So, goodbye from Le Mans. We’ll be back at the beginning of May to bring you coverage of the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours…

The ACO has announced an attendance of 24,987 spectators for the day. That’s five thousand more than their target…

And we still haven’t seen any rain!

Stéphane Sarrazin (Peugeot N°8) has just gone third in the order with a 3m 27.876s. That’s 0.189s behind the best-placed Audi. The top-five cars are covered by just 0.617 seconds

The N°89 Ferrari has just become the first LMGTE car to squeeze beneath the 4-minute barrier with a lap of 3m 59.966s (Allan Simonsen)

The BMW 56 is in the gravel.

There are 22 minutes to go before the end of the day’s testing work, and it looks as though the anticipated rain will hold off until the chequered flag.

Guy Smith has put the N°13 Rebellion Racing car in the gravel…

The N°5 Hope Racing hybrid car has completed its mandatory 10 laps (11) and so becomes eligible to contest the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours.

With one hour remaining, there are now four cars that have dipped beneath the 3m30s barrier (all three Audis, plus the N°9 Peugeot).

In LM GTE, the N°51 Ferrari has come very close to the four-minute mark (4. 0.570s).

OVERALL POSITIONS: 1st, Audi 3 (3m 27.687s). 2nd, Audi 1. 3rd, Peugeot 9. 4th, Audi 2. 5th, Peugeot 8. 6th, Peugeot-Oreca 10. 7th, Peugeot 7. 8th, Pescarolo-Judd 16. Etc.

LMP2: 1st, Oreca-Nissan (3m 43.055s). 2nd, Oreca-Nissan. 3rd, Zytek-Nissan 41. 4th, Lola Judd BMW. Etc.

LM GTE: 1st, Ferrari 51 (4m 0.570s). 2nd, BMW 55. 3rd, Ferrari 59. 4th, Ferrari 89. Etc.

The day is over for the N°007 and N°009 factory Aston Martins which have suffered a spate of engine troubles…

Peugeot Sport’s recent signing Jean-Karl Vernay (reserve driver) has just completed 11 laps in the N°7 908. That means he will be eligible to race if his services are required for the race.

Tom Kristensen has just gone to the top of the classification with the day’s best lap (3m 27.687s) in the N°3 Audi…

Green flag

Red flag

Halfway through the second test session at Le Mans, the order is:

OVERALL: 1st, Audi 1 (3m 27.815s). 2nd, Audi 3. 3rd, Peugeot 8. 4th, Peugeot-Oreca. 5th, Peugeot 9. 6th, Peugeot 7. 7th, Audi 2. Etc.

LMP2: 1st, Oreca-Nissan (3m 43.055s). 2nd, Lola Judd BMW 39. 3rd, Oreca-Nissan 26. 4th, Oreca Judd BMW. Etc.

LM GTE: 1st, Ferrari 59 (4m 1.968s). 2nd, Ferrari 89. 3rd, Ferrari 51. 4th, BMW 55. Etc.

The N°50 Corvette spent a long time in its pits to repair a power-steering hydraulic leak. It is now back on the track…

For information, the Hope Racing-run hybrid car (N°5) has only completed two laps. To be eligible for June’s Le Mans 24 Hours, it will need to complete 10 laps. Otherwise, it could be the Kronos Racing Lola Aston Martin’s ticket for the race…

The N°13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota has stopped on the start/finish straight after its rear-right corner collapsed exiting the Ford chicane…

The N°9 Peugeot is about to go out again after an engine change…

We’ve got a green flag at Le Mans once again…

The safety car interruption is due to a scheduled systems check organised by the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest).

Order at 15:00 (Session 2 times)…

OVERALL: 1st, Audi 1 (3m 27.815s). 2nd, Audi 3. 3rd, Peugeot-Oreca 10. 4th, Peugeot 8. 5th, Peugeot 7. 6th, Pescarolo-Judd 16. Etc.

LMP1: 1st, Oreca-Nissan (3m 46.462s). 2nd, Oreca-Nissan 26. 3rd, Lola Judd BMW 39. 4th, Oreca Judd BMW 40. Etc.

LM GTE: 1st, Ferrari 89 (4m 2.475s). 2nd, Ferrari 51. 3rd, Ferrari 59. 4th, BMW 55. Etc.

Safety car interruption

We’re an hour into the afternoon’s session and the timesheet is topped by the N°1 Audi which posted the day’s best time so far (3m 27.815s) with Timo Bernhard at the wheel.

Le Mans rookie Maxime Martin has just completed the mandatory 10 he needs to cover to be eligible for the racehis best time being a 3m 41.654s (Lola Aston Martin 22).

