The yellow, however, had its own degree of drama for those still in the race, with all bar Gommendy and Heylen opting to stop. While Jani, Servia and Doornbos made it back without problem, those behind did not, with both Team Australia cars in the wars, Power clipping the rear of the now-lapped Figge as the PCM driver peeled off into the first stall, and Pagenaud doing likewise to Bourdais as the senior Frenchman checked up because the incident ahead of him. Pagenaud came off worst in the clash, losing his front wing, although Bourdais' NHLR crew then had to remove the offending item from the rear of the McDonalds car.
That may have contributed to Bourdais failing to overhaul Power in the stops, the pair remaining glued together in the order they had been since Power passed his rival on lap six. That meant that the Australian was up to fourth, benefiting from Tracy's problem and Gommendy being put to the back of the pack after passing the safety car in his haste to get back to the pits for his second stop. Up front too, the order had changed, with Doornbos now out front from Jani and Servia.
The PKV driver wasted no time in rectifying the situation, blasting past Doornbos at the restart, while, further back, Tagliani's day ended with transmission failure. Jani remained in front for six laps, stretching his advantage all the while, before his growing lead was rubbed out when Figge spun for the third time, this time between turns three and four, necessitating another full course caution.
