After another day of intense heat and waiting, the three PK drivers were eager for their first taste of Le Mans action when time came for the first of two qualifying sessions on Wednesday. It had been agreed some time beforehand that David Warnock, making his fourth consecutive appearance with PK, would have the honour of being first to take the distinctive yellow and black Porsche out on the track. When the pitlane opened at seven o'clock he was among the initial batch of cars to break the silence of the Le Mans evening; the rasp of their exhausts echoing sharply between the grandstands as they powered up the rise towards the Dunlop curves.

David's initial run was little more than a warm-up. The track, most of it used as public roads for fifty weeks of the year, is invariably filthy when qualifying begins, and it takes several hours of intense use before the racecars clean a path through the tarmac. Even so, David managed a best of 4:24.128, although this was still a few seconds shy of his best from 2003. Jim Matthews was next out, his distinctive tiger-striped black and white helmet making him easy to identify inside the cockpit. His times were a close match for David's; the pair looking well matched for their agreement to share the week's qualifying duties. “Jim gets the crack at the start of the second period tonight, and it's my turn tomorrow. I just hope it doesn't rain,” said David, aware that the forecast is unsettled.

Jim's run went well enough, and the American emerged satisfied with progress. “My run went fine,” he insisted. “I've not been here for a while, and I like to give a place like this a lot of respect. My aim is to clinch a half second here and there, steadily improving lap by lap. I'm not a pro driver, of course, so I don't think I'm expected to be quick straight out of the box.” Jim seems to be enjoying the fact that there is little pressure on any of the PK drivers this year. Mike has set out a definite gameplan for the week, and that doesn't include banzai qualifying laps or any risk to the car's reliability. “Rather than going for a fast qualifying, we're aiming to drive round, don't break anything, don't hit anything, and stay out of the pits as much as possible,” said Matthews. “Jim has the same view as me,” agreed Mike Pickup. “If there's a five, six or even seven second difference between us and the faster cars, well, they lose fifteen minutes in the pits and the whole advantage has been negated. In the past we've gone out quite aggressively at the start of the race, but not this time. I'm looking forward to a steady, non-aggressive pace and a good finish.”

With Jim back into the pitlane, Paul Daniels was given his opportunity to complete his daylight laps. “The idea was to get each driver into the race this evening,” explained Daniels. “David and Jim are more experienced than I am, and they've both driven here before, so they went out first to try and set a representative qualifying time, then I could have a couple of extra laps for the experience.”

Although his first few laps were a little wide of the mark, he soon seemed to settle into a rhythm, and by the end of his stint he'd set a succession of laps that threatened to break the psychological 4:30 barrier. “I expect pole to be around the 4:04 mark, perhaps even a little quicker, so I need to be setting a best of 4:28 , or better. I was getting close to that, and could have done with a couple more laps.”

According to his telemetry, there was one occasion when he looked certain to have achieved that target. “There seems to be an awful lot of traffic,” he observed. “I was even held up by a prototype coming through the Porsche Curves, and that effectively destroyed what might have been my best lap.” That may well be the quote to pass on to Paul's eight-month-old daughter Christine when she's a little older; that Daddy was held up by a prototype when he raced a Porsche for PK Sport.

Towards the end of the first two-hour period David Warnock was given a final fling, although still on the original set of Dunlops. He came through with a best of 4:22 . “I did that time on very old rubber, and I was particularly pleased with that. The track was filthy to start with, so I'm quite impressed with the performance from those tyres. To be able to do such a reasonable time under such conditions is very encouraging.” Mike Pickup was equally pleased. “For David to do that time on tyres that were already more than two hours old was perfect,” he said.

Between sessions there was some discussion over tactics for the second period. “We've had a good incident-free session, and everyone's improved,” offered Jim Matthews. “The big question may be, with the threat of rain, do you go and try a quick lap tonight?” In the end he'd be given that chance, with a set of fresh tyres, still warm from the blankets, fitted to the car just moments before he headed out to begin the “night” session. “Jim's having a quick run on a new set of Dunlops to see what he can do,” confirmed Mike. “It suits us well,” he added, “since we can also have a look at how the drivers get on in the dark as well as scrub in some fresh tyres for the race.”

In the meantime only one minor problem had arisen, and that involved the way the three drivers were being identified in the car. Mike Pickup had them listed as Matthews / Warnock / Daniels, while the ACO's observers had the order as Warnock / Matthews / Daniels. The discrepancy was appreciated, so there was no misallocation of times, but it still lead to some confusion with the timing screens, where the incorrect driver was occasionally shown to be in the car. “They're sorting it out,” insisted Mike Pickup. “They're on the case, and it'll be fixed very soon.”

