Toyota and Nissan invested a fortune in trying to become the first Japanese manufacturer to win Le Mans. They would have to beat Jaguar, which was no easy task as the Tom Walkinshaw Racing-run works team was back in front in 1990, this time claiming a 1-2, with the XJR-12 driven by Martin Brundle, Price Cobb and John Nielsen. Then, while they were having another shot in 1991, smaller Japanese rival Mazda beat them to it. As notable as that win for Bertrand Gachot, Johnny Herbert and Volker Weidler was, history also relates that the drivers had a new challenge thanks to the insertion of two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, breaking up the slipstreaming battles and providing opportunities both for overtaking and for spills.

Home glory has been rare at Le Mans and the French finally had something to cheer about in 1992 when Peugeot dominated to take the first win by a major French manufacturer since Matra’s glory days in the 1970s. Peugeot was even more in control in 1993, taking a 1-2-3 with the rest nowhere. With the ACO pledging to stimulate GT racing rather than having fields filled entirely with prototypes, this led to a big swell in applications for entries in 1994. Yet, an anomaly meant that cars entered in the Le Mans GT1 category included a Joest-run Dauer 962LM, a Group C car by any other name that would clearly have the legs on its GT-shaped rivals.

A genuine GT car won in 1995, this time a McLaren F1, a car that designer Gordon Murray had never intended to go racing until badgered into it by road car owners including Ray Bellm and Thomas Bscher. In a very wet race, JJ Lehto’s pace when conditions were at their worst was enough to ensure that it finished clear of the works Courage in which Bob Wollek was denied the home win he had been seeking since 1968. He would be the bridesmaid again in 1996 and 1998.

Porsche and TWR joined forces in 1996 to enter two open-topped, Jaguar XJR-14-based machines that TWR had offered to Porsche for 1995 when a rule change left the Germans without a suitable car for its engines. The combination was good, as the TWR-Porsche WSC95 won first for Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter and Alex Wurz and then for Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and a young Tom Kristensen.

There were also pure Porsches running in 1996, in GT1. These ruffled feathers, as they were mid-engined, something not seen in the road car on which it was based, but it was Porsche’s response to McLaren’s win in 1995. Two road-going versions were built while it was homologated, but it took until 1998 for victory to come, with Allan McNish, Laurent Aiello and Stephane Ortelli sharing the glory. Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Toyota entered the GTP class in 1999. Mercedes’ CLRs got airborne twice before the race and once during, but BMW did things better with its cars built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering and outran the less fuel-efficient Toyotas.

New pits were built under a giant grandstand in 1991 and the paddock fenced off to allow the teams more space. The public area on the inside of the run to the first corner became more corporate but remained a hub for the fans, with most staying in touch thanks to the advent of Radio Le Mans.