Spa First Hour
May 8th, 2011

At 2.05, the cars were sent on their way – well most of them anyway. The gearbox work hadn’t quite finished, so MIK were forced to start from the pit lane. The organisers presented them with a one lap penalty.
Drama straight away, as McNish spins his Audi, while Olivier Pla had taken the ASM Zytek up to 3rd place behind the other two Audis. After a few laps of glory, the diesels started coming through. I’m not sure if this broke Olivier’s rhythm, but he was also passed by a few petrol cars. Before you know it, he’s back in 9th place.
Tom Kimber Smith got up to 3rd in class, in amongst all the Oreca Nissans and Kane in the HPD. However, Greaves were first to pit, only after about 10 laps. A bit of fuel and new tyres, and he’s on his way again. He’s soon in the swing again, lapping faster than everyone else. After the first pit stops, he takes the lead in class. This could work in their favour, depending on when the last pit stops take place. Karim takes over, at Greaves’ second stop.
The fight up front is amazing, with the Audis and Peugeots battling each other, as well as the backmarkers. I think it’s on Eurosport – if you get a chance to watch some of this on TV, it’s pretty exciting.
Sorry to see our old friend, Johnny Mowlem, having to retire his Lotus already. Talking of old friends – the Jota crew are chuffed to have changed their Aston Martin engine in 10 hours. Apparently they normally take about 12 hours. A prototype can take about 2 hours.

Hope it reads ok….I’m not getting a chance to Czech my writing.

More soon.