front and rear disc brakes. Last year's car (with a 5.7L V8) was an aerodynamic nose and high rear aerofoil. It was raced by NASCAR veterans Dick Brooks and Hershel McGriff. Hagan's car had the 5.4L V8 detuned to 570 bhp and had regular racing bodywork. There was only a single entrant in both the Group B and Group 4 classes, and both were Porsche 911 variants. French privateer Alain Gadal had a 3.3-litre turbo Porsche 930 while Richard Cleare had a 3-litre Porsche 934 turbo in the GT class. The maximum speeds recorded on the Hunaudières speedtrap Practice and Qualifying Overall, the weather was good for the two four-hour qualifying sessions, aside from losing the last half-hour because of a short, sharp thunderstorm. A new feature this year, was an additional 45-minute warm-up on the Saturday morning, as a last chance to shake down any engine changes or adjustments after the practice sessions. Once again, Jacky Ickx stamped his authority over the rest of the field with the fastest qualifying lap early in the first of the two practice sessions, and posting the highest speed down the Hunaudières straight. The 355 kp/h (221 mph) was a bit slower than his car the previous year, but the better handling gave a faster overall lap-time (3:28.4). Teammate Jochen Mass was almost a second behind, with Bob Wollek another second further back in third. The two Lancias were next – Patrese arrived with only an hour left in the second session after a delayed flight from Venice, but only needed two laps in the car to qualify within the 125% rule before the rain stopped the session. Klaus Ludwig was the fastest Ford driver putting his car sixth on the grid (3:32.5), followed by Stuck's Sauber, the Kremer-Porsche and the Andretti Mirage in ninth. Although very fast in a straight line, the Lola could only manage tenth place (3:38.0) and almost ten seconds behind Ickx. The Rondeau team had a dismal practice with fuel pick-up and electrical issues, with Migault getting their best time of 3:40.7 to qualify fifteenth. Although the works Nimrod was 25 kp/h faster than its stablemate, its poorer balance meant it handled badly and was actually two seconds slower overall (3:48.2 for 25th). The Dome was very quick, but the new brake system did not work well and had to be replaced. They had only qualified 19th, and