Hour 1 report: Kristensen leads despite penalty

Kristensen tangled with the LMP 675-leading car at Mcleans on lap 30, and his stop/go penalty negated the decent lead he had built up over the second works Audi of Frank Biela. After the first round of pitstops, however, Kristensen retook the initiative at the front of the pack as the Biela car his made a second, unscheduled, pit stop to replace a punctured tyre he sustained after a collision with JJ Lehto's GT class BMW at the Old Hairpin.

At the start of the race, Kristensen held his pole advantage going into Redgate on the opening lap, despite the close attentions of Biela. The Gulf-backed, Johansson Racing-run R8 of Stefan Johansson upset the works applecart once more by slicing past Biela on the top of the Craner Curves.

Johansson's moment of glory lasted until he came to lap the Saleen S7R of Oliver Gavin, who gave him just an Audi's width to pass at the Old Hairpin. Biela seized his chance as Johansson lost all his momentum and slingshotted through to second.

The Chrysler Oreca of Olivier Beretta was best of the rest early on in fourth, heading a fierce tussle for fifth between David Brabham's Panoz and Jean-Christophe Boullion's Courage. The Chrysler lost time in its first pit stop, however, dropping to ninth.

Biela's extra stop allowed Kristensen to go a lap ahead and Johansson up to second, with Brabham's Panoz now fourth.

Despite his clash with Kristensen, O'Connell leads the LPM675 class. Ian McKellar/Bruno Lambert (Saleen) leads GTS after the Konrad-run Saleen of Oliver Gavin and Franz Konrad lost time at its first stop.

Porsche rules in GT, as Lucas Luhr and Sacha Maassen lead the way. BMW has suffered a problematic first hour, with the Ekblom/Muller car forced into the pits for engine repairs and the Lehto/Muller car being hit be a stop/go penalty and an off at the Old Hairpin when the Finn tangled with a faster class car.


1 Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen, works Audi R8, 42 laps
2 Stefan Johansson/Guy Smith, Johansson Audi R8
3 Emanuele Pirro/Frank Biela, works Audi R8
4 Jan Magnussen/David Brabham, works Panoz LMP07
5 J-C Boullion/Larent Redon, Courage C60
6 Klaus Graf/Gualter Salles, works Panoz
7 Martin O'Connell/Warren Carway, Pilbeam MP84
8 Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3-RS
9 Yannick Dalmas/Olivier Beretta, Chrysler Oreca
10 Randy Pobst/Christian Menzel, Porsche 911 GT3-RS


Martin O'Connell/Warren Carway, Pilbeam MP84


Bruno Lambert/Ian McKellar, RML Saleen S7R


Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3-RS