ALMS, Petit Le Mans - Race Start and Hour 1 11:26
The teams are wished God's Speed and the drivers are instructed to "Start your engines! Petit Le Mans 15 will be the best one yet!" The grid is cleared of all non-essential personal, and there's a low growling from the massed horsepower as 42 engines rumble into life. The cars move off the grid on the first of two laps. 11:30
Neel Jani brings the pole-sitting Rebellion Lola round the final corner and speeds along the main straight to begin the second of the cars' pace laps. They will then prepare for the race-start proper. 11:33
And we're racing! No incidents at all as all 42 cars stream through to begin the 15th Petit le Mans. Everyone very well-behaved as the grid weaves through the first succession of corners. Jani retains the lead, and completes the opening lap with the Muscle Milk HPD, Lucas Luhr tight on his tail. The Viper is already up to third in GT. 11:35
This is fast and furious on what is a relatively short lap. Chris Dyson holds third for the #16 Lola, but has already dropped back from the leading pair. David HH leads P2 for Conquest from Marino Franchitti, who moves through to take the class lead. The #20 Dyson Lola has slowed, Tony Burgess freewheeling into Turn 10. Jody Firth, taking the start for Murphy, is running 8th, and pushing Tom Kimber-Smith in the Greaves Zytek. 11:38
Ryan Lewis heads PC for Dempsey Racing, in the #25, while Scott Sharp has the lead in GT, the #01 ESM Ferrari flying the flag for the pole-setter Guy Cosmo, starting from the back but already up to 31st. Also making up ground is Gunnar Jeanette in the DeltaWing, lying 25th after five laps. 11:40
Neel Jani has eased out a full second over Lucas Luhr for the overall lead, but it's a massive 12 seconds already back to Chris Dyson in third. Marino Franchitti, leading P2 for Level 5, has Dyson in sight, but there's a full four seconds between them. 11:41
Jody Firth's excellent start continues, and the Irish Oreca has moved through to third in class, taking Jacques Nicolet in the #35 Oak as well as Tom Kimber-Smith's Greaves Zytek. Scott Sharp's grasp on the GT lead is looking slightly less secure, as Oliver Gavin has closed to within half a second of the silver Ferrari - the Corvette really looking hungry for the lead. The leaders have just lapped this dicing duo neatly, with nine laps gone. Gunnar Jeanette has now cleared the entire GT pack and is starting to make inroads into the LMPC cars, and is tagged onto the tail of Matt Downs in the #8, which he promptly passes. 11:46
Leh Keen holds the top slot in GTC at the moment, the #22 Alex Job racing Porsche five seconds clear of Henrique Cisneros, who has just moved the #30 NGT Porsche through to second in class ahead of Angel Benitez in the #31. Out at the sharp end, the duel between Jani and Luhr persists undiminished - a mere six-tenths between them on that last lap - their 12th. Whatever ailed Tony Burgess in the #20 appears to have been resolved, and the Dyson Lola is running strongly again, and has recovered a few positions to be lying 6th, just ahead of Firth (#188 Murphy) and Tom Kimber-Smith (#1 Greaves). Marino Franchitti has fallen back on Chris Dyson now, and has just three seconds over David HH in the #37 Conquest Morgan. 11:50
Dirk Mueller is off and into the gravel in the #56 BMW. He claims "no brake pedal". There may have been contact back there with one of the Level 5 HPDs 11:51
Having lost ground to Chris Dyson, that tangle in the traffic allowed Marino Franchitti to close right back down, and then not only does the Scot pass the #16, but so too does David HH in the #37. Dyson is down to fifth. 11:53
Chris Dyson retakes the #37 Conquest Morgan-Nissan to move back into fourth. The battle for the GT lead is even more intense, and Ollie Gavin is all over the tail of the ESM Ferrari. 11:56
The #93 Viper is into the pitlane. The car looks to have been off the track, and the intake mesh is full of grass cuttings. Marc Goossens was running fifth in GT. Thereabouts, Guy Cosmo has moved on through to 7th in class. 11:58
It is getting mighty tight for the lead, with Luhr now tucked into the shadow of Jani's rear wing. Jody Firth has lost a place to Tom Kimber-Smith, with the Greaves Zytek through to third in P2 now, 7th overall. Marino Franchitti has three seconds over Chris Dyson now, and his last lap was a second quicker too. 12:01
