First Session:
In an expectedly tight session, the unfortunate Larbre and Zakspeed GT1 entries were out of luck despite trying hard with in the case of number 38 spectacular moments. Slowest of all in GT1 was the GTC McLaren with the Mercedes (which had a stop on the Mulsanne at 12:30, reason unknown) splitting the two non pre-qualifiers. However, with the second Mercedes, which needed to qualify, performing so well in the second session, it just shows that the car wasn't at 100%. It is difficult to know whether the Toyota in the hands of Katayama (34 laps) and Martin Brundle (10 laps) was playing safe, despite seemingly being at full tilt whenever we saw it (except when returning slowly to the pits at about 09:45 with suspension failure), only posted a 3:41, nearly 2.5 seconds off the works 911 GT1-98s. The Panoz was only 0.3 seconds behind the Toyota's pace.
In a bit of a surprise, the fastest LMP1 was the Moretti Ferrari on 3:43, with both the BMW and Porsche close behind on 3:44. Courages 14 and 15 looked safe on 3:47 and 3:49 respectively. The losers were the number 17 Kremer K8 (4:02) and the WR (3:56) which suffered a spin into the gravel trap at the Dunlop curve early in the session.
GT2 was the predicted Oreca Viper benefit, a clear 4.3 seconds clear of the fastest 911 GT2, the Kitchak, Seiler, Zadra Konrad car, the one carrying our bumper sticker. (Thankyou Peter). The Cirtek Mustang made it through, only 0.061 seconds faster than the Debora LMP2, which had been grouped with the GT2s as it would have stood no chance against the LMP1s.Second Session:
Fastest overall and in GT1 was the number 26 Porsche in the hands of Allan McNish after a titanic battle with Martin Brundle's Toyota in the closing hour, the difference ending up at only 0.09 seconds. The two who go no further in GT1 for this session were the spectacular looking but not performing Hybrid Panoz and the second Zakspeed Porsche (so neither of the 'privateer' 911 GT1-98s through). The two Nissans (one TWR, one Nova) and the 'conventional' Panoz made it comfortably, despite the Nova Nissan spinning into a gravel trap after only 10 minutes of the session, later resuming with the spare rear bodywork from one of the TWR.
In LMP1, again a surprise as the JB Ferrari beat the rest with a 3:41, leaving the factory BMW and Porsche entries trailing 0.4 and 2.7 seconds adrift respectively, split by the Nissan powered Courage on 3:43. Others safely through are the Doyle Risi Ferrari and the Riley & Scott. The second Kremer K8 scraped home ahead of the Konrad K8 by 0.08 seconds, the difference between going to qualifying and staying at home. The other prototype not to progress was the other WR which is sadly looking dated now.
GT2 was again dominated by the ORECA Vipers, numbers 51 & 53. The two not to make it were the second Cirtek Mustang number 75 and Roock Racing number 66.
The first session finished at 13:30 with the 25 Porsche GT1 with 3:38 in the top spot despite an early tyre deflation at 08:30 on the 'mulsanne', with a pair of TWR Nissans close behind on 3:40. The Toyota 27 was very strong on 3:41 and the Panoz 45 car only a fraction adrift.
The bottom of the table saw the Larbre 'Playstation' car failing to perform with a 3:49 and the Kremer 17 car slowest in the prototypes with a 4:05.In GT2 the Macquillan 911 number 63 that failed to post a time and the RJ Racing Helem V6 which circulated for only 10 laps early in the session and only achieved a 4:45.
The exitement in GT1 was the sight of the Panoz 45 in late charge making a well deserved 3:41.667 in the hands of David Brabham. The Cirtek Mustang was also being driven with enthusiasm and made a 4:08 in the hands of Rob Schirle but it looked much faster.
The Daytona winning Konrad 911 carrying the Club Arnage sticker on the tail made a creditable 4:06 directed by Seiler, Kitchak and Zadra. We have worn out 2 cameras trying to snap the bumper as it bounced over the apex at Arnage.
Arnage Corner experienced a number of exiting "moments" during the morning session including numbers 14 and 52 ending up in the over-run amidst much brake dust, having completely missed the corner. The most spectacular efforts, in reverse order, were numbers 55 and 38 who both managed to lock up their brakes long before the corner, snaked all over the track and somehow managed to get round the corner,with 38 getting the power on a fraction too early and only a lightning reaction caught the tail and brought it into line as it headed for the Arnage tyre wall.
An unseasonably cold and damp scrutineering session on Saturday saw the exclusion of both the popular Lister and Lotus cars on technical grounds. The Lister was found to have an exhaust system that is not in accordance with the regulations because it passes through the cabin. The design has not changed since last year but the scrutineers were unforgiving. There was no time for the team to effect the necessary changes so the Newcastle United Lister went for an early bath. The Lotus was judged to have too much alteration at the rear of the chassis from the road spec car.
The bizarre Panoz 'electric' car has a supplementary electric motor powered by a battery located next to the driver and charged, regeneratively under braking. It is engaged by the flick of a switch and was described by James Weaver as like gaining a following wind or taking off a hand-brake rather than the thump in the back associated with a turbo. There is a weight penalty for the extra, variously quoted 120 to 150bhp,with the "standard" Panoz weighing around 950kg and the electic version an additional 200kg.Each of the Panoz has come with two engines, one standard and sprint, with the standard being good for about 630bhp and the sprint an extra 20 to 30 bhp.
Sunday morning has dawned cold but thankfully dry at present. Most of the teams are waiting for the overnight rain to dry off in the morning sunshine before a full-out effort to qualify before the rain that is promised for later in the day.
The day started early with the morning session kicking off at a somewhat antisocial 7:30 am. The day is in 2 sessions the first session is 7:30 until 13:30 the second from 14:30 to 20:30.
The impenetrable ACO formula for determining how many are to qualify dictates that 4 Prototypes, 4 GT1 and 5 GT2 cars will be eliminated by the end of the day. The cars running in the first session are 1,3,7,10,14,15,17,19,24,25,27,30,32,36 38,40,45,48 and in the second session 2,5,8,12,13,16,18,20,21 26,28,29,31,33,35,39,41,44 and 46.
As I write this at 9:52, the No 30 Nissan is quickest in the first session with the Mercedes 36 and BMW proto No1 in second and third spot.