Peugeot land first blow at Barcelona
Peugeot landed the first blow of the Le Mans Series season by setting the fastest time in the first practice session for this weekend's race at Barcelona
The 908 HDi of Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy completed the session with its best lap nearly half a second quicker than that of Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello in the lead Audi.
The second Peugeot of Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene was just a whisker further back in third, with the second R10 TDi of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat over a second adrift.
The second Audi was only fifth quickest, with Jos Verstappen setting an astonishing pace in the LMP2 Van Merksteijn Porsche RS Spyder. The Dutchman lapped the Catalan track almost two and a half seconds quicker than any other LMP2 car, and was only 0.8s slower than the leading Peugeot.
Charouz Racing's new Lola Aston Martin was best of the petrol-powered LMP1 cars in sixth place, just ahead of the Creation of Jamie Campbell-Walter, Stuart Hall, and Felipe Ortiz.
The other new closed-roof prototype, the Epsilon Euskadi, placed 11th in the LMP1 class, one and a half seconds off the pace of the Charouz Lola.
Only four GT1 cars took to the track and the Lamborghini of Peter Kox and Roman Rusinov was comfortably quicker than the Larbre Saleen and the two Luc Alphand Chevrolet Corvettes.
Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni were nearly a second clear of their GT2 rivals in the Virgo Motorsport Ferrari 430, with Richard Lietz and Raymond Narax a comfortable second in their IMSA Porsche.
Pos Drivers Car Time LMP1 1. Lamy/Sarrazin Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 1:33.250 2. Capello/McNish Audi R10 TDI 1:33.679 3. Gene/Minassian Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 1:33.781 4. Premat/Rockenfeller Audi R10 TDI 1:35.062 5. Mucke/Charouz Lola Aston Martin 1:35.976 6. Campbell-Walter/Hall/Felipe Creation CA07 1:36.203 7. Collard/Boullion Pescarolo Judd 1:36.742 8. Ortelli/Ayari Courage-Oreca 1:37.344 9. Panis/Lapierre Courage-Oreca 1:37.359 10. Primat/Tinseau Pescarolo Judd 1:37.360 11. Burgueno/De Castro Epsilon Euskadi 1:37.539 12. Barbosa/Ickx/Short Pescarolo Judd 1:39.140 13. Evans/Berridge/Stretton Lola B06/10 AER 1:40.359 14. Nicolet/Faggionato/Hein Pescarolo Judd 1:41.960 LMP2 1. Van Merksteijn/Verstappen Porsche RS Spyder 1:34.008 2. Amaral/Pla Lola B05/40 AER 1:36.422 3. Nielsen/Elgaard Porsche RS Spyder 1:36.844 4. Lienhard/Theys/Lammers Porsche RS Spyder 1:36.860 5. Barazi/Vergers Zytek 07S Zytek 1:37.086 6. Belicchi/Pompidou/Zacchia Lola B08/80 Coupe 1:37.321 7. Erdos/Newton MG Lola EX 265 MG 1:38.687 8. Kane/Foster WF01 Zytek 1:39.773 9. De Pourtales/Noda Lola B05/40 Mazda 1:40.602 10. Hughes/Haberfield WF01 Zytek 1:41.093 11. Ragues/Lahaye Pescarolo Judd 1:41.266 12. Rostan/Petersen/Lueders Radical SR9 AER 1:41.976 13. Didaio/Francioni/Savoldi Lucchini Judd 1:43.937 LMGT1 1. Rusinov/Kox Lamborghini Murcielago 1:46.000 2. Makowiecki/Bornhauser/Bouchust Saleen S7R Ford 1:46.734 3. Alphand/Moreau/Goueslard Corvette C6.R 1:46.976 4. Blanchemain/Dumez/Bervillec Corvette C6.R 1:47.727 LMGT2 1. Bell/Bruni Ferrari F430 GT 1:48.016 2. Narac/Lietz Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:48.891 3. Lieb/Davison Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:49.758 4. Nielsen/Westbrook/Simonsen Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:50.086 5. Ehret/Kaffer/Beltoise Ferrari F430 GT 1:50.906 6. Aucott/Daoudi Ferrari F430 GT 1:52.093 7. Van Der/Merwe/Lemeret/Outzen Aston Martin Vantage 1:53.032 8. Balandras/Lecourt/Belloc Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:53.492 9. Daniels/Paltalla/Fortsen Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:53.555 10. Basso/Mac Cormick/Casadei Ferrari F430 GT 1:54.859 11. Ried/Felbermayr/Felbermayr Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:54.945 12. Dumbrek/Kelleners/Vasiliev Spyker C8 Laviolette 1:56.664 13. Chiesa/Leuenberger Spyker C8 Laviolette 14:14.781
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