A change of regulations wipes out the 917s, being sent back to other championships such as the Can'Am.

Unhappiness for one creates happiness for another.

The ambitious French firm, Matra, is all set with their V12 engines which will realise one generation of spectators' dreams. The effort is crowned with three consecutive victories shared by Henri Pescarolo/Graham Hill in 1972 and then Henri Pescarolo/Gerard Larrousse in 1973 & 1974.

The 1975 event, based on very restrictive fuel consumption Regulations, sees the victory of a Mirage, which allows its manager, John Wyer - the GT40, then the 917 Gulfman, to join the very selective Endurance Masters club.

This was also the first of Jacky Ickx’s three successive victories (the next time with Porsche), which puts the Belgian champion equal to compatriot Olivier Gendebien for the record of victories.

In 1978, it was France’s turn to stand out at home. Renault is ever present, winning hands down. First, the Alpine driven by Frenchmen Didier Pironi and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud holds off Porsche from start to finish.

In 1979, along a track modified in the "Tertre Rouge" area, there are big fights between the "Group 6" real prototypes and "Group 5" GT-car silhouettes. Once again, Porsche is the only manufacturer to be ready, even in both categories. After the Works 936 failure, a private 935 stands out. This is a triumph for the closed cars since the first Barchetta only ranks 17.

The Ferrari 512 BBLM, BMW M1 and other Porsche 934s have defeated "Group 6" whose best representative is the new local manufacturer, Jean Rondeau. It won't take long before we are talking about it again…