Testing, day 1: Audi leads the way

The Audi R8 of Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and defending ALMS champion Emanuele Pirro was the quickest of the 37 cars present, the Audi lapping the 3.7-mile circuit in 1m48.957s, just slightly slower than Biela's track record of 1m48.825s set in 2000. The second Audi, driven by Rinaldo Capello, Johnny Herbert and Christian Pescatori, lapped in 1m50.661s.

The LMP675 class for smaller prototypes was led on Monday by the Reynard 2KQ-Volkswagen of the French ROC team, driven by Jean-Denis Deletraz, Christophe Pillon and Mark Smithson, which won the class last year at Le Mans. The car was clocked at 1m58.129s, 11th fastest overall.

The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R of Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins and Franck Freon led the GTS class with a lap of 2m00.510s. The GT class was headed by the Porsche 911 GT3 RS of British outfit PK Sport, driven by Robin Liddell, Fabio Babini and Giovanni Anapoli, which turned a lap of 2m08.784s.

Some cars, including the Panoz of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen, ran without timing transponders in the unofficial day of testing. Testing will continue on Tuesday, with the first official day of practice on Wednesday.


1 Biela/Pirro/Kristensen, Audi R8, 1:48.957
2 Capello/Herbert/Pescatori, Audi R8, 1:50.661
3 Wallace/Lammers/Johansson, Audi R8, 1:50.805
4 Matthews/Smith/Goossens, Riley and Scott MkIIIC, 1:51.566
5 Bernard/Collard/Lehto, Cadillac LMP 02, 1:52.437
6 Taylor/Angelelli/Tinseau, Cadillac LMP 02, 1:52.489
7 Herta/Donohue/Auberlen, Panoz LMP-1, 1:52.999
8 Lienhard/Theys/Baldi, Dallara-Judd, 1:53.617
9 Lupberger/Bell/Kolby, Ascari-Judd, 1:56.290
10 Neuhaus/Macaluso/Brickell, Lola B2K10-Judd, 1:57.199


11 Delatraz/Pillon/Smithson, Reynard 2KQ-Volkswagen, 1:58.129
12 Collins/Vann/Wilson, Ascari-Judd, 1:59.908
13 Pilgrim/Collins/Freon, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 2:00.510
15 Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 2:00.824
16 McKellar/Johnson/Erdos, Saleen S7R, 2:02.712
22 Liddell/Babini/Anapoli, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:08.784
33 Masarati/Demeroutis/Alexander, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:14.159
34 Kelleners/Franchitti, Ferrari 360 Modena, 2:18.427
35 Rydell/Menu/Enge, Ferrari 550 Maranello, 2:18.427
36 Hayden/Earle/Griffiths, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 2:19.583
37 Hawkins/Knight/Kane, MG Lola EX257-AER, 19:38.270