the Kremer and Stadler Porsches had pulled out a 3-lap lead over the Callaways and the Lister. Night Going into the night, the leading WSC car - the other Kremer, driven by Lässig/Konrad/de Azevedo - was running down in 11th. The Dave Price McLarens alternated the lead according to pit-stops. The rival Gulf Racing McLarens, dominant in the BPR series had been having many problems: series-leader and team-owner Ray Bellm had had an earlier off, losing 7 laps. Worse luck was his teammate Philippe Alliot, who was leading when he got punted off into the barriers by a GT2 Porsche he had just overtaken. Bad luck also dogged the Larbre Compétition GT1 Porsches: In the early evening the car, of the team-owner Jack Leconte, had gone off into the Arnage gravel trap. Both Jesús Pareja and Emmanuel Collard had successively got their cars up into 4th overall, but both crashed out into retirement before midnight. The latter crash also took out the GT2-leading Stadler Porsche when Andreas Fuchs misjudged his braking at Mulsanne corner, hitting Collard. Meanwhile, the PC Automotive Jaguar was shadowing the McLarens; from starting 22nd on the grid it had moved up to 4th, chased by the Downing Kudzu-Mazda, Stuck's Kremer and Wollek's Courage making a spirited recovery. With the demise of the Porsches, the GT2 race was now between the three Callaways (that became two when Thyrring crashed the 'works' car at the first Mulsanne chicane at 1am) and the private Porsche of Jean-François Veroux that started second to last, but now only a lap behind. At 3am, after 9 hours contesting the lead (with a broken window-wiper), the Nielsen/Mass McLaren pitted with a slipping clutch that ultimately proved terminal. The sister car of Andy Wallace and the Bells (father & son) inherited the lead. Wallace did some incredible stints in the rain - some of it on slick tyres. Meanwhile, the dark horse Kokusai team had been inexorably moving up the board. While others spun or pitted, it never missed a beat, and through the night JJ Lehto and Dalmas put in a hard chase getting up to 2nd. The Jaguar gave up with a broken crankshaft at 5am by which time the Courage was back up to third (but 4 laps down), the Jacardi McLaren 4th and Bellm's remaining Gulf McLaren in 5th. Morning As dawn broke the rain finally eased off and the