A TRIO OF MCLARENS IN THE LEAD, PORSCHE NO.36 OUT
The McLarens still dominated the head of the field but the order had changed. No.25 driven by Alliot was now in the lead after having passed no.49 troubled by defective windscreen wipers. As night fell the weather went from bad to worse and there were numerous driving errors, such as that of Jesus Pareja in one of the work GT 1 Porsches who went off in the new section after being passed into fourth place by the no.59 McLaren (the same place as Andretti, two hours earlier).
The no.40 Ferrari, which had been stopped for a long time, finally retired due to a broken gearbox. The Lister was the victim of the same malady at 21h15.
Francois Migault(IU(Bs pereverance finally paid off as, after being immobilised on the circuit for an hour, he managed to carry out repairs and get back to his pit. The Sard was held up for a long time due to the fitting of a new clutch.
Behind the four leading McLarens, there was a battle between the no.37 Porsche and the no.57 Jaguar, with advantage to the first-mentioned while just behind, came the no.23 Nissan.
After 35 minutes for repairs the no.13 Courage went back out on the track and after 22h00 it was in thirteenth position. The only WR still in the race had a slight (IR(Boff(IS(B but was able to rejoin after repairs.
