Audi led from the first lap until lap 169, when Allan McNish spun—under yellow, no less—and lost two positions.
On lap 177, the rain started pouring down. Both Audis came in for rain tires; McNish recaptured second coming out of the pits, but didn’t hold it for long. As soon as McNish hit the track he told his team on the radio that the rain was too hard and the stewards needed to call a full-course caution.
Audi Seizes Control
Though starting in third, Allan McNish in the #2 Audi R15 TDI took the lead from the Peugeots on the first lap.
McNish went low to pass Stephane Sarrazin’s Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, and then moved high to pass Pedro Lamy’s Peugeot on the outside, taking the lead.
McNish and co-driver Dindo Capello kept the Audi in the lead, never less than four seconds ahead of the Peugeots. It looked as though Audi had overcome the troubles it had at Le Mans; the cars were fast and sharp. The Peugeots couldn’t match the Audi’s race pace, despite qualifying much faster.
However, coping with weather is part of endurance racing, and unfortunately for Audi, Allan McNish and Marco Werner picked the wrong times to spin. Pedrio Lamy in the Peugeot spun twice too, but he managed not to lose position when he did.
Audi led four-and-a-half hours of the first five; but when the checkered flag falls, the winner is the car who led the last lap, not the most laps.
Acura’s Travails
The P1 Acuras, one-two in the American Le Mans Series championship, were not expected to have the pace of the turbo-diesel Peugeots and Audis, but with their high downforce and excellent grip, they were expected to do well, particularly in the wet. However, one of the Acuras very nearly didn’t make it to the race.
Patrón Highcroft’s Scott Sharp totally wrote off the #9 Acura in Thursday afternoon practice. He hit the Farnsbacher Loles GT2 Porsche as it exited the pit lane and flipped three times, totally destroying the car. It is a testament to the level of technology of the modern sports racing car that he was able to walk away, but the car was junk.
The team got a new chassis Friday morning, and made a monumental effort, rebuiling the car in 22 hours, finishing just in time to race.
Scott Sharp, David Brabham, and guest driver, IndyCar star Dario Franchitti, started from pit lane, but drove smart and steady, working up to sixth place by the halfway mark. Patrón Highcroft is only 17 points ahead in the LMP1 championship, and needs a good result at Petit Le Mans.
“When you look at what happened and the mammoth effort that the Patrón Highcroft Racing Team made, the car was very good,” said David Brabham after his first stint. “We did exactly what we needed to do: we stayed out of trouble, we went from last to fifth, and the car is in good shape.”
Brabham said the de Ferran’s team’s difficulties didn’t change Patrón Highcroft’s strategy much. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. Obviously it takes the pressure off a little bit; we don’t have to take any risks. For us it's just get to the finish and we could end up with a really good result.”
De Ferran Racing, second in points, had an opportunity to make up ground in the championship race, after Scott Sharp’s accident, but the team has been stricken with repeated bad luck.
First Jon Field in the Intersport Lola rammed de Ferran, breaking the Acura’s rear suspension. That was repaired and the car rejoined the race, 26 laps down.
When that was repaired, the car went back out but then had electrical problems and had to go back to the garage yet again.
“Gil had a problem with the Field car running into the back of him,” Scott Sharp explained, “then going into Five I just got a little wide, hit the puddle on the right, picked up understeer, couldn’t bring it back, got off into the wet and away it went. A silly rookie mistake from myself, and I feel real bad for the guys.”
In Dixon’s defense, it must be noted that he had never driven the casr in the wet, and had not had time to really learn the car even in the dry. In any case, the time lost due to his mishap was but a fraction of the time lost overall, as everything seemed to go wrong for de Ferran Racing.
When the red flag waved, the Patrón Highcroft car was in sixth, while the de Ferran car was in 24th, 48 laps down. 
P2: Survival
P2 has been a race of attrition.
First in class and seventh overall is the #16 Dyson Lola Mazda, which isn’t even racing for points. The car is running the race as a track test of BP’s Biobutanol fuel. Ironically, the only P2 car which has been running reasonably well is the one that is not in the race.
The #20 Dyson is running thirteenth, behind the leading GT2s. The car has spent time in the pits with transmission troubles, and has had the same off-track incidents that so many cars have suffered in the rain.
The championship-winning Lowes-Fernandez Acura, normally ultimately reliable, has spent more time in the pits than on the track, with a number of problems, many apparently centered around its power steering unit. It is forty-five laps behind the leaders.
The Cytosports Porsche Spyder was amazingly fast in the first hour, challenging the Peugeots, until it went off, and developed electrical problems. It is now 48 laps down.
There is no way to predict who has the best chance to win the class. Most likely, the winner will be whichever car can manage to be running at the end. 
GT2: Ferrari Fights to the Front
GT2, as always, was a non-stop multi-car battle. The Corvette Racing CR6s led much of the way, swapping spots with the Porrsches of Farnbacher Loles and Flying Lizard, the Rahal Letterman BMWs, and the Risi Ferrari.
When the red flag waved, Mika Salo in the #62 Risi Ferrari was ahead, mostly due to luck; behind the Corvettes and Porsches through much of the race, the Ferrari got ahead while the others were pitting.
Regardless of who held the lead at any given point, the battling among the class leaders was non-stop and intense.
The Risi Ferrari needs to finish two places ahead of the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche to keep in the GT2 championship race, while the Flying Lizard drivers are eager to seal the championship today, and are willing to take risks to do it.
The Corvettes have nothing to lose; since they are out of the championship hunt, they also are willing to race hard for a win. And the BMWs, who have finally found their pace in the last two races, are eager to improve their record. For most of the race the top six GT2 cars have been nose-to-tail and trying to pass, regardless of weather, traffic, or points standings.
Petit Le Mans is a time or distance race: it runs ten hours or one thousand miles, whichever comes first. Though the race is stopped now, if the rain stops, the race will be back on.
But for now, the weather is the only winner.
[For a final report please see: Peugeot Wins Rain-Shortened Petit Le Mans.]
