Interestingly, the highest-finishing Porsche from the previous year, the fourth-place 904/6 of Linge/Nöcker, completed 336 laps having started from twenty-second place on the grid with a qualifying time of 4:03.1. Fitted with a similar engine, the highest-placed 906 LH in 1966, driven by Siffert/Davis, also finished in fourth place, having started from twentysecond on the grid with a qualifying time of 3:51.0, completing 339 laps. One of the shorttail 906s in the 1966 race was the works entered car of Klass/Stommelen, which posted a qualifying time of 3:55.8; in reality, this was only slightly slower than its long-tail sibling down the Mulsanne Straight, accounting for the difference in the car’s qualifying times.
MANSLEATPORSCHE 54 1966
June 18–19
R
importer Auguste Veuillet, while a single privateer 911 made up the Stuttgart total. In near-standard trim, this No. 35 Porsche 911 finished strongly in fourteenth place.
eporting for Motor Sport, Denis Jenkinson wrote, “[T]he atmosphere at Le Mans was much stronger than Ford versus Ferrari, it was America versus Europe.” His comments were motivated by the armada of Ford entrants consisting of eight 7.0-liter Mk II Ford coupes supported by a flotilla of five 4.7-liter GT40s. In the other corner, Ferrari fielded three works 330/P3s and no fewer than eleven factorysupported Ferraris of differing description. Together, these two manufacturers accounted for twenty-seven cars, almost half of the field of fifty-five starters, which makes Jenkinson’s comments quite relevant.
Jo Siffert and Colin Davis drove one of the new Porsche 906 LH cars at the 1966 event (chassis 906-153). Corporate Archives Porsche AG
In yet another corner was Porsche. Their battle was perhaps not for top honors, as they could not realistically hope to dislodge the likes of Ford and Ferrari, but they were there to pick up the positions as vacated by the big names during the twentyfour-hour battle. With the launch of the new 906, introduced immediately in both shorttail (KH, for Kleinheck) and longtail (LH, for Langheck) form, the potential top speed of the Porsche down the Mulsanne Straight was significantly increased over its predecessor.OfPorsche’s seven starters, six were of the new 906 variant, with five being entered by the factory and one by French Porsche
In the race itself, Ford appeared to dominate proceedings early on as the Ferrari cars fell by the wayside one after the other, with none of the works cars finishing the race. The highestplaced Ferrari was the factory-supported 275 GTB, entered by Ronnie Hoare, which finished in eighth place behind the three top-placed Fords and five Porsches—a comprehensive trouncing of the Italian marque if ever there was one.
With each new Porsche racer, it seemed that the engineers created another first. The 904 represented the company’s first use of fiberglass and was a clear move away from the Spyder body toward an enclosed body style. For the company, the 906 was once again a clear shift away from any form of hybrid road/race format, as the newcomer was a race-only vehicle and clearly showed the direction Porsche’s future race car styling would take.
The lessons learned in the development of the 904 gave the Porsche engineers invaluable experience in the creation of their next racer, the 906, or Carrera 6. In a departure from the 904,
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The 906 offered Porsche the versatility seen in the 904, where multiple engines could be fitted; by now, though, the fourcylinder boxer engine was no longer an option. A modified version of the 1,991cc engine as used in the 911 road car was the engine of choice, but the 906 was also fitted with a longtail, which gave the car a higher top speed at Le Mans.
With victory in the French endurance race still at the top of Piëch’s list of priorities, the 906’s replacement, the 910, was already on the drawing board by mid-season. This time Piëch was not going to use the old 904 suspension: he wanted to make sure that the rest of the paddock knew what Porsche’s intentions were.
where the combined chassis and body were stressed as a unitary construction, the 906 employed a stressed tubular frame chassis combined with a thinnergauge fiberglass body, which also reduced weight and remained unstressed.
Debuting at the Manufacturers’ Championship Daytona 24 Hours in February 1966, Herrmann/Linge brought the new 906 home sixth overall (first in the Prototype 2000 class), followed by a fourth place (again first in class) in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March that year.
PORSCHE 906—A NEW GENERATION OF DEDICATED RACE CARS
Where the 904 had introduced Porsche to the creative properties of GRP, this model’s body was formed in the tried-and-tested method of hand-laying fiberglass cloth strips directly in the mold. This method produced a strong shell, though it suffered from inconsistent skin thicknesses throughout.
