had a tyre blowout at the Mulsanne kink at 320 kp/h (200 mph). Night As night fell and the track dried, Bonnier and van Lennep were putting in quick times to catch up and set the fastest lap of the race with a 3:46.9. At quarter-distance still had the two Matras swapping the lead (89 laps) with a comfortable 3-lap margin over the three Alfa Romeos. Sixth was Joest (84 laps) The Ferraris had a strong hold on GT as the Corvette engines failed; Pozzi leading NART (both 77 laps) while the three Capris were running like clockwork (76 laps). But during the night first Vaccarella then Elford had clutch problems and each lost half an hour as new ones were fitted. So, by half time, at 4am, the Matras were running 1-2-3. The 670s still exchanging the lead at pit stops (178 laps) and the 660 recovering well, having just overtaken the Alfas (running Stommelen, Elford then Vaccarella - all 171 laps). Seventh was Joest's longtail Porsche (167) with the hard-charging Lola back up to eighth, 15 laps behind the leaders. With Weigel's Porsche ninth (161) and the Duckhams tenth (155 laps) the field was now very strung out. Things were still the same in GT – Pozzi and NART Ferraris on 154 laps, while Mass and Stuck (151) had stolen a 3-lap lead over the team cars in Group 2. Morning Right through the night the two leading Matras stayed on the same lap, exchanging places based on pit strategy. A misty dawn broke up the routine, as the Alfa Romeos fell away with their engine issues. The Lola lost over an hour with brake problems and Weigel's Porsche also had clutch problems. Although the BMW had retired with a broken engine there were also cracks in the Capri team too – Mass/Stuck stopped on the Mulsanne Straight with a broken conrod and Glemser's car needed a differential change. In the early morning, Bonnier (after being again delayed) was running very fast and had got his Lola back up to eighth. Then at 8.25am, he came up to the Filipinetti Ferrari GTB4 of Florian Vetsch on the straight with 2 slight kinks in it between Mulsanne and Indianapolis, with thick forest on either side. The Ferrari kept its line and, deciding to force an overtake before the curve, his Lola hit the Ferrari at speed and flew 100