European Le Mans Series, Donington 6 Hours - Race - Start and First Hour

All thirteen cars successfully taken up their positions on the grid, with Matthieu Lehaye taking up his place on pole for Oak, with Pierre Thiriet electing to take first stint in the #46 Thiriet by TDS Oreca. The second Oak Morgan, the #35, lines up behind Thiriet, and Sam Hancock will start directly behind the pole-setter. 

The grid may look small, somewhat dwarfed by the empty spaces stretching off into the distance behind the JMW Motorsport Ferrari, which will start from the back of the grid following the change of designated driver, but the quality is excellent.

11:51.04
The Nissan pace car pulls away at the head of the grid, Lahaye leading the racecars in pursuit. The sun is shining, the track is dry, and the conditions are perfect for a great race.

11:52.30
The train of cars undulates snakelike along the back straight, and then heads down towards the Melbourne Loop.

11:53.10
The pace car lights are off. The leaders round the final bend. The lights are off, and we're racing.

11:53
Great start, no issues, but a spin at Old Hall, Greaves and Pecom both off, after Alex Brundle went a little wide. Lahaye is left isolated in the lead. It would appear that a move by Alex Sims in the Status GP Lola may have tagged Alex into the spin.

Both cars have got going again.

11:55
Matthieu Lahaye is enjoying the benefits of the incident that unfolded behind him, and has a lead of over a second. The Pecom Racing Oreca (Ayari inn the cockpit) has returned to the garage, and is hauled back into the garage.

So,with two laps now completed, Lahaye leads by 1.3 seconds from Sam Hancock, through to second after Brundle's drop to 7th. Baguette also making a strong start, and running third for Oak.

Having been the instrument in that first lap incident, Sims has not lessened his charge, and is now tight onto the rear of Pierre Thiriet, moves through to fourth along the back straight. Moment later, Brundle takes Firth for 6th as the two brake for the Melbourne Hairpin. The Pecom Oreca is back out, but not moving very fast after losing three laps.

12:00
Lahaye continues to extend his lead, and now enjoys a margin of 2 seconds over Hancock, but the Jota driver is under increasing pressure from Bertrand Baguette in the second Oak. Alex Sims is seven seconds further back down the track and having eased out three seconds over Thiriet in a single lap.

12:02
One of the tightest battles is now between Thiriet, Brundle and Firth for fifth. Thiriet has held up Brundle enough to allow Firth to close down on the Greaves Zytek, and the trio are nose-to-tail through the chicane.

12:04
having settled into a rhythm, Hancock is now the one setting the purple sectors, and closing on Lahaye, narrowing the gap to under two seconds for the first time in three laps. Brundle get through ahead of Pierre Thiriet to take 5th, and Jody Firth also looks for an opening - not this time though.

12:06
Soheil Ayari is now back up to pace in the recovering Pecom Oreca. Alex Sims is hoping to lap the #10, but now that he's got some heat into his fresher tyres, Ayari really isn't that much slower - if at all.

After his start from the back of the grid, Jonny Cocker has had a good opening ten minutes. He was through to leading GT within the opening lap, taking advantage of the melee that was the rolling start, but his advantage over Nicolas Armindo is less than a second.

12:08
The leader is now coming through to lap the "tail enders" for the second time, and this has allowed Lahaye to increase his lead, albeit probably only for a while. Baguette however has closed onto Hancock's Zytek and there's a tight duel for second.

12:11
Armindo passes Cocker for 9th position, with the Porsche taking the wider line into Goddards, and then cutting to the inside at the exit, and out-dragging the Ferrari along the pit straight. Marroc pits the #19 Sébastien Loeb Oreca, but stays in the cockpit.  

12:14
After a few minutes of fairly hectic activity, and changing places, the race has finally settled down, just a little. Lahaye leads by 2.3 seconds over Hancock, who has another second over Baguette. Sims is fourth, but a generous 14 seconds in arrears. Alex Brundle is running fifth, roughly seven seconds to the good of Pierre Thiriet, while Jody Firth appears to be struggling to get by the eponymous #46 Oreca - a mere eight-tenths between them.

Armindo, meanwhile, has managed to squeeze Thomas Dagoneau in the #40 Boutsen LMPC between himself and Jonny Cocker.

