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Guy Smith race diary: 11pm

The Le Mans 24 Hours has gone very well so far for autosport.com diarist Guy Smith. The Bentley he shares with Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello has led for virtually the whole event so far, and has yet to encounter any major problems. Before he could even wipe away all the sweat from his brow, Guy took the time to let us know how his race is going

"As you can see, things are going pretty well for me, Tom and Dindo so far. I was a little apprehensive before stepping into the car to start my first stint, but it only took a few laps to get settled in and fully up to speed. I was expecting it to be really hot in the car, but it wasn't as bad as I expected - especially because I drove three consecutive stints.

The traffic is very bad out there, and especially around the Porsche curves. That's where we close in really fast on the slower cars, and it can be a bit of a problem, especially if they don't see you coming.

The circuit is getting really dirty already. You have to stay on the racing line to prevent the tyres picking up loads of debris, but the track is already surprisingly slippery in several places.

My first driving stint included the transition from daylight to dusk. I'm fine driving in either, but you have to be especially alert in the half-light of dusk. Fortunately, I had no problems, even when the sun was very low on the horizon just before sunset."

Stay tuned to autosport.com to keep a track of Guy's progress, along with all the latest news from the Le Mans 24 Hours as it happens.

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