Description
This decade began with the first victories by Porsche, whose awesome 917 established a distance record that stood for almost four decades. One of a hat-trick of wins by Matra, effectively the French national team, was achieved in a famously frantic duel with Ferrari. Porsche, using motorsport to develop its turbocharging technology, won in 1976 and 1977, when Jacky Ickx produced one of the greatest drives ever seen. A massive effort by Renault, again with a turbo, delivered success in 1978 and the decade closed, as it had started, with a very wet race won by Porsche.