12:18
Once again, it's Sam Hancock who sets the pace in the first sector, the Jota Zytek clearly well-suited to the sweeping lines of Redgate, Hollywood and the Craner Curves. Lahaye, however, appears to have the advantage through the final sector, along the back straight, through Fogarty's, and down towards the Melbourne hairpin. Over the course of the lap, they're evenly matched, and the gap remains at 2 seconds.

12:23
I may have written too soon, as Hancock has made the most of negotiating through traffic to close down that gap to just eight-tenths, and Lahaye is now flashing his headlights frantically in the hope of clearing a route through ahead of him.

Both Jody Firth and Pierre Thiriet have each set new fastest laps for their respective cars - Thiriet's better pace allowing Firth to match it. It must be becoming increasingly frustrating for Firth, knowing he's quicker, but not finding the opening he needs to slip by.

12:27
The leader is being warned for not observing the limits of the circuit, and repeating this indiscretion could lead to a penalty. Sam Hancock has now closed in again, and the pressure on Lahaye must be intense.

12:29
Thomas Dagoneau continues to improve in the #40, and has now moved on to 9th overall, establishing a fair advantage over all three GT cars. Armindo is five seconds clear of Cocker, and there's another seven seconds back to Marco Cioci, first-stinging in the #60 AF Corse Ferrari. Bringing up the rear is still the #10 Pecom Racing Oreca, recovering from the first-lap brush with the barriers.

12:32
A new fastest lap (1:22.311) from Sam Hancock is followed immediately by yet another fastest first sector for the Jota driver, and the #38 is now a mere half-second behind the leader. They're tightly together through the Loop, and start lap 30 just 0.6 seconds apart.

Alex Brundle's pace has also continued to be consistent and quick, and having got ahead of Thiriet long ago, has been steadily eating into the advantage that Alex Sims once enjoyed, and six seconds now separates them.

The first of the scheduled pitstops begin, with Bertrand Baguette and Alex Sims both pitting, thirty laps in and forty minutes gone.

There is increasing interest in the lines being "taken" by a number of drivers. Having seen the leader issued with an on-screen warning, others are now being observed also crossing lines and colours that should be beyond acceptable limits.

12:38
The leaders pass Jonny Cocker, and Sam Hancock (Jota) is now able to weave from side to side and visibly threaten Lahaye.

Brundle pits the #1 Greaves Zytek, and Jody Firth follows him down the pitlane. These are all scheduled pitstops for fuel, and some, it seems, for tyres.

12:39
Sam Hancock pits the Zytek from second. Bertrand Baguette, fresh out in the #35 with tyres and fuel, posts a new fastest lap of the race; 1:22.158. He rejoined in 7th, but as others pit, he'll move back up the order. Baguette, so far, has been the only car to take on new tyres.

12:40
The leader pits. No tyres and no driver change. Jody Firth is the second driver to be given a written warning for not observing track limits, and is cited for crossing the line through Old Hall.

12:42
Soheil Ayari pits in the #10 Oreca, several laps behind the schedule thanks to that additional first-lap pitstop for repairs. Bertrand Baguette may have been the only one to take on fresh tyres, and lose a position to Alex Sims as a result, but is now by far the quickest car on track, by three or four seconds each lap.

12:44
All the P2 cars have pitted, but Dagoneau and the three GT cars are still running on their first tankfuls of fuel.

12:47
Lahaye and Hancock are back together again, their duel resumed after the pitstop, suggesting very similar pitstop abilities from each team, and that sub-second gap remains unchanged.

Bertrand Baguette (#35 Oak) takes Alex Sims (#17 Status GP) for third place. Baguette then sets another fastest first sector - those fresh tyres really paying dividends now.

The battle for honours in GT has tightened up - none of the three having yet pitted - and Armindo heads Cocker by 6 seconds, and Cioci only four seconds behind in the #60 Ferrari.

Another fastest lap from Baguette. he is now just 18 seconds shy of the leader.

Soheil Ayari has had another excursion, skipping across the gravel, but safely regains the track after Mcleans.

12:53 First Hour Completed

Please move to our next page for coverage of Hours 2 and 3.