LE MANS, France (AFP) - Peugeot started from the top three places on the grid as the 76th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours got under way in overcast conditions here on Saturday.

Astronauts Jean-Loup Chretien of France, American Mark Brown and Russian Vladimir Titov opened the race, with drivers in the 55 participating cars addressed by two more astronauts in a special link up with the International Space Station.

Peugeot's Stephane Sarrazin, along with co-drivers Pedro Lamy and Alex Wurz, started on pole after his lap record run of three minutes 18.513secs around the Le Sarthe circuit on Friday.

Sarrazin's Peugeot No. 8 and the Peugeot No. 9 of Franck Montagny took the lead after the first corner but Allan McNish's Audi overtook the Peugeot No. 7 of Jacques Villeneuve's co-driver Nicolas Minassian just after the start.

Canadian Villeneuve is bidding to become only the second driver to win motor racing's Triple Crown if he adds to his Formula One and Indy 500 victories.

Only the late Graham Hill managed to win all three, adding a Le Mans victory in 1972 to his F1 world titles in 1962 and 1968 and his Indy 500 triumph in 1972.

"We're calm, focused, now we have to go all the way," said Peugeot Sport boss Michel Barge.

It is estimated that this year's race, which will be run on a largely dry track with only a few scattered showers, will attract a record 270,000 spectators.