Wyer managed to swap in the spare car without the officials noticing. Also needing a full rebuild after a practice crash was the new DB coupé. A piston failure during practice forced the scratching one of Louis Rosier's Ferraris. But it was Hermann Lang in the Mercedes which both set the fastest unofficial top speed on the 3 mile Mulsanne Straight, at some 150 mph. And the fastest lap in practice at 4m40s, just a tenth ahead of Ascari's Ferrari, with both fully 20 seconds faster than the ‘official’ time of the Cunningham in 1951. Race Start After the wet race the previous year, this year's race was essentially dry. Leader after the first lap was Phil Walters in the Cunningham coupé, chased by Moss in the Jaguar and the red and blue Ferraris of Ascari and Simon respectively, then the other two Jaguars and "Levegh's" Talbot. Ascari soon got to the front and between him and Simon they took turnabout lowering Stirling Moss's lap record – eventually setting it six seconds faster than the previous year. Soon enough though, after just 6 laps, Ascari was in the pits with clutch problems – something that would plague the Ferraris through the race. It was worse news at the Jaguar garage. Moss had moved back up to second when Ascari pitted but soon was also pitting, with overheating problems. By nightfall all three Jaguars were out of the race in a dramatic change of fortune to the previous year. Two of the Aston Martins had retired with differential issues. Phil Walters had kept the Cunningham coupé in close reach, and after 4 hours handed the car over to his co-driver Duane Carter who promptly planted it into the sandbank at Tertre Rouge on his second lap out. Soon after getting back in the race their engine started playing up with similar problems that had already sidelined John Fitch's car. Surprising the home crowd, that moved the Gordini of Robert Manzon up behind Simon. Though running a much smaller engine than the cars around it, it was proving very fast. When Simon had to start nursing a slipping clutch, Manzon took the lead in the 3rd hour. Meanwhile, the three Mercedes-Benzes were playing a waiting game, running to Neubauer's strict, conservative pace to preserve the cars and hovering just in the top 10. After several trips to the pits, Vincent stuck the