Brentwood racing driver Perry McCarthy was left anxiously to watch from the pits as team-mate Andy Wallace pre-qualified their Audi R8C (pictured) for the Le Mans 24 hour race with just two minutes of the afternoon six-hour qualifying session remaining.

Competing for the very first time at Le Mans, Audi enjoyed a successful baptism with all four cars qualifying for the 67th Le Mans 24 Hour race on June 12-13.

While the German Audi Sport team Joest's two 'open' Audi R8Rs were always among the fastest of the Le Mans propotype cars, it was not so easy for the two 'closed' R8Cs of Buckingham-based Audi Sport UK competing in the GT prototype category, who encountered a number of minor glitches with both cars cars during the two 6-hour qualifying sessions.

Partnering Andy and Perry in one of the two Audi Sport UK cars built at Hingham, Norfolk, will be fellow Brit James Weaver.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.