6:00- Light drizzle in the air as the cars sit out on track for the grid walk.
6:00- Slightly damp start to the race
5:59- Wurz closes the door out of Village on di Grassi which sees the #2 off the track, but rejoins still in 2nd
5:57- di Grassi has a slow exit out of the last corner sending the #8 Toyota out very wide overtaking the Audi in the process. Then going into the first corner the #8 Toyota closes the door hard missing contact by inches.
5:53- The Audis are visibly quicker in the 3rd sector of the lap but can’t get closer over the rest of the lap.
5:50- Going into Vale Lotterer goes for the inside and takes Buemi on the inside.
5:50- Buemi, slightly compromised by the pass, is also taken by the second Audi of di Grassi.
5:46- GTE PRO sees #51 Ferrari of Bruni and both Manthey Porsches pulling away slightly. All three cars though remain within a second of each other.
5:44- Nic Minassian brings the #27 SMP Oreca in for a very quick fuel stop, that is a very early stop.
5:42- Lotterer gets the fastest lap of the race a 1:44.269 and is really hunting down Wurz in the #7 Toyota. The gap is now down to 7 tenths of a second.
5:40- Going into Brooklands corner Tandy in the #91 Porsche takes the GTE PRO lead passing Bruni on the inside.
5:35- The #99 Aston Martin forces the leading Toyota out wide, Lotterer sees his chance and sticks himself to the back of the Aston Martin and takes the lead passing both cars on the inside.
5:31- In case you were wondering where the two LMP 1 Porsches have gone they are back in 5th and 6th around 14 seconds off the lead.
5:30- In LMP 2 Pla leads in the Morgan Nissan by around 3 seconds from Matsuda in the #47 KCMG car.
5:28- In GTE PRO Tandy still leads but now from Makowiecki in the sister factory Porsche which has also managed to get past the #51 Ferrari of Bruni
5:26- GTE AM is led by the pole sitter Sam Bird in the #81 Ferrari who is being chased hard by the Aston Martin of Pedro Lamy
5:23- Lotterer has a slow couple of sectors and Wurz closes right up behind him.
5:22- Rain is falling a little heavier now with wipers going on most cars. Still no pit for tyres.
5:20- Bird pits the #81 Ferrari from the GTE AM lead.
5:18- SMP in big trouble. First the #27 car nearly comes to a stop out on track, then as it gets back up to speed the sister #37 car comes in and goes straight in the garage.
5:17- Tyre chaos in LMP 1 both Toyotas go for different strategy one on slicks and the other on intermediates, same for Porsche but both Audis stay on slicks.
5:15- Now chaos out on track. First the #1 Audi loses it at a very strange point coming onto the old pit straight spearing into the barrier and the car hits the barrier on the outside. The car is beached and it looks like it’s all over for the #1 car. Importantly di Grassi is okay though.
5:15- As the Audi appears to be lost the #14 Porsche comes in without his left front wheel. The car lost the wheel without warning.
5:13- #81 Ferrari of Bird takes a spin and takes a while to get back going again dropping way down the field.
5:10- With the rain falling the remaining Audi appears to be about to lose the lead. Buemi is a full 25 seconds quicker than Lotterer on the next lap and takes the lead. The Lotterer car is really struggling in the conditions and is overtaken on the following lap by Alex Wurz.
5:05- The #1 Audi suddenly appears back on track and is limping back to the pits.
5:02- The #2 Audi’s slow pace has led to him now going a lap down to the hard pressing Toyota in the hands of Buemi.
5:00- The #14 Porsche rejoins with the front left quarter of the suspension being replaced after the loss of the wheel. It was in the garage for around 14 minutes.
Top3 in each class after the 1st hour
LMP 1
#8
#7
#20
LMP 2
#47
#26
#37
GTE PRO
#92
#91
#51
GTE AM
#98
#53
#61
