Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team 250 LM entry, piloted officially by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory, enjoyed a legendary win, beating the arguably favoured Ford GT40s, and leading home a Ferrari 1-2-3. Pierre Dumay and Gustave Gosselin’s 250 LM finished second ahead of Willy Mairesse and Jean Blaton in a Ferrari 275 GTB. It is fabled that a third, unrecorded driver, Ed Hugus, delivered a stunning stint in this car in the small hours of the morning in lieu of Rindt, who had gone missing in action from the le Sarthe track.

As the morning dawned the #21 car of Gregory and Rindt found themselves in second place, two laps behind the leader, another 250 LM with a far slower crew of Pierre Dumay and Gustave ‘Taf’ Gosselin at its wheel. The #21 car was gaining five seconds a lap on the frontrunner, leaving the spectators expecting a potential photo finish, right up until a tyre on the Belgian car exploded at high speed on the Mulsanne Straight. Despite severe damage, Gosselin managed to bring the car back to the pits, but vital time was lost repairing the damage and the car returned to the track behind the NART entry. Rindt and Gregory cruised to victory, despite the fragile differential, finishing five laps clear.