Montagny downplays test pace

The Frenchman, who signed for the team before making his Formula One race debut with Super Aguri, was quickest in the official free practice session at the La Sarthe circuit.

His lap of 3:30.195 was nearly two seconds quicker than Rinaldo Capello in the Audi R10.

But Montagny says he is unconcerned about posting a quicker lap than the German manufacturer today, and was more focused on gelling with his team and working on race preparation.

"Setting the fastest time is a bonus - it's a nice ending to the day and everybody's happy," Montagny told autosport.com. "But it doesn't change anything, it's just free practice really.

"Even before the fastest lap, which I did on qualifying [tyres], I set my 3:31 on the medium tyres, so that was good.

"But I don't think this is important. I think the most important thing was that I just came to the team today, it's my first time in the car, first time I work with my engineer, with the crew, and everything, and yet it doesn't look too bad.

"My teammate was very fast all day - we worked well together, sharing information on the set-up. So I think that is what's most important."

Asked if he thought rivals Audi were showing their true pace today or were 'sandbagging', Montagny said: "I don't know, and I don't really care, to be honest.

"I think the most important thing is to focus on ourselves, not on others. They can do whatever they want; we deal with our issues and work the best we can, and we'll see in the end how it works out. There's no point worrying about what they're doing."

Montagny added that he was confident that the reliability of his Pescarolo C60 will allow his team a chance of winning this year's running of the endurance classic.

"We didn't have any problems today, and this car didn't have any problems at Spa or Turkey (LeMans Series races) or in testing at Paul Ricard," he said.

"I think this car is quite OK. It's not a new car, it's the old car with adjustments, so there's no surprises there. I don't see any problems at this point."