Biela tops warm-up

Biela put his No. 8 Audi R10 TDI at the top of the session times with a lap of 3:33.394, but his team will be more worried about the No. 7 car which didn't complete a lap in the 45-minute session.

Allan McNish was behind the wheel of that car when Audi told him to slow down and tour back to the pits after seeing unusually high engine temperatures on the telemetry in the pits.

The Audi mechanics changed the car's driveshaft during the session, and sent McNish out again, hoping the problem was solved.

However, the abnormal readings from the telemetry remained, and McNish was told to tour back to the pits so the mechanics could diagnose the problem.

The team now have seven hours to repair the car for the race's start at 5pm (local time).

Emmanuel Collard was second quickest for Pescarolo Sport with a time just 0.319 seconds behind the No. 8 Audi, raising hopes of a close battle for the race victory this year.

Franck Montagny set the third fastest time in the session in the No. 7 Pescarolo, with a lap 2.4 seconds off the session-topping time.

Shinji Nakano put the No. 13 Courage Mugen in fourth place.

Andy Wallace kept up the pace of the LMP2 polesitters in the RML Lola with the fastest time in the category, good enough for eighth overall.

However Aston Martin, who dominated GT1 qualifying, were beaten by arch-rivals Corvette for the top class warm-up time.

Oliver Gavin showed the American manufacturer's hand with a lap of 3:53.914, eight tenths of a second quicker than the No. 009 Aston, driven by Pedro Lamy.

Dominik Farnbacher was fastest in the Team Seikel Motorsport Porsche in GT2.

In addition to the Audi, a couple of other prototype cars hit trouble. The Lister Storm, driven by Jens Moller was slow at the start of the session, and Marc Rostan had an off in the gravel in the No. 20. Pilbeam Judd.