13.06.2004 The Prodrive Ferrari bid to win GTS again evaporated on the stroke of midday as Tomas Enge brought the class-dominating car into the pits with suspension failure: race update at 1300 from Le Mans

As the sunlight flooded over the track, the no66 Prodrive Ferrari of Peter Kox, Tomas Enge and Alain Menu continued to set the GTS pace, three laps ahead of the first of the chasing Corvettes.

Just after 7am Barron Connor took the decision to withdraw their no61 Ferrari as they did not believe it could complete the 70% threshold required to be classified. This is the same car that had earlier suffered a brake fire. Meanwhile continuing electrical problems saw the no62 car visiting the pits again, and shortly after 8am, it ground to a halt at the Porsche Curves after running out of petrol, to join its sister car on the sidelines.

The no65 Prodrive Ferrari with Rickard Rydell at the wheel, a car that has really been in the wars throughout the race, was at shortly after 10am in the gravel again at the Playstation Chicane, and had to be be dragged back to the track.

The GTS class fight remained deadlocked with the no66 car comfortably leading, and holding a strong 6th place overall, until minutes before 11am to first signs of problems emerged, when Tomas Enge, after a routine stop, exited the pits unusually slowly.

There was drama too unfolding down in the LM GT class, as the no92 Ferrari 360 Modena, plodding on among the Porsche hordes, was shown the black flag, the Cirtek Motorsport-run car receiving a three-minute stop-and-go penalty for exceeding the maximum time for one driver's stint.

At 11.36 am the GTS contest revved back into life. Tomas Enge in the class-leading no66 Prodrive Ferrari slowed at Tertre Rouge with a puncture, forcing him to limp back toward pits with the front left wheel locked.

It took the Czech driver seven minutes to reach his pit, the Prodrive mechanics, after diagnosing suspension failure, rushing to put the red car onto a trolley and push it back into garage so more than four mechanics could work on it under ACO regulations. The distant second-place no64 Corvette, with Olivier Beretta at the wheel and approximately 18 minutes behind, was told by the team to charge.

On the stroke of midday the Corvette pitted, technically taking the lead as the no66 Ferrari, repairs completed, was being wheeled out of the garage. With both sets of pit crews working at a frantic pace, and as Jan Magnussen and Alain Menu were being strapped into the Corvette and Ferrari respectively, all eyes were on who would leave first.

Magnussen made it out fractions ahead, the Corvette had once again taken the GTS lead. Meanwhile Christophe Bouchet in the Labre Ferrari had an accident at Tetra Rouge, but after a few minutes, the Frenchman got the car going again, cruising pitwards for repairs.

Alain Menu, in a fighting second place, visited the Playstation Chicane gravel trap at 1245, resulting in an unscheduled pit visit to check for damage, while, after half an hour in its garage to repair damage, the Larbe Ferrari rejoined the fray.

As 1pm passed by, and the 24 hour race started to head into its closing stages, the Prodrive challenge began to seriously fade, the second placed no66 car returning to the pits for a long stop, the splitter needing replacing, dropping it well away from the lead.