The third of four qualifying sessions got under way bang on 19:00hrs. The weather was warm, a bit muggy, but dry. Weather forecasts suggest that the odd thunder storm might rumble through during the weekend. Good news is that Eric van de Poele not only survived that enormous accident but has apparently suffered ‘only’ a cracked vertebrae.
During the first half hour nothing much changed Toyota GT- One No1, Toyota GT-One No2, then the Panoz LMP, next up the first of the BMW V12 LMR’s. Panoz didn’t come out in this session and they are in bits in the pits simply making a few changes ! Likewise Thomas Bscher’s BMW is still on axle stands, no panic apparently. At around 19:35hrs the Autoexe # 24 Riley and Scott Ford Mark III pulled off after Mulsanne. Soon after this the Mercedes CLR No4, went off in a big way at Arnage and the driver was taken away by ambulance, hopefully just for a check up . It seems that some body work may have come adrift prior to the accident. What of GTS ? Once again nothing much has changed, still a Viper white wash (assuming a Viper of the snake variety stays still long enough to be white washed !)..No 51 leads 52, who in turn leads 53, all very symmetrical , next up is 56, then 55 and yeah .. at last the first 911!! (who would have thought it !) . The leading 911 is the currently the Konrad # 64car. In GT the two 996 GT3’s are not going any quicker but the MacQuillan 993 RSR has speeded up bit, but they are still nine seconds away from the class leading Champion 996 GT3.
Just after 20:00 hrs one of the Riley & Scotts, # 31, went off at Terte Rouge and attacked the tyre wall. The driver emerged OK and the car should be back out again after some tidying up. With the Panoz languishing in the pits the # 6 Mercedes has moved upto third behind the Toyotas. Maro Baldi in the only Ferrari reckons he is down on power due to the restrictors but he is pretty sure it will be reliable. Strange to see the # 4 Mercedes way down in order, particularly as time is running out in this session and the final session will be in the dark.
At 20:18 hrs the # 62 Porsche went off at Terte Rouge, this is the Hurtgen, Haupt, Ahrle, not too much damage. It was lying around 40th on the grid at the time. Suddenly the Nissan # 22 car found some pace and briefly arrived in the top ten at 20:20 hrs, only to get bumped by the # 19 BMW.
GTS is not giving us much drama, it is till a Viper lock out, 51,52,53,56 and then the # 67 Porsche. Both 51 and 52 have gone quicker in this session as did the Porsche. Still no sign of either of the Panoz .. Panozes ... Panozzes ...
With half an hour to go to the end of this session and things are pretty stable, no sign of major dramas ... some people are wondering if the # 6 Mercedes will gone out at the last minute and blitz the Toyotas ... it looks as if the Toyotas may be running in race trim at the moment since they have been considerably slower in this session. Maybe the Panoz will have another go early on in the final session, it could be cooler, but it will of course be
darker ! The leading Viper # 51 seems content to sit on his pole sitting 3.56:588.
In GT3 the 996 GT3’s are still way ahead of the two 993 RSR’s it doesn’t seem entirely fair this battle ! The two slower cars will have to rely on the ACO bending the rules if they are no going to have ‘an early bath’... The speed differentials are a bit scary. The pole position Toyota is chugging round in 3.29:930 and the slowest GT3 is doing a glacial 4.32:176 ... ummm.... over 65 secs a lap slower.
More thoughts on the # 4 Mercedes, eye witnesses reckon that the car had a huge accident, all on its own and it went in very hard. Bearing in mind the under tray and the car arrived independently maybe it came detached. The car was immediately covered with a custom built black dust sheet to fend off prying eyes. Mark Webber is reported to be pretty well OK and is off to hospital for the normal check up.
JJ Lehto has just put in a quick one and brought the # 17 BMW onto the second row of the grid. With ten minutes to go the Panoz # 11 has finally gone out to do some work with Jan Magnussen at the helm but no fireworks !
So as the chequered flag went out at 21:00 hrs the two Toyotas remain safely on the front row with the # 1 car on pole and the # 2 car just 0.871 secs behind. Mercedes briefly moved their # 6 car into third spot, but at the very last moment BMW slotted their
# 17 car into third spot but # 15 has faded down to eighth, Panoz should be happy with their 5th spot. Mercedes have their work cut out and are down to just two cars.
In GT2 the Viper saga goes on, there are still four of them up front but the #65 and #67 Porsches are now ahead of the #55 Viper.