Le Mans, France – The Audi R10 TDI’s debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is going well, even if the weather is not. Allan McNish, the LMP1 points co-leader in the American Le Mans Series posted the best time in the first of two two-hour sessions for Audi Sport Team Joest.
The Scot’s top time around the damp Le Mans circuit in the No. 7 car was 4:19.863, which was 3.207 seconds better than the sister car of Emanuele Pirro. It gave the diesel-powered Audi prototypes the provisional pole for the 74th running at Le Mans with another session later in the evening and four more hours Thursday.
American Le Mans Series teams were strong in all four classes. Intersport Racing’s AER-powered Lola, at the hands of Liz Halliday, Clint Field and Duncan Dayton, was second-fastest in LMP2 with a 4:34.160. Two Aston Martin DBR9s from Aston Martin Racing were 1-2, with the No. 007 entry of Andrea Piccini, Tomas Enge and Darren Turner turning a 4:31.179, nearly a second quicker than the No. 009 sister car.
And in GT2, the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jorg Bergmeister, Nic Jonsson and Tracy Krohn was fastest in class with a 4:43.367. Fourth-best was the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Johannes van Overbeek, Seth Neiman and Patrick Long.
The good news is that the rain has stopped at the frontstretch with skies clearing over the grandstands and toward the Dunlop Bridge. Cars return to the track at 10 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EDT).
- ALMS
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