour came in GTE Pro, where Stefan Mucke had a high-speed off at Indianapolis out of second place in the #97 Aston Martin. They slipped behind the #59 Luxury Racing Ferrari, but were able to rejoin the track without significant damage. They did have to spend a little time in the pits however, and are not far ahead of the #71 AF Corse Ferrari of Marco Cioci. Makowiecki suffered a puncture in the #59 shortly after Mucke's off but has kept hold of second behind the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.
The GTE Am victory battle remains close, with the lead switching between the #50 Larbre Corvette and the #67 Imsa Porsche. Larbre's Patrick Bornhauser led fellow Frenchman Raymond Narac at the hour mark by around 50 seconds.
2012 24 Hours of Le Mans class standings after 16 hours:
LMP1
- #1 – Audi Sport Team Joest – Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer – 250 laps
- #2 – Audi Sport Team Joest – McNish/Capello/Kristensen – 250 laps
- #4 – Audi Sport Team North America – Bonanomi/Jarvis/Rockenfeller – 248 laps
- #12 – Rebellion Racing – Prost/Jani/Heidfeld- 242 laps
- #3 – Audi Sport Team Joest – Dumas/Duval/Gene – 241 laps
LMP2
- #44 – Starworks Motorsport – Potolicchio/Dalziel/Kimber-Smith – 234 laps
- #49 – Pecom Racing – Perez Companc/Ayari/Kaffer- 234 laps
- #26 – Signatech Nissan – Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov – 233 laps
- #46 – Thiriet by TDS Racing – Beche/Thiriet/Tinseau – 233 laps
- #41 – Greaves Motorsport – Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian – 231 laps
LMGTE Pro
- #51 – AF Corse – Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander – 222 laps
- #59 – Luxury Racing – Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher – 221 laps
- #97 – Aston Martin Racing – Fernandez/Turner/Mucke – 218 laps
- #71 – AF Corse – Bertolini/Cioci/Beretta – 218 laps
- #73 – Corvette Racing – Taylor/Garcia/Magnussen – 215 laps
LMGTE Am
- #50 – Larbre Competition – Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy – 217 laps
- #67 – Imsa Performance Matmut – Armindo/Narac/Pons – 217 laps
- #57 – Krohn Racing – Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo – 214 laps
- #88 – Team Felbermayr-Proton – Ried/Roda/Ruberti – 211 laps
- #70 – Larbre Competition – Belloc/Bourret/Gibon- 206 laps