AUDI STRIKE BACK WITH SILVERSTONE POLE

Audi have struck back as popular Scottish driver Alan McNish takes pole for the Autosport 1000 kms at Silverstone, first round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Both Audi R15+ TDI cars will start into the 1000-kilometre race at Silverstone (Great Britain) from the front row. McNish and his Joest Racing Audi team again showed their tactical superiority over arch rivals Peugeot, timing their run at pole perfectly to take full advantage of the best conditions in Saturday's Qualifying session. “The car had a good balance and the engineers know the track well, except the new part. What can I say? That I am very happy to be on pole!” said McNish. Fellow Audi driver Timo Bernhard will start alongside McNish with the best of the Peugeots, the car of Nicolas Minassian and local hero Anthony Davidson next, over a second of the pole time. "My car was quick through the fast corners, but I lacked a little grip and suffered from understeer through the tighter turns. I span at the start of my first flying lap. My tyres didn't suffer, but then I found myself in traffic. The balance of the car isn't at all bad, though, and I am confident for the race," Minassian said.

PEUGEOT STRIKE BACK AT SILVERSTONE

Audi may have drawn first blood at Silverstone with the fastest time in P1 but at the end of the day it was Peugeot sitting on top of the timing sheets. Nicolas Minassian blasted his Peugeot 908 HDi FAP around the revamped Silverstone circuit to finish Friday's practice more than a second faster than the Oreca team Peugeot in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre. Despite improving on his morning time with a  1:45:78, Alan McNish in the Audi could only manage third place. Dindo Capello in the second of the Audi R15+ cars was next just ahead of the first of the "petrol" fuelled machines the Rebellion Racing Lola of Belicchi/Boullion edging out the Aston Martin of Barazi/Hancock/Mucke in the fight for the unofficial non-diesel class.

SEE & HEAR (or not as the case may be) THE CITROEN SURVOLT

LE MANS CLASSIC LOOKS TO THE ELECTRIC FUTURE

The Le Mans classic is a bi-annual event featuring a stunning collection of classic sportscars from Le Mans legendary past. But this year, the classic will see the on-track debut of what many believe will be the racecar of tomorrow. French manufacturer Citroen will debut the "racing" version of it's Citroen's all-electric concept car, The Survolt. Appropriately the car will be driven by one of the most famous surnames in all Le Mans history.  Vanina Ickx, daughter of multiple Le Mans winner (and one time Bathurst winner) Jacky Ickx will be behind the wheel of the new car when it makes it's international on-track debut.

AUDI DOMINATE NURBURGRING 24 QUALIFYING

The Audi R8 LMS looks to be the car to beat in the 38th running of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with the first four grid positions filled by the German Sports Car. The two Audi customer teams ABT Sportsline and Phoenix Racing had the correct strategy in qualifying: After it had rained during first qualifying on Thursday and the Nordschleife was still very dirty and slippery at the start of Friday’s second qualifying session, the two teams only went gunning for lap times shortly before the end of the final two-hour qualifying session. Lucas Luhr (ABT Sportsline/8m 27.967s) and Mike Rockenfeller (Phoenix Racing/8m 25.782s) initially used the now considerably superior conditions to set new fastest laps before they were beaten by Marco Werner (ABT Sportsline) with 8m 24.753s. Rockenfeller was still able to improve to 8m 25.568s on his last lap, but remained in second position. Pierre Kaffer (Phoenix Racing) completed the Audi quartet at the head of the field after posting a 8m 29.250s lap. As a result, an Audi starts from pole position for the first time in the history of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. "That four of our customer cars occupy the first four grid positions underlines the qualities of the Audi R8 LMS on the world’s longest and most demanding race track and is fantastic advertising for our new customer car, which we have developed over the last two-and-a-half years," explained Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who follows the Audi customer teams’ preparations himself on location, and in doing so demonstrates how important the new customer sport programmed with the Audi R8 LMS is for Audi Sport.

SARRAZIN JOINS ORECA-MATMUT FOR PAUL RICARD

Experienced works Peugeot driver Stephane Sarrazin will join Team ORECA-Matmut for the 8 hour race at Le Castellet next weekend. Sarrazin brings plenty of experience to the team having driven the 908 HDI FAP since 2007. Sarrazin joins Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre on the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit while Loïc Duval, the third driver in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, will take part in private testing. Duval will also contest the Spa-Francorchamps 1000kms in May. Sarrazin  has scored three consecutive pole positions in the Le Mans 24 Hours at the wheel of the Peugeot, and has finished second on two occasions at Le Sarthe. “This decision was taken after a discussion with Olivier Quesnel,” explains Hugues de Chaunac of Team ORECA-Matmut.

LE MANS: THE GREATEST RACE

It's all happening, the countdown has begun for the greatest spectacle in International motorsport, forget F1, ignore the Indy 500, don't even consider the Bathurst 1000, the greatest race in all motorsport is without a shadow of a doubt Le Mans. For the first time since 1984 Australian television audiences will have the chance to see the race live, well some of it anyway. TEN's new ONE HD sports channel will bring Aussie viewers the race live from 10.30 p.m. Saturday night with live coverage going through until 2.00AM when the network crosses to NASCAR Qualifying. The coverage continues from 6.30AM till 10.00AM with the final few hours also covered live from 8.30PM till 11.10PM when coverage of the MotoGP begins. For most Australians Le Mans is an abstract concept, not since the early eighties has there been any real mainstream media coverage of the greatest race. Even that proud purveyor of obscure sports everywhere cable TV confined their coverage to a scant hour of highlights often weeks after the race. Of course we on In Pit Lane tried our best to keep the spirit of Le Mans alive. In 2004 I attended my first Le Mans, it was everything I had expected and way, way more. The efficiency and friendliness of the ACO officials is a long way from the indifference and arrogance of the average Aussie racetrack. As I've said on the show before, it was easier to get into Le Mans and do our job than it is to get through the tunnel at Phillip Island for a round of the Victorian State Series. The media centre is remarkable, every table with its own monitor, a lockable cage for your laptop and a steady stream of information all delivered with a smile from a crew who are not only professional but knowledgeable and quite rightly proud of their event. It makes a big difference from some media centres at a typical V8 Supercar event when any request for information on a support event is met with a mixture of confusion and utter contempt. The track itself is suburb, sadly not all of it is accessible to the average spectator but there's plenty of good places to view from. The esses down from the famous Dunlop bridge is a favourite, especially on Saturday night when you can stand on the hill and watch the cars on one side and them flip around to the bands at the annual rock concert. Of course any trip to France must include food and wine and Le Mans is no disappointment there either.