Morgan.
Chris Lawrence confirmed that this morning they were very happy with their first sustained running at Le Mans. After the problems of the test weekend yesterday was problem free and the first objective of qualifying the car and all the drivers have been successfully achieved. All the drivers had about three stints in the car and a new engine, which has just arrived from Mader, will be installed today. This will be used for today and the race. Steve Hyde set the fastest time of 4.27.415 but Chris Lawrence suggested that 4.20 would be possible if they really tried. There are no plans today to push the car, more sensible race pace development.

There are two other interesting characters in the pit Andy in Yellow and Big Baby (Dennis) in Blue. Andy when not guarding the car as seen here has a place in the garage where he supervises the pit stops. "Big Baby" has a more difficult role as in this year of the film He takes all the agro when Team Chief Mechanic Dennis (the baddie) is displeased!

Prodrive
Another four hours endurance testing was completed last night. Between sessions a gearbox was changed as a precaution as there was a small oil leak. This morning they were mainly sorting out a few driver comfort issues that would make a 24-hour race more comfortable particularly in view of the forecast for a very hot race.

RML
The Saleen just went round and round, For the two Portuguese drivers Ramos and Chaves it is a first Le Mans and Gavin Pickering's test weekend experience showed as he was fastest of the drivers. Like the other Saleens potential is hampered by the current weight and restrictor penalties. However it might not all be bad news over a 24 hour race as the smaller restrictor means less fuel use and perhaps one or two more laps between stops. Estimates along the pit lane vary from 2 to 3 minutes including entry and leaving for a stop.

MG
In the 27 car Mark Blundell had two moments with slower cars, one the Spyker and sustained some slight body and suspension damage. This however was not before he had set 5th best time and the class provisional pole. This car and all its drivers have completed their qualification and the current engine will be left in place for today. Mark feels there is at least another second to come.
The problems have been in the 26 car as none of the drivers have completed any night laps. The engine was blown when over revved avoiding a slower car and the second session lost changing this engine. A new engine is now in the car and today's priority is qualifying not going for time.

Knight Hawk MG
All the drivers are qualified although the session ended early when the car went off the road on the pit lane entry sustaining minor damage. They will go for faster times today and install the race engine tomorrow.

RILEY & SCOTT
Bill Riley commented, "We have never been better prepared for a 24 hour race, things have gone almost too smoothly" They only ran the Goodyear race tyres which are very good and did not feel that soft tyres are any better around Le Mans. They will install the race engine tomorrow and have even had time to practice race day parts changes.

PK SPORT
They had an uneventful day, much of the time 2nd in class and when Robin Liddell went for a fast time later he was baulked by a slow Ferrari. They had a minor clutch problem after the first session but all the drivers have qualified. The race engine was installed this morning and tonight the plan is probably to give Piers and David more time in the car. A sign of progress made by this team in their second year is that despite the lengthened track they are currently 4 seconds faster than last year.

ASCARI
The first session was mainly spent on set up and the chance of a quick lap at the end was lost when the session ended early. Werner set the Quickest lap at the beginning of the second session and all three drivers have done the required laps. The engine which had reached its life is being changed for another practice engine and they hope to improve times aiming for a top ten spot. The race engine is the engine that completed Daytona and Sebring and is a known good engine. It has of course been rebuilt since Sebring!

BENTLEY
A frustrating first session for the team with opportunities lost when the first session ended early then traffic. Right at the end Andy Wallace had a brush with one of the Konrad Saleens. The drivers are qualified and its is to be expected that they will move up the grid today as they are still well short of the test weekend time. Like all single car teams they have to take care to ensure they do not damage the car as 100 yards on the grid mean little in 24 hours.

Ten seconds covered the first 15 cars yesterday and probably will cover several more by the end of practice, a second Works MG and Panoz and both the Pescarolo Courages are outside that 10 second group. Several in the top 15 are suggesting that they expect to close the gap to Audi.

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