Hot, hot, hot . . .

Not a cloud in the sky, and the sun blazing down on an arid landscape of mottled hills, scrub and bare stone.It is baking hot in the Algarve. More on that anon, but now, straight into the day's first LMS track action, and the first session of Free Practice:

Session 1

The first session got under way under the fiery midday sun of a typical summer's day in the Algarve. Very high track temperatures, and getting hotter as the day progressed. Some of those in enclosed cars had already been commenting on the hothouse effect. The closed-cockpit cars are required by the regulations to have air conditioning fitted, and the ambient and cockpit temperatures are remotely monitored. The one downside to this system is that the aircon saps power from the engine.

Tommy was first out in the RML Lola HPD, and completed a series of exploratory laps. His first impressions of the car, following the shakedown at MIRA last week, were very positive. The car is also testing a new AD technology rear-view camera installation this weekend, and that instantly got the Brazilian's thumbs-up. What didn't was the famous Autodromo bumps, the two worst being at either end of the main straight, where the tunnels pass underneath the track. The second, by the start-finish gantry, is reputedly even worse now than it was in 2009 . . . and that was something of a jaw-breaker even then.

With only four LMP1 cars attending this weekend, the chances for an overall podium amongst the top LMP2 runners is a tantalising target. Within the first twenty minutes the validity of this prospect was reinforced when Danny Watts went fastest overall in the #42 Strakka Racing HPD, setting 1:36.269. One of the P1 cars was already hors de combat, with the 008 Signature Plus Aston Martin Lola stopped trackside, and the #12 Rebellion late joining.

Having completed a handful of laps Tommy returned to the garage for a few suspension tweaks. Coping with those bumps was going to be a challenge!

Danny Watts' time was soon bettered by Sarrazin in the Oreca Peugeot, and then also by Bellichi in the #13 rebellion Lola. The bigger surprise was to see Moreau in the #35 Oak Racing LMP2 Pescarolo moving third, posting 1:36.132 to pip Danny by a tenth. With Tommy still in the garage the #25 RML Lola remained sixth overall, third in P2, on 1:37.262. he returned to the track with 25 minutes remaining.

He posted an improved time of 1:37.006 in his single flying lap before returning to the pitlane, satisfied that the changes to the suspension had done the trick, and the Lola HPD was ready for Mike to spend some time in the cockpit. Ben will get his first taste of the "Algarve Rollercoaster" in the day's second session.

Mike had time enough for five timed laps, and was soon lapping in the 1:42 bracket. He completed his scheduled laps before the chequered flag, and seemed happy with his progress. One team not so happy was Quifel ASM, with a gear actuator problem preventing them doing more than one lap. The car is also fitted with a new development of the Zytek engine this weekend, which is understood to be an evolution of the unit that's destined for LMP1 next season.

First Session - LMP2 Times

Between session was our first chance to catch up with the new face in the RML garage; Ben Collins. Although he missed out on any tracktime during the day's opening session, he was expecting to be given his first experience of the Algarve circuit during the late-afternoon period. He has however spent about an hour and a half in the Lola cockpit, having undertaken the team's pre-race shakedown at the MIRA test track last week.

"It was a useful introduction," he admitted, "but we weren't running flat-out for the shakedown, so it was only a taster. I'm really looking forward to getting out there and having a real go." The agreement to join RML came too late for Ben to be able to have his new regulation race helmet painted in his characteristic blue and yellow scheme, so he'll be wearing a plain one this weekend, in all-black carbon. (All Le Mans Series drivers must have the latest carbon-fibre construction helmets this year under revised ACO regulations.)

The support programme hasn't yet set the world alight, with only eight of the anticipated 14 Ford vans appearing on track ahead of the first Transit Trophy race this evening. During their qualifying session, between four and four forty-five, the pole time was just a gnat's whisker under two and a half minutes. One can only hope that the race itself is more exciting.

Session 2

Five o'clock in the afternoon, and after a day of incessant sunshine only the light breeze gusting down from the surrounding hills brought any respite from the relentless heat. Cue vision of Omar Sharif riding a camel, except this is the Algarve, not Algeria, and we're looking for horsepower - about 500 would do.

