McNish warns against complacency

Audi's two diesel-powered challengers managed to pit from first and second without relinquishing their stranglehold at the front of the field, while the two chasing Pescarolos have yet to unveil the pace expected of them prior to the start of the event.

But McNish, who lost the lead to teammate Frank Biela during his first stint before the No. 7 Audi regained it at the driver changes, reckons that the best is yet to come from his French rivals.

"After the shunt we had at the beginning we were able to pull away, but after the first stops with Pescarolo's behind the actual gap is not that big," the 1998 Le Mans winner told autosport.com.

"I would say we are not very much quicker, but a little bit. Where we seem to gain a lot is in traffic at the moment, I don't know why that is."

"If you remember last year, as the race progressed the Pescarolo got quicker so I think as the more rubber that goes down it will get better and better."

McNish and Biela led from the start and quickly established a gap to the two chasing Pescarolos of Emmanuel Collard and Franck Montagny.

McNish admitted that his plan was to go hard from the start of the race in order to counter the threat from the French team.

"My personal strategy was to make sure that we were in control and not the ones that were having to attack because I wanted to see what they had and I think they have got quite a lot but I think at the moment we are in a position to fight them."

Once the early safety car period was over with, the two Audis repeated their disappearing trick at the front and even engaged in some close quarter fighting of their own.

"I think Frank was a bit quicker in the first stint, we went into Arnage and I got into a lot of traffic and he moved to the inside but I couldn't see him in my mirrors and remember with the Hans system you can't move your head.

"So I didn't whether he was trying to pass or not so I had to give him a lot of room, I had to go to the dirt just purely so that the two cars didn't have an accident.

"That allowed him to get past, but once we got back on it after the first stop then we were able to get on with the programme."