Allan McNish in the nr2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro moved from third on the grid to leading the race within the first ten minutes. At the start Alex Wurz in the nr7 Toyota TS030 led the field into the first corner, followed by Anthony Davidson in the nr8 TS030. However McNish soon got past the second placed Toyota and then dispatched the lead car on lap six as Wurz went wide at Club corner.
Benoit Treluyer in the nr1 Audi followed his teammate by moving up from 5th on the grid to end the opening hour in 2nd place, 18.8 seconds behind his Scottish teammate.
The nr 7 Toyota then seemed to encounter a problem as Wutz was passed by Davidson and then dropped back with tyre smoke appearing from the back of the Toyota in the braking zone at the end of The Vale as the brakes locked up. However the Austrian was able to keep going and maintain the gap to the the front runners.
The LMP1 Privateer battle between Rebellion and Strakka was unable to materialize as Jonny Kane had to start the race at the back of the grid following qualifying where the HPD-Honda failed to complete four laps. Kane forced his way through to the front of LMP2 grid by lap 7. The two Rebellion Lola Toyotas led the way, with both cars being able to keep in close formation and within a lap of the works Audis and Toyotas.
The battle for LMP2 honours was led by the nr25 Delta-ADR Oreca Nissan of Antonio Pizzonia from pole position with the nr35 Oak Racing Morgan of Martin Plowman moving up from 4th on the grid to finish the hour in second.
It wasn’t a happy time for the Lotus team as the nr31T128 of Vitantonio Liuzzi had to make several pitstops for a loose door and the nr32 Lotus of Jan Charouz was hit by the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca of Nicolas Minassian, causing damage to the steering and bodywork that looked like it may cause the cars retirement.
Hour 1: Aston Martin Head GTE Grid
The few drops of rain that sprinkled the track on the formation lap had no effect on the LMGTE Pro and Am start and the 14 cars across the two categories got away cleanly, with no incidents. There was some re-shuffling of positions on the first lap between the Pro and Am classes and the order then settled for much of the first hour.
The No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Turner-Mucke-Senna leads the Pro class ahead of the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Bruni-Fisichella by 5 seconds, the Italian car having climbed up two places since the start. Bruni, who made the charge through the field, has now handed the wheel to Fisichella.
Behind them as the one hour mark ticked over was the new No.91 Porsche 911 RSR of Bergmeister-Pilet-Bernhard which has shown itself very well in the early stages of the race. Fuel economy seems to have been good across the category with the first stops taking place on the GTE’s 28th lap – amongst them being the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari, Kamui Kobayashi making his debut now in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The majority of the class came in on lap 30, while the leading two extended their run to an impressive 31 laps.
In LMGTE Am, apart from the 2012 class champions Larbre Competition having to make an early stop after just six laps, the class has run without issue. Jamie Campbell-Walter in the No.96 Aston Martin Vantage V8 handed the wheel to Roald Goethe at this car’s first pit stop, having run in tandem with the No.95 Aston for the first hour. Third in class was the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari of Marco Cioci who has now handed over to Jack Gerber.
Full results and classifications can be found http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/
RACE FACTS – HOUR 1
• 13:00:53GTE Am leader #96 Aston of Campbell-Walter into pits
• 12:59:20#47 Morgan may have touched by #41 Greaves Zytek of Chris Dyson
• 12:56:56#47 Morgan of Howson spins at Copse but continues
• 12:52:43#25 Oreca now leads #35 Morgan in LMP2
• 12:46:39Stop and go for #49 Pecom Oreca after car hit #32 Lotus earlier
• 12:43:07#8 Toyota into pits #2 Audi retakes lead
• 12:42:03#7 Toyota of Wurz into pits #8 Toyota in lead
• 12:40:21Toyota's #7 and #8 now into lead
• 12:39:10Leading 2 Audi's into pits
• 12:36:44#32 Lotus may attempt to come out again when damage fixed
• 12:34:37Rain reported on circuit
• 12:31:49#32 Lotus has retired
• 12:28:39#96 Aston of Campbell-Walter leads GTE Am from #95 Aston of Simonsen
• 12:27:34#97 Aston of Stefan Mucke leads GTE Pro from #99 Aston of Pedro Lamy
• 12:25:02#31 Lotus rejoins
• 12:22:38#7 Toyota of Wurz is falling back maybe has a problem?
• 12:19:51#8 Toyota of Davidson takes #7 Toyota of Wurz for 3rd
• 12:18:15Fastest lap for McNish in #2 Audi with 1.43.710
• 12:17:06#32 Lotus has suspension damage and #31 Lotus has loose door
• 12:16:18#25 Delta Oreca of Pizzonia leads LMP2
• 12:15:22#32 Lotus pushed into garage
• 12:13:27#1 Audi of Treluyer takes #7 Toyota of Wurz for 2nd
• 12:12:31#1 Treluyer takes #8 Toyota for 3rd
• 12:11:27#2 Audi of McNish takes lead
• 12:11:06#32 Lotus collides with #49 Pecom Oreca at Village
• 12:09:20Fastest lap of 1.43.954 by Audi #2 of McNish
• 12:07:57Toyota #7 overtakes #12 Rebellion Lola for 4th
• 12:06:41Audi #2 driven by McNish overtakes Toyota #8 for 2nd
• 12:05:40No 47 Morgan driven by Jim Ka To started at back after spin but coming through the field
• 12:02:57All cars safely complete lap 1
• 11:59:55Green Flag
• 11:57:59Cars leave on formation lap - No 47 Morgan spinsThe 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship
