Porsche on top as Audi suffers turbo blow

The number one Audi driven by Denmark's Kristensen, Lucas di Grassi and Marc Gene had inherited top spot 16 hours into the race when its sister car was called into the garage with a similar issue.

With less than three hours remaining in the race at the Sarthe circuit in western France, the leading Audi pitted to have its turbocharger changed.

The 17 minutes lost in the process gifted the lead to the Porsche Timo Bernhard is sharing with Brendon Hartley and former Formula One driver Mark Webber, who had completed a quadruple stint.

The second Audi of Andre Lotterer moved up to second and was a minute behind the new leader, while Toyota ran a distant fourth following an accident in rain in the early phase of the race.

The Porsche had made the early running in the race, setting the pace ahead of the leading Toyota that had Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel as intermittent showers caused a spate of minor accidents during the first four hours of action.