24h Le Mans
Rennsport Reunion V, the fifth edition of the world
Ten years ago, the Porsche RS Spyder made its competitive début in the American Le Mans Series. The LM P2-class car soon showed that the Stuttgart-based carmaker had lost none of its flair for prototype design. Its surprise outright win at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring provided the stepping-stone to further success with two consecutive class titles in 2008 and 2009. Interestingly, the livery sported by the RS Spyder at Rennsport Reunion V paid tribute to the final version of the Porsche 917.
Following the change in World Sportscar Championship rules at the end of the 1971 season, restricting the prototypes’ engine capacity to three litres, Porsche focused on North America and the 1972 CanAm Challenge. A year later, the 917/30 was born. With its turbocharged 5.4-litre engine producing in excess of 1,000 horsepower, it stormed to the 1973 CanAm title with American Mark Donohue at the wheel. Research on the 917/30 turbo engine and body provided the inspiration for the 936 prototype three years later. This was the car that took Jacky Ickx to three Le Mans 24-Hour victories (1976-77-81), bringing the Belgian the record for most Le Mans titles until Tom Kristensen entered the scene. The 917/30’s huge rear wing was subsequently transposed to the 936 in 1976–77 and its turbo engine powered the 911 Carrera to the runner-up spot at Le Mans in 1974. Although the 917/30 never actually raced at Le Mans, it does provide the missing link between the 917 and the generation marked by the 936, 956 and 962 C that brought Porsche a record number of wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Coincidentally, the 917/30 and RS Spyder were raced in the United States by the same team owner, Roger Penske, Porsche’s official partner for the development of these two exceptional prototypes.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO
Translated from French by David Goward
Photo: MONTEREY (CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES), MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA, 25–27 SEPTEMBER 2015. The Porsche RS Spyder sporting the 1973 livery of the 917/30 photographed in the famous Corkscrew at the Laguna Seca Raceway.
