The 45-minute warm up is now completed and, apart from a small ‘off’ at the chequered flag by the No.27 SMP Racing ORECA 03R Nissan, it was trouble free for all.  

Toyota Racing’s No.8 TS040 Hybrid topped the time sheets this morning – although it should be stressed that for all 54 cars in the field warm up is an opportunity to make sure that race engines, gearboxes, brakes and so on are all working well and not the time to set the time sheets alight.  

The Nos.52 and 71 Ferraris from Ram Racing and AF Corse, plus the No.29 Pegasus Racing LMP2 and No.79 Prospeed Porsche, have all been rebuilt or repaired since Thursday's qualifying and took part in the warm up.  

The ELMS teams continued to lead the way in LMP2, Thiriet by TDS Racing being the quickest this morning, with the No.26 G-Drive Racing Morgan Nissan entry in 4th.  In LMGTE Pro, Corvette Racing’s two yellow cars sandwiched the class pole-sitting No.51 AF Corse Ferrari, while in LMGTE Am it was the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage V8 which led the way.    

Some evocative heroes from the past – both men and machines – will be on track at 10h05 as the Group C race takes place (45 minutes in duration), and this is followed by the sights and sounds of new fewer than 62 Porsche Carrera Cup entries.    

The British and French Carrera Cup fields have joined together for this round and the 45-minute race will surely be action-packed.  The pre-race activities begin in earnest at 13h30 with the presentation of the cars and drivers and the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be given at 15h00 by Ferrari F1 star Fernando Alonso.      

Fiona Miller