24 Hours of Le Mans - Pedro Rodriguez, between Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans
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24 Hours of Le Mans - Pedro Rodriguez, between Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1968, Pedro Rodriguez was one of the fastest drivers of his time, as much so at the 24 Hours as at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which on May 2nd will host the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

In the early 1970s, the 24 Hours and Spa-Francorchamps circuits were two of the longest in Europe: 13 km for the first (still its current length) and 14 for the second (reduced today to 7 km). And both required a lot of heart to race to the max at the time. In 1970 and 1971, Pedro Rodriguez made his mark at both.

On June 7, 1970, the Mexican BRM driver and winner of the last edition of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Belgium raced at the big 14 km circuit at an average of 241 km/h. Three weeks earlier, on May 17th, he served up one of the most famous in the history of endurance: qualified in the pole position at the 1,000 km of Spa in a Porsche 917 Gulf ahead of the sister car driven by his teammate Jo Siffert, they attacked the well-known Raidillon of the Spa circuit door to door, on a wet track! The duo Siffert-Redman won, but the duel between the Swiss and Mexican drivers continued the following year in the Belgian Ardennes. Along with Jackie Oliver, Rodriguez won on May 9, 1971, at an astounding average of 249 km/h.

The next month, Rodriguez definitively made his mark in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At the wheel of the long version of the Porsche 917, in qualifying he clocked a time of 3:13:9. For the first time, the pole position at the 24 Hours exceeded a 250 km/h average with, remember, the Mulsanne Straight free of its two chicanes. No one has done better since and this record will most likely never be beaten. But Rodriguez and Oliver were forced to retire during the race. The Mexican driver would never get the chance to exact revenge: he passed away on July 11, 1971 at the German circuit Norisring at only 31 years of age. But to this day he remains one of the greatest drivers in the history of the 24 Hours and endurance, with a victory and a pole position at Le Mans.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo (Copyright - ARCHIVES ACO): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY JUNE 12 1971, START. The first row at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the Porsche 917 LH of Pedro Rodriguez-Jackie Oliver (No. 18) in pole position, next to that of Vic Elford-Gérard Larrousse.
 

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