strong driver line-up enticing Rolf Stommelen (from Porsche) and ‘Nanni’ Galli (from Matra). The others had Piers Courage/Andrea de Adamich, Masten Gregory/Toine Hezemans and Carlo Facetti/Teodoro Zeccoli. Porsche had their 908/02 spyders that had been very successful the previous year. Martini ran two cars for Lins/Marko and Spoerry/de Cortanze. The other car was entered by Solar Productions, which was actor Steve McQueen’s film production company. Driven by Herbert Linge/Jonathan Williams it was fitted with cameras to record race footage for McQueen’s film. NART had bought the 312P works cars from Ferrari and two were entered in the Prototype category. Healey returned with its prototype for a third (and final) time, now as an open-top spyder, and with a bigger Repco 3-litre V8. It would be driven by Roger Enever and Andrew Hedges. In the smaller-engine categories, there was a new manufacturer present. French racing-driver turned car-maker Guy Ligier had his new JS-1 prototype, with a 1.8-litre Ford-Cosworth FVC engine that put out 240 bhp. Ligier drove it himself alongside Jean-Claude Andruet. As well as a pair of privateer Porsche 910s there were also three Chevron B16s each with a different engine, the most interesting of which was the innovative Mazda Wankel-rotary. The GT category was once again dominated by privateer Porsche 911s. Many had been uprated with the new 2.2-litre engine. There was also a new Porsche model, the 914/6. The 1991cc flat-6 engine put out 100 bhp and the car was 40kg lighter than the rival 911s. Entered by “Toto” Veuillet's French team Sonauto, it was driven by Guy Chasseuil/Claude Ballot-Léna. Veuillet himself, as a driver, had given Porsche their first ever class-win at Le Mans back in 1951. Rally-specialist Henri Greder supplied the two Chevrolet Corvettes, the biggest cars in the entry list. Even though General Motors officially had a long-standing ban on racing and supporting privateers, he had a new convertible and had sold his previous car to the Claude Aubriet's Ecurie Léopard. The 7-litre engines now put out 560 bhp and had a top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph). Practice As expected the longtail 917s were extremely fast. But it was Pedro Rodriguez who set the initial pace in the Wyer 917K breaking Stommelen's lap record by a second with a 3:21.9. Though not as quick as the longtails, the Ferraris were still faster than the 917Ks and Nino Vaccarella caused quite a stir on