Early rain and a damp track failed to hinder a strong effort by Care Racing in the opening night of qualifying for this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Belgian Vincent Vosse set the fastest GT1 lap of the night at 4 minutes, 20.688 seconds - the Larbre driver setting the time in the final moments of tonight's qualifying session. Vosse set the time after suffering a spin, after an early attempt on slick tyres.

The Ferraris set the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th fastest times in the GT1 class last night. Heavy rain struck the circuit just prior to the opening two hour session which began at 7.00pm. Despite the fact that the rain stopped prior to the second session at 9.00pm, Vosse was the only Ferrari 550 driver to attempt a lap on slick tires - his resulting spin forcing the Larbre team to revert to intermediate Michelin rubber.

Russian Age Racing's Christophe Bouchet set the second fastest time of the four Care Racing-supported Ferrari 550 Maranello entries, with a time of 4:23.885. However, the Frenchman spun in the final chicane before the start-finish line which left the car stranded in the gravel trap until the chequered flag fell. Young Italian Le Mans 'rookie', Matteo Malucelli, impressed in his first night laps at Le Mans - setting the third fastest time in the GT1 class. The BMS Scuderia Italia team's only set-back was a damaged rear bumper which was dislodged after Matteo had earlier struck a kerb.

Vincent Vosse - Larbre Compétition "With the weather tonight, our aim was to just make sure all three drivers did their three qualifying laps at night. Despite the fact it stopped raining, it was far too wet for slicks out there. Nobody is really trying too hard tonight because of the weather. We know the car is very competitive but qualifying really doesn't matter a great deal for a 24 hour race - it is just important we have a good strong car for the race."

Christophe Bouchut - Russian Age Racing (Cirtek) "The car is very good and we have had no real problems tonight. In fact I have been surprised as to how much work we have been able to do.
 

"It has been important my co- drivers do their regulation night laps tonight and we can go for a better time tomorrow when the conditions are better. I don't think we have the car for pole position, but we should be able to do a very good time."

Matteo Malucelli - BMS Scuderia Italia "It was tough out there on [Pirelli] intermediates because the grip was quite poor. I could only do a couple of laps at a time because it was important for my team-mates to get some laps in as well. I felt like I was getting faster every lap. Running at night for the first time wasn't a big problem for me. The track is great to drive - especially through the Porsche Curves."

Christian Pescatori - BMS Scuderia Italia "The car was very good tonight despite the fact the conditions were very difficult. In the last 30 minutes, there was also a lot of oil on the circuit through the Porsche curves and the chicane. I am very pleased with how tonight went. This is a very well sorted car which should be very strong in the race. We also got the chance to test our helmet "air conditioning" which pumps cool filtered air straight into our helmet. This should be a great bonus for the race and really helps when trying to do double stints. It is going to be very hot on the weekend so this will help a lot."

GT1 Qualifying Times from Le Mans (Wednesday): 1st 50 Dupard / Goueslard / Vosse Ferrari 550 4:20.688, 2nd 59 Brabham /Sarrazin / Turner Aston Martin DBR9 4:22.600, 3rd 61 Bouchut / Fomenko / Vasiliev Ferrari 550 4:23.885, 4th 52 Bartyan / Malucelli / Seiler Ferrari 550 4:24.686, 5th 51 Gollin / Pescatori / Ramos Ferrari 550 4:30.973, 6th 58 Enge / Kox / Lamy Aston Martin DBR9 4:31.022, 7th 64 Beretta / Gavin / Magnussen Corvette C6R 4:36.209. 8th 63 Fellows / O'Connell / Papis Corvette C6R 4:36.309