metres over the barriers into the trees. Fellow driver Vic Elford described Bonnier's Lola as "spinning to the air like a helicopter". Critically injured, Jo Bonnier died soon afterward. He was a veteran of 13 Le Mans and chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. Vic Elford, coming upon Vetsch's car on fire, immediately stopped to rescue the driver who had already escaped with burned hands. By coincidence it was right beside a broadcasting television camera. Shaken by the accident, Elford then pulled into the pits to be substituted by Marko, only for them to retire soon after when the replacement clutch packed up. Ninety minutes later the Alfa of Stommelen/Galli also retired with a broken differential, leaving the last Alfa Romeo running in fourth. It started raining again at 10.30am. The Weigel 907 hit the barrier at the Dunlop Curve while running 7th. Cevert and Ganley lost time in the pits fixing wet electrics. Then just before noon, as the rain got heavier, Ganley was going slowly down the Mulsanne Straight when he was hit from behind by the Corvette of Marie-Claude Beaumont. He made it to the pits to get the rear-end repaired (taking nine minutes), but the Corvette was too badly damaged to continue. This allowed the Pescarolo/Hill car to build a secure lead over Cevert/Ganley and Jabouille/Hobbs, with the Joest Porsche well back in fourth. De Cadenet's Duckhams was doing very well in fifth until a slow brakepad change and bodywork repair dropped behind it the remaining Alfa Romeo. Finish and post-race The rain returned with two hours to go and created havoc. Cevert, de Adamich and Craft were on slick tyres and all aquaplaned off the track approaching the waterlogged Esses. The Duckhams had the heaviest damage and fell to 12th before getting back on the track for the final lap. As a final twist, the third-placed Jabouille/Hobbs Matra 660 was stopped by gearbox problems with less than 90 minutes remaining, and the Spanish Porsche running 8th was stopped by a wheel-bearing failure in the final minutes. In the end, the Matra 670 of Pescarolo and Hill took the chequered flag with a comfortable margin of eleven laps over their teammates Cevert and Ganley. This was the first victory of a French car since the Rosier's Talbot-Lago victory in 1950. It also made Graham Hill the first and, to date, only driver to win the