ELMS, 6 Hours of Le Castellet - Race Start and First Hour

It’s a perfect day in the south of France, and a modest crowd has gathered in the equally modest grandstands here at the Paul Ricard circuit to witness the opening round of the 2012 European Le Mans Series. The track temperature is hovering round the 21 degree mark, and rising, with air temp on 15. There’s no wind to speak of, and after an hour and a half of Speed Series racing, the conditions here should be good enough to suggest that race pace may see quite a few cars here bettering their qualifying times.

No issues that we’re aware of ahead of the start, with ten minutes to go before the cars move off for the parade lap. All 21 cars are out of the pitlane and have taken up their positions on the grid, with the Boutsen Oreca #45 and the Extreme Limite Norma #44 at the back of the grid.

Text here was added “live” throughout the race, so please take this into account if you're reviewing thr race.

11:55
The track is cleared and the one-minute board is displayed. The cars move off the grid for the formation lap for the start of the European sportscar season. The Boutsen car does not move off cleanly. The rest have disappeared off through Turn 1. Mathias Beche leads the cars round the track, with Tom Kimber-Smith behind him, and Buurman alongside in the smartly liveried Status GP Lola coupé.

11:59
The train sweeps round through Signes behind the Audi pace car, bunching up tightly.

12:00
The cars cross the line in a crescendo of noise - surprisingly loud for such a relatively small grid. A great start from Buurman as he leads through the complex for the first time. Beche had his mirrors full of Kimber-Smith, and must have lost sight of the Lola. No evident problems for anyone at this stage, except the Boutsen car, which is back into the pits.

It's very tight in the top ten, and getting physical at times, as the cars come through to complete the opening lap. Burrman leads from Beche, with Kimber-Smith third from Kraihamer in the Oak Morgan. Phil Keen in the #42 LMPC within the top ten after a strong start from man in the Curtis car.

12:03
Onto lap three, and it's still tightly bunched, particularly within the top half-dozen. Melo leads the GT pack in just ahead of the Prospeed Porsche with Marc Goossens in the cockpit.

The Boutsen Oreca rejoins the race, just as the leaders come through to start their fourth lap. Jack Clarke has done a driver change in the #45 already, according to the timing screens at least. (Later confirmed not Clarke but Brière).

12:07
Four laps completed and the gap between the first two and the rest is already five seconds. Tom Kimber-Smith has dropped back and is losing 1.5 seconds a lap on the leading pair. Beche seems to have regained his composure now and is harrying Buurman for the lead.

Sam Hancock and Warren Hughes are having a fair old duel for sixth. Warren has just set a particularly fast sector, and is evidently looking for a way round the Jota Zytek.

12:11
Lap six completed. Jaime Melo has started to ease out a significant margin at the head of the GT pack. The two 'Am' Porsches are second and third behind the JMB Ferrari, with James Walker fourth (second in 'Pro') and 16th overall. Stuart Hall, taking first stint in the #69 Vantage, has moved through to 17th.

12:15
Beche continues to press Buurman hard for the lead, but the margin to TK-S has stabilised around the six-second mark. There's another five seconds back from there to Kraihamer, fourth, and a growing space between the pink and black Oak to Sam Hancock. The leader's battle aside, the closest racing is between Hancock and Warren Hughes, the Murphy Prototype Oreca clearly having the extra turn of speed here, but Warren can't find the gap he needs.

The leaders lap the tail-end for the first time.

12:18
There's barely a sheet of paper between the leaders as they negotiate the complex, and the traffic. This could make things more interesting. Headlights flashing, Buurman sweeps through Signes, trying to warn the GT cars ahead that he's coming through. Beche is just moments behind.

The Lola seems to have the legs as they go along the Mistral, but Beche is then able to close the gap as they regain the twisty sections.

12:21
Threading by Stuart Hall in the Aston, Buurman loses his edge, and as they come onto the back straight, Beche moves alongside, but those Lola legs give Buurman the advantage he needs to hold the line into Signes, and the Status GP car retains the lead for another lap, but is it a matter of time?

12:23
We're told that the fastest P2 on the track at the moment is Jack Clarke in the #45 Boutsen Oreca, just as there's a warning on the screen to Buurman for "unsporting behaviour", but no clear indication yet what that might have been. It's all looked remarkably clean and tidy so far.

Warren Hughes has made good his promise and is through to sixth, passing Sam Hancock.

No significant change in GT

12:26
Yellow flags at Turns 4 and 5, but no clarification yet as to who's involved.

Warren Hughes, like a cork out of the bottle, is now romping up the track, leaving Hancock trailing in his wake. The margin has already extended to over 5 seconds.

As the leaders negotiate the traffic, Tom Kimber-Smith seems to be regaining ground, and the gap is, if anything, narrowing again.

12:30
Half an hour gone, and we've had a thrilling spectacle from the two leaders. It's been nose-to-tail all the way, with Beche weaving and bobbing, looking for an opening, and Buurman defending cleanly, before finding some space through traffic and easing away again.

We've had a minor incident between the #10 Pecom Racing Oreca and Jaime Melo,with contact, and what looked like some minor damage to the Oreca, as Kaffer pushed for a gap that really wasn't there.

Phil Keen has eased out a comfortable lead in LMPC, and heads Vignali by a full 45 seconds.

12:35
Having got through ahead of the Jota Zytek, Warren Hughes has found a great burst of speed, and is now closing down on Kaffer for fifth. It's less than three seconds now.

The other Brit on the Move is Tom Kimber-Smith. After what looked like a hesitant first half hour, TK-S has upped his pace significantly. the car is clearly coming back to him, and what once stood as a six second gap has narrowed to little more than two.

Minassian has taken Frey for 8th place.

12:40
Warren Hughes takes Kaffer for firth place.

Having watched Buurman and Beche tussling for the lead, it makes a change to realise that this is now a threesome, with Tom Kimber-Smith now tightening his line onto the back of the TDS Racing Oreca.

12:43
Pierre Kaffer is the first to pit, in the Pecom Racing Oreca.

12:46
With Tom Kimber-Smith right on the tailpipes of Beche's Oreca, the two leaders head for the pitlane, allowing the Greaves Zytek through into the lead. It's a long stop for the Status Lola, as the crew cannot remove the rear tyres. They swap them over, drop the car, and the #17 coupé returns to the race, but they've lost a lot of ground.

12:48
Tom Kimber-Smith pits from the lead, and the Greaves crew fit new rubber. With Beche not taking on tyres for his stop, the TDS Racing Oreca must have gained plenty of time during that round of pitstops.

12:49
Warren Hughes takes the lead for Murphy Prototypes, the Irish Oreca seeming to have the fuel economy to got several laps further than the rest - or is that Warren's experienced right foot.

12:50
Hughes pits from the lead. It's a straightforward stop at first, but the engine won't re-fire, and Warren, much to his evident frustration, is wheeled backwards into the garage. Moments later the car is back out again, and Warren's on his way. Not a great moment for Murphy.

That series of pitstops has spoiled the entertainment, somewhat, as the gap now is 24 seconds between Beche, now comfortably leading, and Kraihamer in the second-placed Oak Racing Morgan, #24.

Air temperature has risen with the sun, and it's decidedly warm out there.

12:55
Buurman, having regained the track in seventh, is up to sixth now, passing Minassian along the Mistral.

12:58
The Boutsen Racing Oreca is reported as "slow". yellow flags at Turn 7, and "car stopped".

Positions At End of First Hour (PDF)

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