back of the field after its delay had almost made it back into the top-10 when an alternator failure stopped their charge. Morning Dawn at 6.30am was gloomy and very wet, however the rain did eventually cease. The Ford now had a 7-lap lead over the Alfa Romeo and Matra, both on the same lap, delighting the French spectators. The Andruet/Nicolas Alpine had also now taken over the Index lead Soon after 11am, with less than four hours left in the race, the most serious accident of the race occurred. Mauro Bianchi, running 6th, had recently left the pits when he crashed heavily approaching the Esses. The full fuel tank exploded in a fireball setting alight the car and the bordering straw bales. Bianchi was lucky to survive, although he had severe burns to his face and arms. Another casualty was the Matra which got a puncture going through the debris. Servoz-Gavin got back to the pits, losing a place. Then with only 3 hours to go there was a sudden change at the top. The Alfa Romeo came into the pits with suspension failure losing 30 minutes, and 4 laps, getting it repaired. Then more dramatically at 12.30, the pursuing Matra got another puncture. In getting it back to the pits the disintegrating tyre damaged the battery, causing an electrical fire and putting it out of the race. The Swiss Porsche that had been running so reliably inherited second. Finish and post-race In the end it was a comfortable 5-lap victory to the GT40 of Rodríguez and Bianchi. For Pedro Rodríguez, it was only his second finish after 11 attempts. For Lucien Bianchi it was his 13th Le Mans. In an excellent run for the new Squadra Tartaruga team, Steinemann and Spoerry came in second just a lap ahead of the Stommelen/Neerpasch works car. The repaired Alfa Romeo of Giunti/Galli was fourth, leading a formation finish of their Autodelta teammates coming in 4-5-6, the three of them separated by seventeen laps. Seventh was the green Ferrari of English privateer David Piper, delayed by overheating issues but surprisingly was the only Ferrari finisher this year. Eighth was the remaining 3-litre Alpine, driven by co-designer André de Cortanze and Jean Vinatier. It headed home three of the smaller Alpines, two of which (the Thérier/Tramont 1.3-litre A210 and the Andruet/Nicolas 1-litre works cars) won the two lucrative Index prizes. The leading GT