At ten o'clock , with the skies significantly darker but the track and air temperatures far more favourable, the second period got under way. We knew Jim Matthews was in the car; we'd seen David helping to strap him in, but the screens still showed the driver as Warnock. With the first full laps the times were tumbling all across the board, flyers coming thick and fast from everyone, including Jim Matthews. His second lap, a best of 4:21.277, was an improvement of over a second, but PK's rivals had made improvements in equal measure throughout the class, and before long the #78 car has slipped a few positions down the order.

At 10:45 Daniels was shown as being in the car, and there seemed little doubt that this was correct. What wasn't correct was the next mention for the No 78 entry. Much to the consternation (and ultimate confusion) of everyone following Paul's progress, an incident report flashed across the bottom of the final screen. “Bike No 78 in gravel bed on corner No 42, 22:52 .” Mike was quickly on the radio. “Everything OK Paul?” There was just a moment's hesitation before Paul's voice came back over the radio. “Yes, everything's fine. Why?” “Nothing at all,” came Mike's relieved reply. “You're going great.” A couple of minutes later Daniels sped past the pitlane heading out for another lap, blissfully ignorant of his phantom two-wheeled “off” at the first Mulsanne Chicane. The report, meanwhile, stayed on screen for the next fifteen minutes and subsequently led to several inaccurate statements appearing on other websites. As they say, reports of Paul Daniel's demise are grossly exaggerated!

For someone who'd never driven in the dark at Le Mans before, Paul's times were improving rapidly. His initial laps, completed at a tentative pace, hovered around the mid 4:50s . By the end of his session however, he was comfortably setting bests in the low thirties, with a best of 4:33 . “The car feels really great. I was three seconds quicker this evening than I was on the test day (in April), but there's still a lot more to do. I need to aim for a best in the mid to low twenties.”

With David Warnock also completing his night-time laps, all three PK drivers had satisfied their required number of laps under the cover of darkness. More satisfying still, they'd also set times that were quick enough to ensure that each had met the 125% ruling, although Paul's best of 4:30.006 was just three tenths within the limit. It's not cut and dried yet, of course. The provisional class pole of 4:09.679, set by Bergmeister in the #90 White Lightning Porsche, could yet be bettered in Thursday's sessions. Indeed, it seems almost probable that it will, unless rains intervenes, since the class best in April testing was significantly quicker at 4:05.9. It is also worth noting that the #90 Porsche was almost the only car not to improve its time during Wednesday's second period.

Mike Pickup was certainly pleased with the team's progress. “Absolutely perfect, on plan, and everything is wonderful,” he said, grinning broadly. “I'm well satisfied,” he added, sipping from a large glass of red wine, “and I'd like to stress that Paul did not go off! Someone must have pressed a button somewhere that shouldn't have been pressed. In fact, Paul has done a really good job; excellent in fact.”

Paul Daniels was busy considering his options for improvement. “It took me a couple of laps to get accustomed to the night, and then things weren't too bad towards the end. I'm still losing time with my braking at both the chicanes, I know that, and also at the Mulsanne Corner. There was also quite a bit of gravel across the corners, especially on the run down to Tetre Rouge, and then at the Ford Chicane, so that was costing me a few tenths. Provided it's dry tomorrow, and I can put everything together cleanly, then I should be into the mid twenties. I hope so. The important thing is, no offs and no damage. It's better to go at it steadily, rather than trying to get there too quickly and end up going off into the wall.”

David Warnock had nearly equalled his first session best with a late run in the dark, and this hadn't gone unnoticed by Mike Pickup. “He did a 4:22 in the dark,” he said. “The Young Buck's done good!” It doesn't look as though David Warnock's going to be allowed to forget his change in status this year.

There's certainly a very relaxed atmosphere around PK this year, although no apparent reduction in the team's hallmark attention-to-detail and determination, but it makes for a pleasant environment. Jim Matthews, who was here last year in a Riley & Scott prototype, is warming to the situation. “I'm going to enjoy myself this year,” he insisted. “Don't get me wrong, it's still a serious business, but this should also be fun.” His steadily improving times reflect his approach of making incremental improvements, and not trying anything too radical too soon. “Hopefully it will be a long race with plenty of time to get dialled in,” he said. “I've never made it past dawn here at Le Mans .” Mike Pickup, sharp as ever, chipped in with the obvious response. “Well, you're certainly not going to be driving the car at dawn this year, then!”