brake to a halt. Rather than hitting the stationary cars head-on Davis put the big Bentley into a slide and hit them sideways, striking first with the right-hand front wing. Behind him, Thelussen's Fasto was also able to slow and only struck a glancing blow. Amazingly despite all the carnage, the only major injury was to the Schneider driver Tabourin, who suffered a broken arm and ribs. After finding his teammates and the other drivers had all survived, Davis was able to untangle his Bentley from the wreckage, squeeze through and limp onto the pits. There the team assessed the damage. The chassis and front suspension were bent, the fenders badly mangled and the right headlamp broken. Although he was the only one permitted to work on repairing his car (and only using tools carried on the car), with the advice of his mechanics and a lot of tape and string he was able to get the car mobile again. Half an hour later he drove out to complete six cautious laps before handing over to co-driver Benjafield on schedule. The steering pulled to the right and the braking was not synchronised between the wheels. The SARA was also able to continue after repairs, but ran into mechanical troubles over the night and was disqualified at half-time just three laps short of its 12-hour target distance. The second Th. Schneider ran only six further laps when it was withdrawn by the team following Tabourin's injuries. Night With the three leading cars taken out in the accident, the 3-litre Ariès, now driven by veteran Jean Chassagne, assumed the lead. Rain settled in during the night as the Frenchmen built a margin, with the Bentley gamely pursuing. However, as Benjafield got more used to the car he was able to pick up his pace and even close in on the Ariès. Just after midnight he was back on the lead lap until he had to stop to re-attach the useless right headlamp again. Affixing a strong flashlight to the windscreen upright he soldiered on. Davis also had to stop later to do more work on the right-hand fenders. Running third through the night was the Fasto of Brosselin/Thelussen (also repaired after the accident) followed by the two remaining Salmsons and the other two Fastos. At the six-hour mark, the two smaller Ariès were both disqualified for insufficient distance. Gabriel had repaired its