was badly damaged following contact with the #7 Toyota into the Porsche Curves, with Satoshi Motoyama trying with all his might to get the car running once again. Benoit would so his utmost to get the car back to the pits for repairs but the front axle was not tracking true.
As he set off, the car steered into the gravel and was beached, ending Audi’s hopes on a second successive win at the circuit to start the season the right way.
Another early retirement of the day was the #13 Rebellion Racing Lola, which only completed 24 laps before a broken gearbox left the #12 car of Nick Heidfeld, Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche carried on as the only entry left in the LMP1-L category, finishing fourth overall and class winners.
Images ajb photographic