The second half of the test session (four hours) has started, but not many teams appear to be in a hurry to go out onto the track.

Don’t forget, the weather people predict a potentially showery afternoon and perhaps a thunderstorm towards the end of the day…

The first half session has ended.

The three Peugeots completed 134 laps (1826km), with the three Audis covering 132 laps. In contrast, the two Aston Martins did just 14 laps between them!

The order at 13:00…

OVERALL: 1st, Audi 1 (3m 27.900s). 2nd, Audi 2. 3rd, Audi 3. 4th, Peugeot 8. 5th, Peugeot 7. 6th, Peugeot 9. 7th, Peugeot-Oreca 10. 8th, Pescarolo-Judd 16. Etc.

LMP2: 1st, Zytek-Nissan 41 (3m 43.601s). 2nd, Oreca-Nissan 26. 3rd, Oreca-Nissan 48. 4th, Lola-Judd BMW. Etc.

LM GTE: 1st, Ferrari 89 (4m 1.495s). 2nd, Ferrari 51. 3rd, BMW 56. 4th, Porsche 77. Etc.

Peugot Sport is changing the engine of the N°9 908 (Bourdais/Pagenaud/Lamy). We have not been told why…

The N°24 Oak Racing prototype in the gravel. Sounds like a big shunt, but the driver (Richard Hein) is okay. The car is currently 15th.

Romain Dumas (Audi 1) has just improved again. The car goes to the top of the order with a time of 3m 27.900s

Frenchman Romain Dumas improves in the N°1 Audi , taking the car’s best time so far to 3m 28.605s

The N°2 Audi (Fässler) is reported to be parked in a gravel trap on the Hunaudières straight. There are 40 minutes remaining before the end of the first half-session…

Three hours after the start of this onring’s test session, the order is:

OVERALL: 1st, Audi 1 (3m 28.503s). 2nd, Audi 3. 3rd, Audi 1. 4th, Peugeot 9. 5th, Peugeot 7. 6th, Peugeot-Oreca. 7th, Peugeot 8. Etc.

LMP2: 1st, Zytek-Nissan 41 (3m 43.601s). 2nd, Oreca-Nissan 48. 3rd, Oreca-Nissan 26. Etc.

LM GTE: 1st, Ferrari 88 (4m 2.928s). 2nd, Ferrari 51. 3rd, Porsche 77. 4th, Ferrari 59. Etc.

At 12:09… The N°1 Audi has just gone second with a 3m 29.214s…

Here we go: Benoit Treluyer has just posted a 3m 28.803s in the N°2 Audi! It was the car’s 22nd lap of the morning. That’s five seconds faster than the best-placed Peugeot (N°7).

But apart from the teams themselves, who knows with any precision what the respective programmes of the two makes are today?

The second hour of the first half-session has just ended. The order at the moment is…

OVERALL: 1st, Audi 2 (3m 30.921s). 2nd, Audi 3. 3rd, Peugeot 7. 4th, Peugeot 8. 5th, Peugeot 9. 6th, Peugeot-Oreca 10. 7th, Pescarolo-Judd. Etc.
LMP2: 1st, Zytek-Nissan 41 (3m 46.919s). 2nd, Oreca-Nissan 48. 3rd, Oreca-Nissan 26. Etc.
LM GTE: 1st, Ferrari 51 (4m 4.069s). 2nd, Porsche 77. 3rd, Ferrari 59. 4th, BMW 55. Etc.

The rain didn’t last long, but you feel it could return at any time.

The official weather forecast predicts a downpour late this afternoon.

Yesterday (Saturday), there was a clap of thunder followed by heavy rain at 17:50. The second test session is due to end at 18:00…

So much for the sunny weather. It’s raining at Le Mans now!

André Lotterer (Audi 2) improves to take the morning’s fatest time to 3m 30.921s. Who will be the first to get beneath the 3m30s mark?

It’s a nice sunny morning here at Le Mans where the temperature at 10am is 16°C.
An hour into the first session, the order is:
Overall: 1st, Audi 2 (3m32.240s). 2nd, Audi 3 (+4.012s). 3rd, Peugeot 7 (+5.005s). 4th, Peugeot-Oreca 10 (+5.144s). 5th, Audi 1 (+5.813s). 6th, Peugeot 9 (+8.574s). 7th, Pescarolo 16 (+9,786s). Etc;
LMP2: 1st, Zytek-Nissan (3m46.919s). 2nd, Oreca-Nissan. 3rd, Oreca-Nissan. Etc.
LM GTE Pro: 1st, Ferrari 51 (4m4.922s). 2nd, Ferrari 59. 3rd, BMW 55. Etc.

The Le Mans test has started