Lucas Luhr got held up there through traffic at Turn 5, through the Esses, and that has allowed Jani to ease several seconds clear. 12:02
The #23 Lotus Evora is into the pits and taking on fresh tyres, but there seems to be an issue with the right-rear. Gunnar Jeanette continues his progress through the field, and has now cleared the LMPC leader, Ryan Lewis, to move the black DeltaWing into 13th overall. His next target is Jacques Nicolet - the #35 Oak having slipped to the tail-end of the P2 field. Tony Burgess maintains his recovery in the #20 Dyson, and has moved ahead of David HH to take 5th overall. He's within two seconds now of Chris Dyson in the sister Lola Mazda. 12:06
More traffic issues curtail the leaders, and Lucas Luhr is the beneficiary this time, and has closed right back onto the back of the leading Rebellion. The leading pair lap Tony Burgess for the first time. 12:08
The #55 is into the pits, and so too Tony Burgess in the #20. The BMW is swiftly back out again. It's an untidy stop for Dyson, in contrast, and there was a risk of the car moving off with cables still attached. 12:10
The leading pair pass Chris Dyson, so they've now lapped the entire field. That's just 38 minutes into the race. 12:11
The Dempsey racing P2 Lola is into the pits. Their troubled week continues. The car had been running last in P2 before the stop. Meanwhile, the nose-to-tail battle for the GT lead is unchanged. 12:12
Chris Dyson pits the #16 Lola. This would seem to be early for a scheduled pitstop, but the routine looks normal. He returns to the track, but instantly heads out off-line and doesn't appear to be up to speed. 12:14
The DeltaWing is into the pitlane - fuel only - and is followed seconds later by the two leaders. Now it's a race in the pitlane as well! Rebellion adds fuel only, but it's a quicker visit for Muscle Milk, and Lucas Luhr resumes the track with a generous lead over Jani. 12:16
Both Level 5 cars are into the pits at the same time. Franchitti drops out of third overall as a result, with David HH moving through for Conquest. Elsewhere in P2, Jody Firth is back through to third (or, possibly now second) after a lengthy pitstop for Tom Kimber-Smith drops the Greaves car down to 15th. Jody Firth then pits, and has a lurid moment on his return to the track, but recovers his composure and presses on. Oliver Gavin has taken the GT lead, and was close to Firth when the Murphy exited the pitlane, and there was nearly contact - they may even have touched. Most of the LMP cars have now made their first scheduled pitstops. 12:20
Lucas Luhr now leads the race by nine seconds over Jani. Franchitti has held on to third, but the fuel efficiency of the LMPC cars has allowed Colin Braun to inherit fourth - the #-5 Oreca yet to make its first pitstop. Some of the other LMPC runners are now starting to make those intial pitstops. 12:23
Luhr seems to be making the most of the clear track ahead, and is easing out roughly a second a lap on Jani. After his lengthy pitstop, Chris Dyson has returned to the race in 5th, with seven seconds over the second-placed P2 car, David HH and the Conquest HPD #37. Antonio Garcia steps out of the #3 Corvette and Jan Magnussen climbs into the cockpit. Team-mate Oliver Gavin now has a seven-second lead over Scott Sharp. The #93 Viper is back into the pitlane for yet another visit - more tyres are fitted. 12:26
Gunnar Jeanette has now moved the DeltaWing into the top ten, and is running a stong ninth overall. In GT, Scott Sharp has now got Jorg Bergmeister on his tail in the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche; just three tenths between them. Leh Keen continues to enjoy a relatively untroubled lead in GTC, the best part of 30 seconds ahead of Cisneros in second. The two ELMS GT runners are lying 29th and 30th, with Raymond Narac having a narrow edge over Perazzini for the championship - at the moment. Guy Cosmo pits after a challenging opening stint, working through from the back of the grid to fourth in class, already having set a best lap in the class on his recovery run. 12:30
Oliver Gavin into the pitlane, as we near the end of the first hour here at Road Atlanta. Sharp and Bergmeister join him there, so it's a busy time for GT and all to play for as the crews set to work. Please continue following our live coverage by using the links below. MP | 
