Le MansNight Falls

Subj:  LE MANS - NIGHT FALLS		Section: F-1/Internat'l News
  To:  All				Saturday, June 15, 1996 3:00:13 PM
From:  RIS/UK-Martin Buck, 100113,3322	#819634

By Martin Buck
 RACING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
 Le Mans, France - RIS - The 63rd running of one of the world's greatest races, the 24 Heures du 
Mans, hasn't yet run a third of the way. The sun has gone down, with the temperatures soon to 
follow - welcome respite for the teams, who are setting an unrelenting pace at the front.

It's a curious time - when you're out by the track, it's almost impossible to tell exactly what car is 
flashing past. The make can sometimes be judged from the engine note - the surprisingly 
high-pitched wail of the McLaren runners is unmistakeable, as is the even higher scream of the 
Kudzu Mazda rotary. But beyond that, indistinct shapes are as much as can be discerned. Yet 
thousands of fans still throng the grandstands and terraces on the start-finish straight, content to 
watch the cars go flying past.

Despite this year being hotter than expected - which obviously puts more strain on the cars, as 
they try to shed all the heat - the attrition rate has been surprisingly low. After seven hours, just 
six cars out of the original 48 were no longer running - mostly through running out of fuel or 
mechancal problems, with only one major accident. This befell the STP Kremer Porsche of 
Fosset, Fouch_ and Dickens, and left the car minus most of its rear end. Fortunately, the driver 
was shaken but appeared to be unhurt.

Meanwhile, at the front, the battle for most of the race has been between the Joest Porsche TWR 
car of Manuel Reuter, Davy Jones and Axel Wurz, running in the WSC category, and the Mobil 
Porsche GT1 car of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Thierry Boutsen and Bob Wollek, who are in the GT1 
category. These two swapped the lead back and forth for several hours, until the Porsche came in 
for an extended pit stop, to repair front-end damage caused in an earlier coming-together with a 
Courage.

The pace at the front is astounding - while the current fastest lap was at an average of 212 km/h, 
the top two cars are AVERAGING over 200 km/h, over seven hours of running, pit stops included. 
Given that the second-place car is also a Joest Porsche, the cars behind - who are currently led 
by the Stuck/Boutsen/Wollek Porsche, after clawing their way past the Bellm/Weaver/Lehto Gulf 
McLaren - must be hoping that the reliability of the WSC cars proves to be as fragile as they 
suspect.

The press room is starting to empty - and is also, thankfully, cooling off now the sun is no longer 
beating down directly in the panoramic windows. But the flow of information continues unabated - 
every hour brings the latest standings, together with statistics and press releases.

The teams must now dig in for what one of the French newspapers described as 'The Longest 
Night'. Daylight will return in another six or seven hours - only time will tell how many drivers will 
still be running. And, even then, there will still be another nine hours to run...

Regards,
 Jacquie Groom/Jon Baker/Martin Buck