Audi on top at Le Mans test.

Audi confirmed their status as top dogs at Le Mans as Tom Kristensen set fastest time in the factory Audi, ahead of the first customer chassis of Ralf Kelleners in the Champion-prepared R8. The Dane set a time of 3m32.742s, half a second faster than the Champion car but, according to the Dane, with plenty more to come. "There is a big margin for improvement," said the Dane with a large smile.

Stefan Johansson led the pack after the morning session in the Gulf-liveried Audi R8 but dropped back to sixth overall in the afternoon, despite improving his time to 3m35.124s. The Swede was satisfied with his performance in the 2000-spec R8 that he shared with former BMW driver Jean-Marc Gounon.

Martin Brundle was third fastest in the Bentley, setting a time of 3m34.050s to beat the challenge of Jan Lammers' Dome that was running on Michelin tyres for the first time. The Bentley squad was delighted with its performance with a day of trouble-free running for both EXP Speed 8s. James Weaver missed the session, attending the wedding of co-driver Butch Leitzinger, leaving Perry McCarthy with a last-minute call up to the team.

Lammers was delighted with his achievement. "I was totally surprised," said the Dutchman. "With the amount of work that we needed to do today, I never thought that we would get through it but we did by lunchtime so we could play in the afternoon!"

Chrysler set eighth fastest time of the day with Yannick Dalmas setting a time on soft race tyres and with near-empty tanks, but the test was slightly marred by the performance of the Chrysler LMP of Olivier Beretta and Karl Wendlinger that suffered two engine failures.

Panoz had an awful day, setting 15th and 18th fastest times in the LMP900 class. David Brabham drove over a kerb in the morning and broke a driveshaft that the team repaired, and they changed the exhaust too, but that caught fire in the pits and the car was retired for the afternoon session.

MG had what might be described as a 'character building' day with both cars running into the feared engine difficulties during the course of the two sessions. Ulsterman Kevin McGarrity had a tire go down early on, and the team changed the clutch on his car, shared with Julian Bailey and Mark Blundell too. He took to the track again, eventually, but suffered an engine failure.

The sister car of Anthony Reid, Warren Hughes and Jonny Kane had already blown one engine in the morning, but the team fixed it in time for Hughes to set a time good enough for fifth in class, showing the potential of both car and engine, should they have the opportunity to run properly.

Cadillac was again off the pace, the cars suffering from understeer, but project manager Jeff Kettman was encouraged. "It may not look as though we have done much to the car, but around 90 per cent is new," he said. The lead car finished 15th overall, setting a time of 3m42.252s, set by Emmanuel Collard.

In GTS, first blood went to the Saleen S7R, driven by Oliver Gavin. The Briton set a time of 3m54.344s to head the Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper of Christophe Bouchut, Jean-Philippe Belloc and Juergen von Gartzen by nearly 1.5 seconds. "This is the first time that I have been here, and it is mega!" said the Briton.

The Ray Mallock Ltd Saleen of Johnny Mowlem, Ian McKellar and Bruno Lambert was second fastest, the crew bolting on a soft set of tyres to see if they could match the time set by Gavin late in the day.

The lead Corvette of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Scott Pruett was third fastest with a 3m57.077s lap and, with the Saleen pushing hard, the Corvette team has work to do yet.

Xavier Pompidou and Andrea Garbagnati were fastest in the LM-GT category, driving their Porsche to a time of 4m13.119s, two tenths faster than the Larbre Porsche of Patrice Goueslard, Sebastian Dumez and Jean-Luc Chereau. Fabio Babini crashed his Seikel Porsche late in the day in an altercation with a prototype car. Damage was limited, but the programme was stopped for the day.

Top runners

1. Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello, Audi R8 3m32.742
2. Johnny Herbert/Ralf Kelleners/Didier Theys, Champion Racing, Audi R8, 3m33.205s
3. Martin Brundle/Stephane Ortelli/Guy Smith, Bentley EXP Speed 8, 3m34.050s
4. Jan Lammers/Val Hillebrand/Donny Crevels, Racing for Holland, Dome, 3m34.883s
5. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8, 3m34.915s
6. Stefan Johansson/Jean-Marc Gounon, Johansson Motorsport, Audi R8, 3m35.124
7. Andy Wallace/Guy Smith/Perry McCarthy, Bentley EXP Speed 8, 3m36.329s
8. Yannick Dalmas/Franck Montagny/Norman Simon, Viper Team ORECA, Chrysler LMP, 3m36.988
9. Didier Cottaz/Olivier Grouillard/Emanuel Clerico, Pescarolo Sport, Courage Peugeot, 3m37.542s
10. Werner Lupberger/Ben Collins, Team Ascari, Ascari A410, 3m38.399s

LMP675

1. Didier de Radigues/Eric van de Poele, Dick Barbour Racing, Reynard Judd, 3m44.272s
2. Jordi Gene/Jean-Denis Deletraz/Philippe Favre, ROC Reynard VW, 3m45.444s
3. Jordi Gene/Jean-Denis Deletraz/Philippe Favre, ROC Reynard VW, 3m49.990s

GTS

1. Franz Konrad/Oliver Gavin/Terry Borcheller, Saleen Speedlab, Saleen S7R, 3m54.448
2. Bruno Lambert/Ian Mckellar/Johnny Mowlem, RML, Saleen S7R, 3m54.472
3. Christophe Bouchut/ Jean-Philippe Belloc/Jurgen von Gartzen, Larbre Competition, Chrysler Viper GTS-R, 3m55.230s

LM-GT

1. Andrea Garbagnati/Xavier Pompidou, Freisinger Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3RS, 4m13.119s
2. Patrice Goueslard/Jean-Luc Chereau/Sebastian Dumez, Larbre Competition, Porsche 911 GT3RS, 4m13.313
3. Gabrio Rosa/Fabio Babini, Seikel Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3RS, 4m13.414s