Tommy was among the leading group as all 32 cars took to the track - including the Hankook GT2 ferrari, which missed the first period with clutch problems. A short sequence of out and in-laps, and few chances for a flyer, prevented the Brazilian setting an early time. Jonny Kane in the Strakka HPD was also working on set-up issues, and these respective shortcomings gave the #24 Oak Pescarolo a quarter-hour moment of glory, as it topped the class times, and even got the better of the #35 sister car. It wasn't to last, and the puce and grey car ended the session on the back of a flatbed, but it did confirm once again that the latest Pescarolo chassis is a package to be reckoned with this season.

As the period neared the half hour, Tommy was given free rein to have a go,and fitted with a decent set of fresh rubber - the first new tyres on the car all day - he set a best of 1:36.253. It was his last lap of the day, and with his set-up tasks completed, he returned to the pitlane, fastest in LMP2.

Next out in the #25 RML HPD was CEO of AD Group, Mike Newton, no doubt proud of the single light glowing on the sidepod of the Lola. No reflection on him, but Mike would enjoy the privilege for just a single lap, and Jonny kane completed his stint in the Strakka HPD by replicating Tommy's last-lap flyer, but managing to clip a few hundredths off the Brazilian's best. Kane. crossed the line with a time of 1:36.216, just 37/100ths quicker. It would also be enough to secure fourth quickest overall.

Mike had almost fifteen minutes in the cockpit before being called in to hand over to Ben Collins. That left Ben with about six minutes of tracktime remaining, and enough for three laps before the chequered flag brought the session to a close.

"That was awesome!" he grinned. "The car's simply electric. It's very, very lively, especially though the tight stuff. The kinks are acutely sensitive, and this is just so different from the Aston martin I tested here last year. It really feels alive, and it's great fun. It's so good to be back in a car that's really moving," he said. "It was a brief stint, but enough to get a feel for the car, and it did feel really good."

Second Session - LMP2 Times

"The track was much slower this afternoon," suggested Mike, who nevertheless had been well satisfied with his own pace, sensing that any advances made under those conditions were more significant. For Tommy to find seven tenths was also a comforting boost for the three RML drivers. With the session over, Ben had a couple of hours to go through the on-board video recordings and assess where he could improve his understanding of the Algarve track. "Of all the places to come for your first experience of the Lola, here is probably the most challenging," said Mike. Ben will start the final session, and have half an hour to get into his stride.

Session 3

Darkness comes quickly in the Algarve. The fading light of nine-fifteen was pitch dark by nine-thirty, and this was when the cars took to the circuit for the final session of Free Practice. Our coverage here was uploaded "live" - so apologies for any irregularities in tense which may arise.

Evidently, the cooler air and descending darkness suited Jonny Kane in the Strakka HPD, whose first flyer was a 1:35.505, and comfortably quickest overall. It would later be eclipsed by the faster LMP1 runners, but it set a benchmark for the rest of the P2 runners to aspire to.

It would take Ben Collins several laps to get up to speed. He found himself without power steering on his out-lap, but it was a quick and easy re-set in the garage that had him back out again. By then the tyres had cooled significantly, and with that, pressures had dropped too, but as he fought to learn his way round the idiosyncrasies of a Lola prototype around the twists and turns of the Algarve, he soon had the temperatures rising, and with that, the pressures restored.

Each lap revealed his increasing pace. From early one forty-fives and sixes, he was soon getting quicker with each successive lap. Team Manager Phil Barker had offered Ben the opportunity for a full half-hour non-stop, to acclimatise to his new environment, and with twenty minutes gone, he'd achieved a best of 1:41,.278. That was good enough for fifth-quickest in LMP2.

The gap between the quickest - Jonny Kane - and second-quickest, Guillaume Moreau ion the #35, was over two seconds at this stage, but from there on, things were looking much tighter. Some of that was thanks to Ben, who posted an improvement on the half-hour with a new best of 1:39.829, followed shortly afterwards by another shaving, reaching 1:39.510.

Fastest overall with 30 minutes gone was the 008 Signature Plus Aston Martin Lola, but that changed as we entered the final hour when the #12 Rebellion Lola (Neel Jani at the wheel) clocked 1:33.909,with the #4 Oreca Peugeot third, a mere second clear of Strakka's HPD.

With 53 minutes of the session remaining, Ben brought the #25 Lola HPD burbling back down the pitlane. With all three drivers needing to complete at least three laps in the dark, Mike and Tommy would need to spend time in the car, although the plan was to let Ben complete the session. Mike was next into the cockpit, and his three-lap stint requirement began at 10:18.

