Bentley satisfied with first day

"We're quite happy and it's looking good," Lloyd told Autosport.com. "We're here to finish this race, we're not here to rewrite history."

Brundle's attempt at an all-out lap immediately after the session break was spoiled when the 1990 winner picked up a puncture and spun into the gravel trap at Mulsanne Corner. Marshals towed the car out and Martin was able to crawl back to the pits, but the incident curtailed any attempts at heroics.

"The off at Mulsanne was probably caused by picking up some debris from another car," said Lloyd. "It certainly wasn't self-inflicted. We're very satisfied with the durability of the tyres, and the fact that he could get home safely was a good thing. Because it all happened at the same time, braking and spinning, he thought he'd overcooked it a bit. But it was pure co-incidence. He picked up something the minute he touched the brake. He was well fired up for something pretty good at the time."

Lloyd admitted that it took some time to find a satisfactory set-up on the 'green' track.

"You have to wait so long for the circuit to come in. It takes people by surprise really. You think that you can go straight out and the car will be great, but it's not. Martin didn't get dialled in properly in the first half. He was anxious to see whether the circuit was coming in.

"So the first session was a bit of an exploratory one. It seems that we've got the pace here to do well, given that my aim is that we're here to finish this bloody race, not to win it on the first lap or put it on pole. That would be lovely, but it would just be a bonus."

Lloyd confirmed that Brundle may try and go quicker on Thursday night, weather permitting.

"I would say there's a natural instinct in Martin to deal with unfinished business! But that will be up to him and his crew. Andy was frustrated too. Eight miles of circuit and he couldn't get a clear lap, it's just the way it falls sometimes."

The team suffered no major mechanical gremlins, and the Wallace/Van de Poele/Leitzinger car had a troublefree evening.

"We've really just trying to sort the balance out," said Wallace. "We're trying not to chase the track. It's a different set-up from what we had at the test day, which is why we're not where we need to be yet. I'm pretty confident that the car can do the race distance, but whether we're fast enough or not, I don't know. I think it will be too much to win in the first year, but the reliability seems to be really, really good I think. The car is built really well, and we haven't had anything big fall off!"