The Audi set the pace in testing
Morning Session
First practice session Sunday 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
At the end of the first morning testing in Le Castellet, no problem for drivers who took the wheel. We can note three cars returned to their stands after accidents and the best time for the Audi n° 1 of Mc Nish.
Main facts of the morning practice :
At 9:54, the first accident of the season occured when the Zytek n° 41 of K.Ojjeh left the track and touched the rail at the start of the Mistral straight line. The car came back to the stand behind the recovery truck, causing a 12 minute interruption by red flag during the practice.
At 11:28, new interruption of the meeting for 6 minutes with a new red flag, the time to bring back to the stands the Pescarolo Judd No. 4, down on the circuit.
At 11:46, crash between Lola n° 40 and Corvette n°73. Both cars came back at reduced speed to their pits after one minute of immobilisation and a brief red flag.
The Courage n°5, with electronic engine problems, can't make one timed lap, and stays back in stand while the mechancis try to solve it.
The best lap was established by the Audi N° 1 of A.Mc Nish in 1'43'002, second is Pescarolo Judd n° 16 of J.C.Boullion (1'43'473), and third is the Audi N°2 (1'43'688). First in LMP2, Porsche RS Spyder n° 34 of J.Verstappen (1'44'986), fourth overall, while the first LMGT1 is the Corvette n° 72 (1'55'073) and the first in LMGT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (1'59'410).
The Afternoon
Second practice session sunday 1:00 PM-6:00 PM
Very fast sunday afternoon practice session under the sun. Few technical problems. We met experienced drivers helping teams develop, such as Andy Wallace for RML, Olivier Beretta for Luc Alphand, Jan Lammers on the Lola n°12, Jens Petersen for BruichLadich Radical and Amanda Stretton for Chamberlain.
Main facts of the afternoon practice
1:00 PM – Restart of the practice session, under a magnificent sun and a temperature over 22° C.
At 2:33, the Lola n°12 stops at the end of Mistral straight line, gearbox stuck. Safety car operation for 15 minutes. After two hours of work, and the replacement of the gearbox, the car resume its practice.
With good weather conditions, all drivers improve their lap times. Several cars spin without further problem, including the Lola n° 40, the Pescarolo n° 4 and the Radical n° 26.
At 3:30, after one lap at slow speed caused by an oil leakage, the Courage n° 5 is back in the stand.
At 4:08, the Ferrari n°96 blows its rear left tyre and comes back to stand at slow speed.
At 4:52, for its first official lap, the Epsilon n°20 stops at the end of Mistral, brakes problem, and is brought back to his stand on a recovery truck at 5:24.
At 5:02, the Saleen n°50 comes back in the stand at reduce speed.
At 5:08, the Porsche RS Spyder n° 31 reaches the pitlane with a blown rear left tyre and some marks on the rear bonnet.
At 5:25, contact between Courage n°5 and Lola n°12, without consequences.
At 5:30, the MG Lola n°25 with driver Andy Wallace encounters electrical problems and, after several stops along the track, returns to the stand at very slow speed.
At 5:42, the Audi n°2 driven by Alexandre Prémat return to stand at slow speed and pushed in the box. At 6:02, the car begins her night practice.
At 6:00, end of the day practice, only the teams running the night session stays on the track.
The Evening
Night session sunday 6:00 PM-0:00 AM
First laps for the Epsilon n°20, who turns with a handful of cars who choose to take opportunity of one of the few chances to run by night this season.
Main facts of the night session :
6:30 PM – Porsche n°75 stopped on the track in the Mistral straight line, return to stand behind the recovery truck.
8:08 – The Lola n° 40 had a mechanical problem with a small start of fire, but the car could come back to the stand. The Safety Car goes out during 1 lap.
8:10 – The Corvette n°72 stopped at its stand with fuel leakage on top of the tanker.
9:32 – The Pescarolo n°4 left out rear left tyre and comes back at reduce speed, with rear bonnet damage.
9:41 – The safety car enter the track for 2 laps in order to remove all bonnet parts of the Pescarolo which remained on the track.
Some more spinning on a dry track, including Porsche n°34 (several times), Creation n°14 and Courage n°6.
The Epsilon n°20 no longer have brakes problem and establish its best lap in the 28th lap in 1'49'946.