Meanwhile, Stephane Sarrazin placed the #4 Peugeot where everyone expected it to be, on top of the pile, with a 1:33.469. That done, he then set several new fastest sectors, on different laps, that would (if combined) have found another second, but he couldn't, or wouldn't, string them together neatly.

In LMP2, matters had settled down for a while, but then Danny Watts took over in the #42 from Jonny Kane. His first flyer was half a second off Jonny Kane's quickest, but he then pitted before he could make any further impression. Not so in the #40 Quifel ASM Ginetta Zytek, with Olivier Pla in the cockpit. Having struggled for most of the day, with technical issues, the car was now flying, and a new best of 1:36.633 took the Portuguese car to second in class, fifth overall.

Almost exactly an hour gone and the session was red flagged. Mike returned the RML Lola to the pitlane, to hand on to Tommy, but what car was missing? Nicholas Lapierre in the #4 Peugeot had just set a new fastest first sector for the Oreca car . . . but he never emerged again from the darkness. Well, not immediately, anyway, but a few minutes later the multi-coloured car came trundling quietly down the pitlane and the session resumed.

Interestingly, the gap between the potential pole-setting Peugeot and the first of the petrol-powered cars has appeared to be much closer this weekend, with less than a second separating the two. This is probably thanks to a revised restrict or size, issued to the petrol-engined LMP1 cars earlier today. Having previously tried to slow the Peugeots, the ACO has now elected to attempt to speed up the second-string prototypes instead, and the gap is noticeably narrower.

Eighteen minutes remaining, and following several minutes of relative inactivity (on the timing screens anyway!) came a change in LMP2. Olivier Pla made another improvement for the #40, and setting a 1:36.151 brought the Ginetta-Zytek to within a second of the Strakka HPD, where Nick Leventis was then in charge. A next-lap 1:35.993 made that gap just half a second. However, Strakka was calling it a day, and with their three drivers "qualified" for night driving, they packed up early and went for an early night - well,earlier than everyone else, at least.

Lapierre was also making strides, finding yet more pace from the Peugeot as he posted a 1:32.724, to put the lie to our earlier comments about the differentials. Maybe the LMP1 restrictors need further thought.

Just eleven minutes remained as Tommy Erdos headed back out onto the track. His first appearance had been cut short by a tyre pressure issue, but with that corrected, his first flyer was a 1:39.836. His next, which included a new fastest first sector, was a 1:37.597, so just a tad quicker than Ben's earlier best, but no positional improvement. Simultaneously, Olivier Pla found the ultimate pace he'd been seeking, and pipped Strakka for the top slot with a 1:35.227, shaving a tenth or more off Jonny Kane's first stint flyer.

Tommy's next also made a difference,with a 1:37.438 to move into a class fourth, and less than a tenth shy of the third-fastest Oak racing Pescarolo, #35. Things are much closer in LMP2 than anyone expected.

Not so in LMP1. In the dying moments, Lapierre chucked down two more very quick laps for the Oreca Peugeot, and posted 1:32.235 to enjoy an advantage of 1.7 seconds over the #12 Rebellion Lola, and the 008 third..

Third Session - LMP2 Times

The #24 Oak Racing Pescarolo did not take part in that final session due to an engine change.

"That was great fun," said Ben Collins after his lengthiest stint in the Lola. "I'm just getting into my stride, but the car is great. It's very responsive, with lots of feel, and very forgiving. Learning the circuit at night is not the easiest,when you can't see through the corner, and you're accelerating into oblivion!" he said. Thankfully, I've had tremendous help from everyone in the team. Mike is an absolute guru with the technology, and has been giving me so much valuable data to work with, and Tommy is just such a top driver. It is good to be back in this style of racing."

"I'm very happy with what we've achieved today," said Phil Barker, team manager at RML. "Ben has had a good run and he's eased his way into the car very well. It's difficult to come to terms with a track like this at the best of times, so to do as well as he has in the dark is an excellent achievement." Ben's best lap was a thirty-nine five.

Tommy will drive in qualifying tomorrow morning, and all three will complete a single flying lap in warm up, which will take place early in the afternoon.

Radio & On-line: Despite recovering from a stomach bug, picked up whilst covering the Le mans Classic last weekend, the team from Radio Le Mans is offering live coverage of the practice sessions in the Algarve. Click the button below for access.