The leading LMP2 car at the end of the 4th hour was the reigning European Le Mans Series Champions Signatech Alpine, with Paul Loup Chatin at the wheel of the no36 Nissan powered car.  The top WEC runner in the LMP2 class was the no26 G Drive Racing Morgan of Julien Canal, running in 12th overall and 6th in class.  

The race started in bright sunshine, with the no7 Toyota TS040 of Alex Wurz making the most of the pole position to head into the first corner in the lead.  The Austrian then set about building a comfortable lead as the rest of the LMP1 field provided some great racing as they squabbled over the minor podium places.

In the first hour the no20 Porsche of Timo Bernhard dropped down the field as the three Audi R18s moved up the field behind the two Toyotas and the no14 Porsche of Neel Jani.  Andre Lotterer in the no2 Audi moved ahead of Jani on lap 5 and then passed the no8 Toyota of Nicolas Lapierre when the Frenchman’s TS040 went wide, cross a gravel trap before rejoining behind the Audi and spilling gravel across the track.  A ‘Slow Zone’ was declared at MP60 to sweep the gravel from the track.

A lap later disaster struck the no14 Porsche as Jani slowed to a crawl, the engine suffering from a reported fuel pressure problem.  The Swiss driver managed to get the Porsche back to the pits.

Further back Tom Kristensen in the no1 Audi and Bernhard in the no20 Porsche were running nose-to-tail with Bernard passing Kristensen, only for the Dane to regain the place on the next corner.  This process was repeated several times, which had the fans on the edge of their seats as the two cars battled for 5th place.

On lap 24 (16:25) the rain started to fall on the Mulsanne Straight and before long the rain was very heavy all across the circuit.  Suddenly the Safety Car was deployed when the no3 Audi of Marco Bonanomi, the no8 Toyota of Lapierre and the no81 Ferrari were all seen spinning off and hitting the barriers heavily in the spray at MP35. 

The rain stopped but the debris and broken cars took 30 minutes to recover while Lapierre recovered the Toyota to the pits so the mechanics could affect repairs.  Racing resumed at 17:13 but 10 minutes later another the rain came again and another Safety Car period was declared.

At the restart the no20 Porsche of Timo Bernhard was soon at the top of the time sheets as the no7 Toyota pitted.  Several laps later the Toyota, now with Sarrazin at the wheel, was back in the lead as Bernhard bought the Porsche in to hand over to Hartley.  

By lap 40 a dry line was forming on the track and the sun was seen through the broken clouds above the track.  Both the no 14 Porsche and no8 Toyota were back out on track after lengthy stops , with Marc Lieb in the Porsche 4 laps behind the leaders and Buemi 8 laps behind in the Toyota.