09.06.2004 First blood went to the Americans as the titanic Ferrari versus Chevrolet battle resumed again with both determined to claim GTS honours: first qualifying report from Le Mans

The first practice sessions for the Le Mans 24 Hour race, which starts on Saturday afternoon, kicked off earlier in hot and dry conditions.

By the end of a long evening's running, which extended into the darkness, finishing at midnight, first blood in the looming Ferrari versus Chevrolet battle for GTS honours had gone to Ollie Gavin's Corvette.

Last year, the small privately funded Prodrive built and run Ferrari 550 Maranellos, saw off the mighty factory Chevrolet Corvette's which came to Le Mans seeking a hat-trick of GTS titles. The Ferrari didn't miss a beat as it dominated for 24 hours, stealing Chevrolet's thunder as the US giant celebrated its 50th anniversary.

This weekend Prodrive, and Care Racing Developments who financed the ambitious project, will be looking to defend their crown, while for the Corvette team, who have worked heavily over winter to prepare for the French classic, it is a pure grudge match

The preliminary tests back in April saw the Corvettes emerge on top, and during the first sessions today it was business as usual, as Ollie Gavin, Jan Magnussen and Olivier Beretta in the no64 Corvette C5-R were never headed, posting an unbeaten fastest lap of 3:52.158.

Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis in the second of the yellow cars, backed them up with a best time of 3:54.612, while just two seconds adrift came the first of the Prodrive Ferraris, with the Czech driver grabbing the fastest lap in 3:56.293, at a time when the track was almost completely dark.

A Care/Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello being run by seasoned French GT outfit Larbre Competitione was next up, half a second adrift, while the Colin McRae-led car posted a 3:58.493 to round out the 550 runners.

Dutchman Mike Hezemans set a 4:00.714 in the first Ferrari 575 GTC to claim sixth in GTS, and fend off the second Barron Connor Racing entry driven by team owner John Bosch, former F1 and Indycar star Danny Sullivan, and reigning FIA GT Champion, Thoms Biagi.

But was the contest over before it started? “Well, I don’t know,” commented Barron Connor driver Danny Sullivan, “Probably not as far as speed goes. Maybe after 24 hours of racing. You know, they’ve developed those cars for five years. We’ve got three months of development with the Ferrari. And they are a very good team.”

“I’m not sure how we compare to the Corvettes as far as top end,” said Prodrive’s Thomas Enge, “None of us were on the same part of the track at the same time as them. But I’m sure it will be a good race in GTS.”

The session had kicked off at 7pm and immediately Corvette pilot Olivier Berretta set a class-leading time of 3:58.187, ahead of team mate Johnny O'Connell and Peter Kox in the fastest Prodrive entry. By the end of the first hour Ollie Gavin had lowered the benchmark to 3:56.686, and Tomas Enge had taken over the mantle of the red challenge with a 3:57.353.

At 8.26pm the no66 Ferrari's attack was stifled when Enge suffered a puncture at the Playstation Chicane and was forced to proceed slowly back to the pits to have the Ferrari carefully checked over. The first session eventually ended at 9pm with Gavin fastest in the no64 Corvette, 3:54.359, Alain Menu second in the no66 Ferrari, 3:57.353 and Fellows third, 3:58.271.

The second session kicked off at 10pm and both of the Corvettes upped their pace to occupy the top two spots in LM GTS. The Larbre Ferrari 550 Maranello, found an extra four seconds, while Mike Hezemans wheeled the quicker of the two Barron-Connor Ferrari 575s round in 4:00.714. Another of the Ferrari 550s, the no66 car, suffered some damage after scraping a wall.

As the session wound towards its midnight finish the no62 Barron Conner Ferrari 575 GTC ran out of fuel and became stranded out on the circuit.

Down in LM GT, the JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena made a strong start, with the team's new Brazilian star driver Jaime Melo, fresh from a strong performance for the team at the Brno round of the FIA GT Championship, setting a best time of 4:11.025, to keep the French team right in amongst the top Porsche runners. This was after the car, also piloted by Stephane Daoudi and Jean Rene De Fournoux, had earlier corrected understeer issues and checked the brakes.

Photos: ACO/Nikon