Audi topped the opening practice session for the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, but also suffered a setback as one of its other brand-new R18 TDIs wound up damaged after a collision with the tires.
Dindo Capello set the pace in 2m03.844s in the car that he shares with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, putting their car a shade under two tenths of a second up on the sister car of Mike Rockenfeller/Romain Dumas/Timo Bernhard as the German manufacturer locked out the top two positions. It was not to be a 1-2-3 on the R18's competitive debut, however, as Benoit Treluyer, driving the car he is sharing with Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler, suffered a moment of snap oversteer while passing a slower GTE car.
Treluyer spun into the gravel and nudged the tires, damaging his machine's front end and bringing out the red flags. The car's best time was, however, good enough for fourth behind the best of the factory Peugeot 908; that of Simon Pagenaud/Sebastien Bourdais/Pedro Lamy.
The other Peugeots of Franck Montagny/Stephane Sarrazin/Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene/Alex Wurz/Anthony Davidson completed the top six, while the championship-leading ORECA 908 was next up with Olivier Panis/Loic Duval/Nicolas Lapierre.
The Strakka Racing HPD of Jonny Kane/Danny Watts/Nick Leventis set the pace in LMP2 while Hope Racing led the way in the FLM class.
It was a Ferrari 1-2-3 in the GTE Pro category as the AF Corse machines of Giancarlo Fisichella/Gimmi Bruni and Jaime Melo/Toni Vilander led the way, ahead of the Rob Bell/James Walker JMW car.
Porsche's best representative was the Felbermayr car of Marc Lieb/Richard Lietz in fourth, while the best BMW was that of Andy Priaulx/Uwe Alzen, a second off the pace in fifth.
Ferrari also led the way in GTE Am, the CRS Racing 430 of Adam Christodoulou/Klaus Hummel/Phil Quaife setting the pace.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time
1. LMP1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi R18 TDI 2m03.844s
2. LMP1 Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller Audi R18 TDI 2m04.054s
3. LMP1 Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud Peugeot 908 2m04.217s
4. LMP1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi R18 TDI 2m05.329s
5. LMP1 Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian Peugeot 908 2m05.392s
6. LMP1 Gene/Wurz/Davidson Peugeot 908 2m05.925s
7. LMP1 Lapierre/Duval/Panis ORECA Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 2m07.205s
8. LMP1 Jani/Prost Rebellion Lola-Toyota 2m08.833s
9. LMP1 Belicchi/Boullion Rebellion Lola-Toyota 2m09.011s
10. LMP1 Amaral/Pla Quifel-ASM Zytek 2m09.901s
11. LMP1 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues Oak Pescarolo-Judd 2m10.275s
12. LMP2 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD ARX-01d 2m11.332s
13. LMP1 Cortes/Geri/Piccini MIK Corse Zytek-Hybrid 2m11.417s
14. LMP2 Mailleux/Ordonez/Ayari Signatech ORECA-Nissan 2m12.118s
15. LMP2 Perez Companc/Russo/Kaffer Pecom Lola-Judd 2m13.444s
16. LMP2 Erdos/Newton/Collins RML HPD ARX-01d 2m13.576s
17. LMP2 Kraihamer/de Crem Boutsen Energy ORECA-Nissan 2m13.893s
18. LMP2 Beche/Thiriet/Firth TDS ORECA-Nissan 2m14.442s
19. LMP1 Collard/Tinseau/Jousse Pescarolo-Judd 2m14.713s
20. LMP2 Ojjeh/Chalandon/Kimber-Smith Greaves Zytek-Nissan 2m15.020s
21. FLM Moro/Marroc/Zheng Hope ORECA 2m15.210s
22. LMP2 Barlesi/De Roche/Lafargue Oak Pescarolo-Judd 2m15.219s
23. FLM Hartshorne/Keating/Keen Neil Garner ORECA 2m15.265s
24. LMP2 Gates/Garofall/Philipps RLR MG Lola 2m15.792s
25. FLM Julian/Zugel/Petersen Genoa ORECA 2m17.711s
26. LMP2 Rosier/Luco/Basso Extreme Limite Norma-Judd 2m18.806s
27. FLM Rodrigues/Menahem/Misslin JMB ORECA 2m19.628s
28. LMP2 Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa Level 5 Lola Coupe-HPD 2m20.669s
29. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 2m20.911s
30. GTE P Melo/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 2m21.077s
31. GTE P Bell/Walker JMW Ferrari 2m21.718s
32. GTE P Lieb/Lietz Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 2m22.049s
33. GTE P Priaulx/Alzen BMW M3 2m22.078s
34. GTE P Beltoise/Jakubowski/Deletraz Luxury Racing Ferrari 2m22.569s
35. GTE P Ortelli/Makowiecki Luxury Racing Ferrari 2m22.596s
36. GTE P Farnbacher/Simonsen Farnbacher Ferrari 2m22.905s
37. FLM Schultis/Simon/Schell Pegasus ORECA 2m23.243s
38. GTE A Christodoulou/Hummel/Quaife CRS Ferrari 2m23.612s
39. GTE P Farfus/Muller BMW M3 2m23.679s
40. GTE P Goossens/Holzer Prospeed Porsche 2m23.723s
41. GTE A Kauffman/Aguas AF Corse Ferrari 2m23.726s
42. GTE P Pilet/Henzler IMSA Performance Porsche 2m23.986s
43. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Gardel Larbre Porsche 2m24.117s
44. GTE A Armindo/Narac IMSA Performance Porsche 2m24.133s
45. GTE A Perazzini/Cioci/Lemeret AF Corse Ferrari 2m24.973s
46. GTE A Broniszewski/Peter Kessel Ferrari 2m25.280s
47. GTE P Dolan/Hancock Jota Aston Martin 2m25.616s
48. GTE A Giroix/Goethe/Wainwright Gulf Aston Martin 2m25.783s
49. GTE A Ehret/Lynn/Wills CRS Ferrari 2m26.505s
50. GTE A Ried/Hammerson Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 2m26.579s
51. GTE A Felbermayr Jr/Miller Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 2m26.981s
52. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson Krohn Ferrari 2m27.882s
53. GTE P Hirschi/Rossiter/Mowlem Jetalliance Lotus Evora 2m29.590s
54. GTE P Rich/Slingerland Jetalliance Lotus Evora 2m37.486s
55. LMP2 Frey/Meichtry/Rostan Race Performance ORECA-Judd no time