then that throughout the rain that lasted the first four hours, there were no major incidents. It was soon apparent that the quickest cars were the Chenard-Walcker team, the Bentley, one of the Excelsiors, and one of the 2-litre Bignans. The first pitstops for fuel and driver-changes did not start until after 7 pm. The 38-year-old Lagache and veteran Dauvergne bought their Chenard-Walckers in with a good lead. The Belgian-driven Excelsior gradually lost time with its sluggish acceleration rate. After a brief respite the rain and wind returned making for very difficult night-driving, especially as most cars chose not to run with their hoods up, as it compromised top speed and fuel economy. Most drivers were not wearing goggles despite the rain and all the mud-splatter coming off the cars ahead of them. Night The roads were soon getting muddy and rutted. A number of cars had headlamp failures as water got into their acetylene and electrical systems, particularly the two SARAs. Indeed, the lights went out on the Piazzali/Marandet SARA just as it was cornering. Running off the road, it was too badly damaged to continue, becoming the first retirement in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Convoys would form as those cars followed ones with functioning lights. The Chenard drivers were equipped with hand-operated acetylene spotlamps to help with their main lights. During the night a stone struck René Marie's Bugatti and punctured the fuel tank. The car came to a halt near Arnage and Marie walked the 5km back to the pits. The officials had not anticipated this circumstance in their regulations that fuel could only be added in the pits, as it was accidental rather than a miscalculation. They agreed he would be allowed to carry two fuel tanks back to the car to get it going again. He got back to the pits, made the repairs and was able to continue the race. Just before midnight the Bentley was delayed by an errant stone smashing a headlamp. Not thinking to bring a spare, the team was sportingly offered one by the Chenard team. But the time needed to fit the lamp was deemed too long and the car continued with just the one. Later in the night, the Bentley had a very near miss avoiding Paul Gros’ Bignan that had burst a tyre approaching Mulsanne corner. Both cars braked hard and swerved onto