A VIPER OUT: LEADER CHANGE IN GT2.
THE 3 NISSANS DELAYED IN GT1

 The lead positions were still the same with the 2 works Porsches ahead of the Joest car, with a gap of 30 seconds between 25 and 26. Behind, the works McLaren BMW was sandwiched between the 2 Gulf Davidoff F1 GTR's. The second works entry, No.42, in the hands of Piquet-Soper-Lehto was making a good comeback after cooling problems had held it up for 30 minutes.

 For Nissan, on the other hand, the chances of victory were beginning to fade after problems with gearbox oil had affected no.23 which carried the make's last hopes. Indeed, the sight of the 3 Nissans stopped in front of their respective pits to undergo checks for this problem provided a striking and unusual image! And how will the Japanese cars last the remaining 18 hours?

 In GT2 there were several upsets the first being the big accident of Ayari whose no.62 Viper, the category leader, went off near the carting corners and caught fire around 20h15. This allowed the horde of GT2 Porsches to take up the running even if Jarier's car, the Larbre Competition entry, stopped out on the circuit around 22h00 with transmission problems. Help was proffered by the team's mechanics.

 This allowed the Calderari-Bryner-Zadra entry, no.84, to go into the lead. The no.63 Viper ran into accelerator problems as did no.61 which was the fastest GT2 on the track and should be able to catch up the leaders provided that it does not run into problems. The Callaway Corvette retired due to running out of fuel and the Mustangs were well down the field. Several drivers went off into the gravel traps or worse as was the case for the Japan-entered McLaren BMW no.44 which hit the rails on the inside at Tertre Rouge.

 Finally, in the prototype category the only one of Yves Courage's cars in a challenging position was no.13 ahead of the no.3 Ferrari entered by Moretti Racing.