24h Le Mans
24 HOURS CENTENARY – MAKES, MARQUES and IMPRINTS ⎮ The first Porsche to win Le Mans, the 917 enjoyed brief but extraordinary success at the race. In just three participations, the car earned two wins and one-twos, three pole positions and set lap and distance records that long remained unbroken.
The Porsche 917 almost didn't happen. After the 1967 24 Hours, the marque had only nine months to build the 25 units required for the car's approval under the Sport class regulations set forth by the CSI (International Sporting Commission, predecessor to the current FIA).
Ferry Porsche's nephew Ferdinand Piëch (Head of Competition) took on the challenge after securing financial support from Volkswagen. During the free practices for the 1969 24 Hours on 31 March and 1 April, just one month after its initial unveiling at the Geneva International Motor Show, the 917 reached a top speed of 340 kph and an average lap speed of 240 kph, clocking a record time of 03:30.7.
Despite periodically unstable handling, the 917 dominated the front row on the starting grid at the 1969 race. Pole-sitters Kurt Ahrens and Rolf Stommelen were still in the lead after the first hour, but were soon delayed with mechanical problems. The 917 shared by Vic Elford and Richard Attwood held the top spot for 18 hours before being forced to retire three hours from the chequered flag with clutch troubles.
In 1970, two legendary marques went head-to-head at the 24 Hours. Ferrari followed in Porsche's footsteps in the Sport class and presented the 512 that year, 11 of which competed against seven Porsche 917s. The German manufacturer not only capitalised on its experience and the improvements made to the 917 by new partner Gulf Racing (winner in 1968 and 1969), but also overcame some very tricky weather conditions.
During qualifying, at the wheel of a streamlined version called 917 LH (Langheck in German for Long Tail), Elford (Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg) clinched the first pole at an average 240 kph (03:19.8, 242.685 kph). Early in the race itself, he entered into a duel with the 917 K (Kurzheck, the version with a short rear cover) of Brian Redman/Jo Siffert (Gulf) which, thanks to the rain, snatched the lead and took off until it was forced to retire due to engine overspeed at two in the morning.
Driving the last of the seven 917s (qualified in 14th position), Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann (Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg) took advantage of the carnage caused by the wet weather. They figured in the top three by midnight and grabbed the helm after retirements for Jacky Ickx (Ferrari) and Siffert. Only two of the seven 917s finished the race, but in first and second place: Attwood/Herrmann followed by Willi Kauhsen/Gérard Larrousse (Martini Racing) in the long 917.
After the terrible weather of 1970, the following year the 917 became a legend forever thanks to…record downpours.
On 18 April 1971, at the wheel of a new version of the long 917 dear to Ferdinand Piëch, Jackie Oliver surpassed the average lap speed of 250 kph in 03:13.6. During qualifying, Pedro Rodríguez trailed his British teammate by merely three-tenths of a second (03:13.9) for a record pole position unbeaten until 14 years later by another Porsche, the 962 C driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck.
The Gulf team's two 917 LHs of Pedro Rodríguez/Jackie Oliver and Derek Bell/Jo Siffert dominated the race early on until the second car was delayed with wheel bearing problems. Then Rodríguez and Oliver were slowed shortly after three in the morning when Oliver suffered the same troubles as had Siffert. In the end, Rodríguez was forced to retire with an oil line leak.
Ferrari then held the lead until Nino Vaccarella/José Juncadella were dealt a malfunctioning clutch. The 917 K of Helmut Marko/Gijs van Lennep nabbed the top spot in the 13th hour and never let go. Once again, only two 917s made it to the finish, with second place for Richard Attwood/Herbert Müller at the wheel of the only surviving 917 (short version) fielded by the Gulf team. Solely represented by private teams for a total of nine cars at the start, Ferrari was unable to undermine the 917's efforts to set winning records.
Marko and van Lennep maintained an excellent pace through the chequered flag and set a distance record that would stand for an astounding 39 years, even four years after Dan Gurney/A.J. Foyt in the Ford Mk IV crossed the 5,000 km mark. With a smaller engine capacity than the 1967 Ford (7 litres), the Porsche 917 (4.9 litres in 1971) owes its abundance of records to numerous technical innovations, as well as a few internal rivalries. But that's another story…
PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. From top to bottom: three snapshots of the Porsche 917, the winning car in 1970 (#23), the first version in 1969 (#12) and the victor in 1971 (#22), with notable aerodynamic evolutions. Strangely, the two winning 917s did not figure among the favourites in 1970 and 1971
