Allan McNish in the Audi R15 during practice at Le MansAudi struck the first blow at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours by posting the fastest times in the free practice session on Wednesday.

The session was hit by rain just over 60 minutes into the six-hours, so there were no improvements to the front running times for the vast majority of practice. The fastest times were set after each car had completed just a handful of installation laps, before they were forced into wet weather testing for the rest of the evening.

Last year's winning crew of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello posted the quickest time of the session, but just half a tenth quicker than their teammates Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner in the No. 2 R15.

The No. 9 car of Marc Gene, David Brabham and Alexander Wurz was the quickest of the Peugeots but also suffered the brunt of the team's problems, requiring a new clutch midway through the session before returning to the pits in a cloud of smoke in the final 10 minutes.

Peugeot showed good wet weather pace though, with Sebastien Bourdais lapping up to five seconds a lap faster than anyone else on the circuit during his wet stint in the No. 8 908.

The Pescarolo-run customer Peugeot 908 of Jean-Christophe Boullion, Simon Pagenaud and Benoit Treluyer was the fourth-fastest car in the session, outpacing two of the factory cars.

The best of the Lola Aston Martins -- the No. 008 car of Darren Turner, Anthony Davidson and Jos Verstappen -- finished the session eighth overall, five seconds off the pace of the lead Audis.

The second Aston Martin Racing car was less than a second behind, while the No. 009 car was a couple of seconds behind and had to be pushed back to the garage when it ground to a halt while leaving the pits near the end of the session.

The Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder was quickest of the LMP2 cars, 1.5 seconds ahead of its nearest rival, the similar car of Team Goh.

The factory Corvettes led the GT1 class with the No. 63 car of Jan Magnussen, Johnny O'Connell and Antonio Garcia a couple of seconds faster than the No. 64 example of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Marcel Fassler.

GT2 was headed by the Team Felbermayr Porsche of Richard Lietz, Marc Lieb and Wolf Henzler.

Three cars failed to complete a significant amount of meaningful running in the six-hour session. The LMP2 Barazi Epsilon Zytek stopped with an oil system failure after completing only 12 laps. The No. 68 JLOC Lamborghini Murcielago stopped on its outlap with a broken driveshaft. The No. 41 GAC Zytek completed just 16 laps before a broken input shaft curtailed its evening's running.

There were several spins and trips across the gravel during the evening but the only accident befell Jean de Pourtales, who crashed the No. 39 Kruse Shiller Lola-Mazda into the wall at the Ford chicane.

