4-seateer CC4, burdened with an extra 120 kg of ballast for the extra seats. After a successful introduction the previous year, Th. Schneider had put out a "Le Mans" variant for sale in 1927 with a torpedo-style bodywork. Two of the new 2-litre cars were entered for the race. Fabrique Automobile de St Ouen, or Fasto, was a Parisian manufacturer formed in 1926. A lightened version of their standard vehicle, the Type A3 Sport, came to Le Mans for its competition debut. Running a 2-litre engine, three cars were entered. The S.C.A.P. company had already been at Le Mans, as an engine manufacturer. This year it arrived with two cars of its own manufacture. The Type O was a 4-seater with the compact new 1.5-litre straight-8 engine. One was driven by Le Mans veterans Fernand Vallon (formerly driving for Corre La Licorne) and Lucien Desvaux (ex-Salmson and Chrysler) while the other had debutantes Albert Clément and Henri Guibert. This year S.A.R.A. also introduced a bigger model. The SP7 had a 6-cylinder 1.5-litre pushrod engine on a four-seat long-wheelbase convertible. The team also brought two of their standard 1100cc BDE cars, entered for the 1926-27 Biennial Cup. Salmson brought three of their Grand Sport 2-seaters. Derived from their successful VAL-3 model, they had a double-overhead cam 1.1-litre engines. Virtually the same experienced works-team line-up returned with Georges Casse/André Rousseau, Jean Hasley/André de Victor. Only Lionel de Marmier had a new co-driver, running with Pierre Goutte. The 1100cc category made up over half the field. Along with Salmson, Ariès and SARA, there were multicar teams returning from E.H.P. (Établissements Henri Precloux) and Gendron. A new team this year was Tracta. The company had only been founded in January, by engineers Jean-Albert Grégoire and Pierre Fenaille, bankrolled by Fenaille's wealthy entrepreneurial father. They brought two of their eye-catching, lowline Gephi models to Le Mans. Using a SCAP 1.1-litre engine the cars were unusual in being front-wheel drive and with a unique constant-velocity joint which they had patented. The in-line gearbox and final-drive gave it a long bonnet and low centre of gravity. The engineers both drove a car: Fenaille with his friend Etienne Boussod and Grégoire with Fenaille's chauffeur Roger Bourcier. Practice Once again the public roads were closed on Friday night from 10pm to 6am to allow private practice. Bentley experimented with fitting more powerful Italian Memini carburettors but Benjafield's car caught