Practice: Pirro's last-gasp effort

The Audi R8 driver pulled out a lap of 1m23.987s in the final moments to eclipse the mark set by David Brabham in a Panoz.

But Brabham's team-mate Jan Magnussen was buoyed by the performance, even though the pair were pushed off the top. "We are very close to the Audi at the moment, but I believe we still have a lot more time left to find in the car," he said. "Everyone is very confident we can give Audi a strong fight. For David and myself, it is also important for us to come away with maximum points after the problems we had at Sebring."

Tom Kristensen, who is on loan from the works Audi squad to the privateer Champion outfit this weekend, was third fastest in the car he will share with Brits Johhny Herbert and Andy Wallace. Herbert is gearing up for a hectic weekend. He will attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday morning before using a private jet and two helicopters to travel to California for the ALMS race later in the day.

Jon Field was the fastest LMP 675 class car, driving his Lola EX275-AER MG. Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell led the GTS class in their Chevrolet Corvette, while Timo Bernhard and and Jorg Bergmeister were the GT pacesetters in their Porsche.

Biela/Pirro/Capello Audi R8 1m23.987s
Magnussen/Brabham Panoz LMP-1 1m24.027s
Herbert/Wallace/Kristensen Audi R8 1m24.842s
Herta/Auberlen Panoz LMP-1 1m26.609s
J Field/Sutherland Lola EX257-AER MG 1m29.247s
Jeannette/Donohue Panoz LMP-1 1m30.440s
Weaver/Dyson Riley & Scott MkIIIA-Lincoln 1m32.157s
C Field/Neuhaus Lola B2K/10-Judd 1m32.209s
Knight/Hawkins/Block Lola EX257-AER MG 1m33.023s
Duno/Maxwell Panoz LMP07-Mugen 1m33.250s