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PosClassDriversTeamCarTimeGap
1.LMP1Capello
Kristensen
McNish		Audi Sport Team JoestAudi R15 TDI3m30.708
2.LMP1Rockenfeller
Werner
Luhr		Audi Sport North AmericaAudi R15 TDI3m30.7620.054
3.LMP1Brabham
Gene
Wurz		Peugeot Sport TotalPeugeot 908 HDi FAP3m31.1020.394
4.LMP1Boullion
Pagenaud
Treluyer		Pescarolo SportPeugeot 908 HDi FAP3m33.0282.320
5.LMP1Bourdais
Montagny
Sarrazin		Team Peugeot TotalPeugeot 908 HDi FAP3m33.4262.718
6.LMP1Bernhard
Premat
Dumas		Audi Sport Team JoestAudi R15 TDI3m34.7164.008
7.LMP1Tinseau
Juoanny
Barbosa		Pescarolo SportPescarolo 01-Judd3m35.8685.160
8.LMP1Davidson
Turner
Verstappen		Aston Martin RacingLola-Aston Martin B09/603m35.9965.288
9.LMP1Minassian
Lamy
Klien		Team Peugeot TotalPeugeot 908 HDi FAP3m37.9807.272
10.LMP1Charouz
Enge
Mucke		AMR Eastern EuropeLola-Aston Martin B09/603m36.7326.024
11.LMP1Hall
Primat
Kox		Aston Martin RacingLola-Aston Martin B09/603m38.4907.782
12.LMP1Panis
Lapierre
Ayari		Team Oreca Matmut AIMOreca 01-AIM3m44.47413.766
13.LMP1Zwolsman Jr
Karthikeyan
Lotterer		KollesAudi R10 TDI3m44.50813.800
14.LMP1Belicchi
Prost
Jani		Speedy Racing Team SebahLola B08/60-Aston Martin3m44.56013.852
15.LMP1Ortelli
Senna
Monteiro		Team Oreca Matmut AIMOreca 01-AIM3m46.20215.494
16.LMP2Elgaard
Poulsen
Collard		Team EssexPorsche RS Spyder3m46.42615.718
17.LMP2Ara
Kunimoto
Maassen		NAVI Team GohPorsche RS Spyder3m48.09617.388
18.LMP1Albers
Bakkerud
Mondini		KollesAudi R10 TDI3m49.96019.252
19.LMP1Ragues
Mailleux
Andre		Signature PlusCourage-Oreca LC70E-Judd3m52.85822.150
20.LMP1Campbell-Walter
Ickx
Ianetta		Creation AutosportifCreation CA07-Judd3m54.55223.844
21.LMP2Amaral
Pla
Smith		Quifel ASM TeamGinetta-Zytek 09S/23m56.20025.492
22.LMP1Hardman
Leventis
Watts		Strakka RacingGinetta-Zytek 09S3m56.69825.990
23.GT1O'Connell
Magnussen
Garcia		Corvette RacingCorvette C6.R3m57.87627.168
24.LMP2Leuenberger
Pompidou
Kane		Speedy Racing Team SebahLola B08/80-Judd3m58.21027.502
25.GT1Gavin
Beretta
Fassler		Corvette RacingCorvette C6.R3m59.58628.878
26.LMP2Laheye
Ajlani
Moreau		OAK RacingPescarolo 01-Mazda4m00.42829.720
27.LMP2Newton
Erdos
Dyson		Ray Mallock Ltd.Lola B08/86-Mazda4m01.37830.670
28.LMP2Noda
Marsh
de Pourtales		Kruse-Schiller MotorsportLola B07/46-Mazda4m03.48832.780
29.GT1Lichtner-Hoyer
Gruber
Muller		Jetalliance RacingAston Martin DBR94m06.60635.898
30.GT2Lieb
Henzler
Lietz		Team Felbermayr-ProtonPorsche 997 GT3-RSR4m08.30437.596
31.GT2Melo
Kaffer
Salo		Risi CompetizioneFerrari F430 GT24m10.98040.272
32.GT2Coronel
Bleekemolen
Janis		Snoras Spyker SquadronSpyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R4m13.19642.488
33.GT2Pilet
Narac
Long		IMSA Performance MatmutPorsche 997 GT3-RSR4m14.34043.632
34.GT2Bell
Kirkaldy
Sugden		JMW MotorsportFerrari F430 GT24m14.58443.876
35.GT2Babini
Malucelli
Ruberti		BMS Scuderia ItaliaFerrari F430 GT24m14.85844.150
36.GT2Bergmeister
Law
Neiman		Flying Lizard MotorsportsPorsche 997 GT3-RSR4m15.25444.546
37.GT2Bruni
Perez Companc
Russo		AF CorseFerrari F430 GT24m16.84646.138
38.GT2Farnbacher
Simonsen
Montanari		Hankook Farnbacher RacingFerrari F430 GT24m17.09846.390
39.LMP2Piccini
Biagi
Bobbi		Racing BoxLola B08/80-Judd4m18.87048.162
40.GT2Drayson
Cocker
Franchitti		Drayson RacingAston Martin V8 Vantage GT24m23.26252.554
41.LMP2Ojjeh
Gosselin
Peter		GAC Racing TeamZytek 07S/24m23.78853.080
42.GT2O'Young
Hesnault
Kralev		Endurance Asia TeamPorsche 997 GT3-RSR4m24.42053.712
43.LMP1Tomlinson
Dean
Moore		Team LNTGinetta-Zytek 09S4m24.70053.992
44.GT2Rodrigues
Lebon
Bouchut		JMB RacingFerrari F430 GT24m26.17055.462
45.GT2Mansell
Ehret
Rusinov		Team ModenaFerrari F430 GT24m26.29855.590
46.GT2Dempsey
Kitch Jr
Foster		Team Advanced EngineeringFerrari F430 GT24m26.51455.806
47.GT2McInerney
McInerney
Vergers		Virgo MotorsportFerrari F430 GT24m26.78456.076
48.LMP2Bruneau
Rostan
Greaves		Bruichladdich Bruneau TeamRadical SR9-AER4m28.25257.544
49.GT2Felbermayr Sr
Felbermayr Jr
Lecourt		IMSA Performance MatmutPorsche 997 GT3-RSR4m29.85659.148
50.LMP2Nicolet
Hein
Yvon		OAK RacingPescarolo 01-Mazda4m35.9521m05.244
51.GT1Alphand
Gregoire
Goueslard		Luc Alphand AventuresCorvette C6.R4m38.3421m07.634
52.GT1Maassen
Jousse
Clairay		Luc Alphand AventuresCorvette C6.R4m42.8021m12.094
53.GT2Krohn
van de Poele
Jonsson		Risi CompetizioneFerrari F430 GT24m44.2201m13.512
54.LMP2Barazi
Moseley
Bennett		Team Barazi-EpsilonZytek 07S/25m00.7601m30.052