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LMS/ILMC - Silverstone 1000kms - Hour 1 Its bright, but cloudy and - astonishingly we have a crowd of significant proportions! 1000km equals 170 laps of the Arena circuit and we have a light shower is predicted towards the end of the race. Bernhard spins at Becketts, losing grip as he goes over some oil dry (as does the #30 MIK Lola Judd - both rejoin in their allotted grid positions but Becketts on lap one could be interesting! Bernhard has a poor start and Davidson gets the jump on the #8 car, looks to challenge McNish into Copse - No joy there though, the Scot makes it count and the field pours through a cloud of oil dry with no real drama. Rob Bell has had a flier in GT2 - 2.5 seconds ahead of Vilander after lap 1 Fernandez is making his way through the GT2 field - he gains 13 places on lap one. Davidson is pressurising McNish, this pair getting away a little. 12:04 - Melo passes Lieb for third in GT2 - Zacchia leads FLM he'd clear of a three car battle for second. The Pegasus Courage is in trouble - very smokey and looking terminal. It's in the garage. It is a confirmed retirement Jonny Kane is getting away from the pack in LMP2 - 11th overall and 5 seconds clear of Pla in the second placed Quifel ASM GZ - 1:50s for the Strakka HPD against 1:52s for the rest. 12:07 - All four diesels are in the 1:45s, the chasing petrol LMP1s in the 1:47s. Mucke is up to fifth ahead of Belicchi, Fernandez meanwhile is up to 20th place. Davidson is pushing very hard indeed but McNish is having none of it - The 908 gets alongside into the complex but McNish toughs it out and they complete lap 6 in the same close formation. Moreau and Lahaye are making their way into the LMP2 pack from their back of the grid starts. Both are into the top 20 by 12:10. The lead battle meanwhile is a real dogfight - Davidson pushing very, very hard in his quest to find a way by the leader. The race director has his eye on the Peugeot "Car #1 not respecting track limits - Davidson though, does it again as the pair go by the new pits - he jinks to the inside, across the white line and through the dust and finds space where there really was none - Davidson makes it stick and Peugeot lead. The Oreca 908 is up to third as Bernhard hits trouble in traffic and has an off track moment. The KSM Lola has a moment with an FLM car, #39 pits an a wheel is changed but the crew are also checking the rear suspension and the car is into the garage. The suspension is damaged and the car needs a new toe link. Cocker is looking for a way by Belicchi in a developing battle of the Lola's. 12:19 Up front though Davidson is looking to get away - 1:45.117 on lap 11 puts him 1.8 seconds ahead of McNish. The JMW Aston has lost the lead in GT2 but the top three are very close together indeed - Vilander leads Bell and Melo. The #31 RLR MG Lola is in the gravel at The Vale - Barry Gates at the wheel - the car is recovered and pits. Belicchi's left rear legality box is loose - contact from the closely contending Cocker? Jani is closing in on this pair too as they make their way through a huge GT2 gaggle. Zacchia has stretched the lead in FLM to 12 seconds over Hollings by 12:26 12:23 - The lead gap is up to almost 6 seconds with Lapierre closing in now on McNish. But McNish is in trouble - #7 is crawling - "No drive" - The car stops and McNish is out of the race - a real shock, Ralf Juttner believes the issue may be a broken input shaft - either way we're down to a single R15. Cocker is up to 5th ahead of Belicchi. Case has contact with the Larbre Saleen - the Lola man's fault it seems, #30 spins but rejoins. The Beechdean Mansell Ginetta Zytek has had an early stop - a left front puncture. A similar issue puts the Hankook Ferrari into the pits soon afterwards - Farnbacher in for Simonsen and the car rejoins. Bernhard has a very poor lap at around 12:38 - a 1:55 looks like he's had a problem in Sector 2 - He's back up to speed though. Kane is up into 8th overall and in complete control of LMP2 at the moment 50 seconds clear of Pla! Olivier though is pulling away from the pursuing Ebbesvik. Cocker pits for what looks like a routine stoop, Mowlem follows suit soon afterwards, as does the #12 Rebellion Lola. The #45 FLM car looks like a retirement out on track, Nicolas de Crem out of the car. - Not so - the car finally gets to the pit. Contact between the leader and Thomas Erdos through Copse. Ebbesvik, Mucke and Belicchi are the latest routine pit stoppers. Davidson pits - 27 laps in at 12:47 - no tyres and its a 53 second stop. Moreau is up to third in LMP2, albeit helped a little by a couple of pit stopping rivals. Lapierre pits after 28 laps - Sarrazin takes
over. Cocker taps Prost into a spin - #11 continues unscathed. The #78 BMW has made good progress up through the GT2 order up to fifth #007 is in trouble in the pits - the car has failed to fire after its pit stop and is in the garage. It rejoins after around 5 minute's delay. 12:56 Rob Bell is the first of the GT2 front runners to pit after 27 laps - Turner into the car and tyres plus fuel. Positions after 60
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