Porsche at Le Mans Part III: 1969 to 1971
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www.porscheroadandrace.com Porsche at Le Mans Part III: 1969 to 1971 Published: 20th July 2017 By: Glen Smale Online version: https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/porsche-at-le-mans-part-iii-1969-to-1971/ ‘Production line racer’ – in their quest to produce 25 running cars in time for the inspection by the FIA, Porsche pulled out all the stops as evidenced by the activity in this image The name Porsche is synonymous with the world’s toughest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, boasting an unbroken run of 66 years. During this time, they have amassed 19 victories. This is Part III of their story… PART III – 1969 to 1971 www.porscheroadandrace.com The introduction of the Porsche Type 917, was the car that Ferdinand Piëch had planned in his mind, all through the 1960s. It was the ultimate racer with which he would lift the Le Mans 24 Hour trophy, the goal towards which he had been working for the last decade through the incremental creation of the 904, 906, 910, 907 and 908. Referred to as the ‘plastic’ Porsches, an awfully derogatory term for such an important series of race cars, this was Piëch’s contribution to the world of sports car racing. The workshop was literally buzzing with mechanics as they raced against the clock to get all 25 cars finished in time for the FIA inspection www.porscheroadandrace.com That all-important FIA homologation sheet, duly approved on 19 April 1969. ©Porsche Werkfoto Were it not for this highly significant series of race cars, we would not have the unequalled record of achievements that Porsche can lay claim to today. For that reason, we have dedicated this chapter of Porsche’s rise to fame at Le Mans, to the contribution made by the Type 917, much maligned at first, but it became the weapon of choice after just one season. 1969 first race at Le Mans The Porsche 917 was built for Le Mans where its superior top speed would put it in a class of its own in this legendary 24-hour race. In an effort to maximise the car’s top speed, Ferdinand Piëch ensured that the 917 was devoid of any drag-inducing devices, making sure that the airflow over the sleek body was as smooth as possible. But therein lay the car’s problem at first, as the 220mph racer was prone to lift at the front, resulting in significant instability at speed. www.porscheroadandrace.com 1969 Porsche 917 LH poses outside the workshops in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Although the 917’s first taste of international competition was the Spa 1000km in early May 1969, the new race car failed to impress, the first dropping out with engine failure while the other works car did not even start. The following event was the Nürburgring 1000km where www.porscheroadandrace.com the sole works 917 entry finished a difficult race in eighth place. The 917 made a somewhat uncertain entrance at the Le Mans race in 1969, in that it was almost not allowed to race. When the 917 was homologated in April, it had done so with movable flaps at the rear, but what the FIA had approved the ACO was about to disallow. It should be remembered that in these early days, the FIA and the ACO fell in and out of love with regular monotony, and so this was hardly surprising. Despite being homologated with the movable flaps, the ACO dug its feet in and so Porsche threatened to withdraw unless they got their way. In the end a compromise was reached in that the 908s that were racing there en masse, had to have their movable flaps made rigid, in order to let the 917 race. The #12 Porsche 917 of Elford/Attwood stops in the pits during the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours www.porscheroadandrace.com The works entered two 917s, one each for Vic Elford/Richard Attwood and Rolf Stommelen/Kurt Ahrens. Privateer John Woolfe was to get the first 917 to be sold to a customer, and he was to have Digby Martland co-drive with him. However, Martland was too wary of the new 917 and its reputation, resulting in factory test driver Herbert Linge taking the vacant seat. Woolfe’s enthusiasm proved fatal, as he insisted on starting the race, and with hindsight it would appear that in his eagerness to make a good start, he failed to fasten his seat belt. At Maison Blanche he put a wheel in the dirt and lost control of the vehicle at around 150mph, the vehicle flipped and broke in two and Woolfe was thrown clear. He unfortunately died in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. For the two works 917s it was a rather different start, as Vic Elford explains, “At the start, we both made a good start, Rolf was off first and I was right behind him. The 917 the door used to open upwards and normally, as we jumped in, we would just let it go and it would slam shut. I did this as I got in and turned the engine on, except the door didn’t shut properly. On the first lap, we were all supposed to have a Commissaire standing beside the car to make sure we all put our seat belts on – what a joke! So, although the seat belt Commissaire was looking, he couldn’t really see into the car, and so we all made a show of it and took off and on the way down the Mulsanne Straight on the first lap I was steering with my knees while I put the belt on, and I am sure I wasn’t alone, everybody was doing the same thing. Then I turned my attention to the door because the door hadn’t closed properly, but the car was a bit of a monster that year so the only time I had anything like a free hand was on the [Mulsanne] Straight, but the air pressure was such that I couldn’t get the door open. So, on the two longer straights, I was steering with one hand and trying to push the door open with my other hand to get it to slam again, but I couldn’t get it open, so after five laps I had to come in and get the mechanics to close the door for me.” www.porscheroadandrace.com The #12 Porsche 917 of Elford/Attwood (chassis #917-008) was easily the fastest car on race day, but unfortunately retired with a failed clutch, with 327 laps on the board Rolf Stommelen had laid down the benchmark by qualifying the #14 Porsche 917 on pole, with Vic Elford in the #12 car in second place. Elford in fact also posted the fastest race lap, but the 917’s first Le Mans race was to end in disappointment. The #14 car of Stommelen/Ahrens was the first 917 to retire, which it did with clutch trouble after 148 laps. The #12 car continued on its way with the Elford/Attwood proving dominant, leading all the way through the night and up until 11h00 on Sunday. With just hours to go, the lead Porsche let it be known that all was not well under the engine cover, a variety of problems had beset the car which was duly retired with 329 laps completed. While it is uncommon for a new race car to win Le Mans on its first outing, the 917 had announced its intention of winning the coveted trophy. www.porscheroadandrace.com 1970 Le Mans J.W. Automotive Engineering (JWA) had signed a contract with Ford to run their GT40 programme out of their workshop in Slough, England. The ‘JW’ initials were those of John Wyer who had a reputation for running a slick operation. JWA had produced a Ford winner at Le Mans in 1968 and 1969, also gave Ford the World Championship in 1968. At the end of 1969, with Ford’s contract with JWA at an end, Ferry Porsche and Ferdinand Piëch signed JWA to run their factory team in 1970 and 1971. This handed the running of the three factory prepared 917s to JWA, but importantly it also meant that by tying up JWA in this way, they could not be signed by an opposing team and thereby prove a threat to Porsche’s team. Porsche would also supply their two top factory contracted drivers, Jo Siffert and Brian Redman, and JWA was given a free hand in selecting the other drivers. That way, Ferry would avoid any conflict between the Porsche factory team and the team run by his sister, Louise Piëch, in Salzburg, Austria. In return, Ferry required JWA to bring the Gulf sponsorship to the table, and it is probably fair to say that there was no opposition to that requirement from any quarter. www.porscheroadandrace.com The #23 Porsche 917 KH Coupé entered by Porsche Salzburg and driven by Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann negotiates the Esses just before the start/finish straight during the Le Mans 1970. This car was the overall winner JWA wasted no time in getting to the bottom of the 917’s instability problems, in fact it was the JWA engineer John Horsman who developed the car’s raised rear deck during a test session at the Österreichring in late 1969. When the 917 KH (Kurzheck) appeared at the start of the 1970 season resplendent in its Gulf livery, it was a transformed racer. The 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours was the last race start which saw the drivers sprinting across the track, jumping into their cars, and then roaring off.