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Hours 12-15 recap - Attrition rate rises

Sunday morning at Le Mans always brings a hard dawn with it. It clear but cold and the light of the morning also carries the shock of the realisation that there are nine more long hours to go before the winners can raise the trophies.

For most, but certainly not all, of the front runners it has been steady progress over the past three hours. The most important exception to the rule has been the experience of the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro. They had been leading the race for hour upon hour. However, that all changed at 0420 hrs when Romain Dumas tagged the wall at the second chicane. He came back to the pits and repairs were quickly completed, but it was enough to transfer the lead to the similar No. 2 car.

A bit further back the No. 3 Audi was making progress as it split the two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas for fourth place. The privateer Lolas continued to run very well until the No. 13 car had a spin at about 05:30. It was a minor hitch, although the car was momentarily stranded in a precarious spot.

There were other incidents aplenty as the No. 23 Signatech Oreca-Nissan made contact with the wall and the No. 83 JMB Racing Ferrari took to the gravel at the Mulsanne Corner. Another GT car, the No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche dropped down from a good placing in the GTE Pro class with it stopped at the exit of the second chicane. Similarly, the No. 97 Aston Martin, which had recovered to a fine third in the GTE Pro class, came to a stop out on the course.

The most significant incident involved the No. 75 Prospeed Competition Porsche, which crashed opposite the karting track. This brought out the race's second Safety Car period -an interlude that proved rather brief.

Two of the other class leaders remained much as before. The LM P2 class was still in the hands of the Starworks Motorsports HPD. GTE Pro was turning increasingly in favor of the metronomic No. 51 Ferrari. A serious of minor and mid-size problems slowed the pair of factory Corvettes.

The last of the classes, GTE Am, tightened up considerably during the period. The No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut entry led by a mere 25 seconds over the No. 50 Larbre Competition Corvette. Stay turned for further details on this classic race.

Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 17TH JUNE 2012. The attrition rate mounted during the night.