Wanting to take the 906 to new levels of technology, Ferdinand Piëch, as head of motorsports development, ordered a new rear suspension based on the latest Lotus Formula 1 unit. The rushed nature of the 906’s development, however, meant that the racing department still had a large quantity of 904 rear suspensions planned for the “Mk II” version of that car, which Piëch no longer intended to use. This did not please Ferry, who responded by insisting that the 904 suspensions be used in the new 906. Piëch had no option but to toe the line.
The Targa Florio, one of the most important events on the World
Manufacturers’ Championship calendar at the time, saw 906s finishing in 1–3–5–8–15 positions, a remarkable result in anyone’s book. The 24 Hours of Le Mans offered another opportunity for the 906 to prove itself yet again. By finishing in positions 4–5–6–7, one might consider this a success by any measure, but for Piëch it was still not enough.
The Porsche 906 LH of Siffert/Davis (chassis 906-153) finished first in class and fourth overall, behind a brace of Ford Mk IIs in the 1966 Le Mans. The top Porsche averaged 118.12 miles per hour, which in 1963 would have been sufficient to win the race. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
It began to rain during the early evening hours, and the weather got worse as night fell, changing the nature of the race entirely. As the hours passed, cars spun out or retired through mechanical maladies, but the No. 23 Porsche Salzburg 917 kept going. Having lost the title by a whisker the previous year, Hans Herrmann could hardly believe his good fortune as the smaller-engined 4.5-liter 917 didn’t miss a beat.
Best of the 911 finishers in 1970 were the familiar Porsche stalwarts Erwin Kremer/Nicolas Koob in the No. 47 911 S 2.3-liter. They crossed the line in ninth place but were officially classified in seventh position; good enough to take first place in the Grand Touring 2500 class. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
Corporate Archives Porsche AG
MANSLEATPORSCHE 76
Here is the start of the 1970 race, and the year in which Porsche rose to dominance. The pole-sitting No. 25 Porsche 917 LH powers away while the second car on the grid, the No.6 Ferrari 512 S, has already lost ground to the No. 20 Gulf Porsche 917 KH. None of these first three cars was classified as a finisher, but the spoils of the battle would go to the No. 23 Porsche KH (not pictured here), which started from fifteenth place. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
Porsche AG
After 225 laps, the No. 25 Salzburg 917 LH ingested an inlet valve, which left Porsche regulars, Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens, high and dry. Corporate Archives
A surprise top finisher at the 1970 race was the Porsche 914/6 GT driven by the French pairing of Guy Chasseuil/ Claude Ballot-Léna. A steady and trouble-free run by the No. 40 car saw them finish in seventh place (officially sixth) and first in the Grand Touring 2000 class. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
77 s1970
Porsche’s proven 908/02 Spyder, driven by Rudi Lins/Helmut Marko, dropped from second place to third following an errant wheel nut, which delayed the car in the pits long enough to let the No. 3 Martini Porsche 917 pass. The No. 27 908 Spyder was able to hold station to the end, finishing in third place. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
1980s CHAPTER 4
Lined up for the photo shoot following scrutineering for the 1982 race are the three works Porsche Group C cars. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
Domination, Porsche Style
In the 1970s, professional drivers still had to be somewhat creative if they were to secure sufficient drives in a year to make a decent living, as John Fitzpatrick recalls: “I can remember when we used to do a season with Kremer or Georg Loos or Ford. In the early to midseventies, driving in the works team or a winning car, we used to earn about DM100,000 a year. In 1980, when I won the Porsche Cup, I won a lot of races that year, I probably made about a maximum of $200,000.”
While some manufacturers may have withheld their new cars, in Europe, at least, this situation did play into the hands of the privateer teams such as Loos and Kremer. With Kremer’s victory at Le Mans in 1979 came the inevitable demand for performance components from the Cologne company, which served to push Erwin Kremer and his team to produce even more advanced technical innovations for their own as well as their customer’s cars.
As race car speeds continued to increase, even in the lower ranks, the level of sponsorship, investment in research and development, driver/team professionalism, and subsequently salaries, all rose substantially in the 1980s. Fitzpatrick again: “When I stopped [in 1984], I remember Klaus Ludwig carried on and drove for Mercedes, he was the first touring car driver to have a DM1-million contract.”
The expectation was that Kremer would produce a bigger, better version of its formidable K3, which was logically called the K4. Only two 935 K4s were built, one being the right-handdrive Jägermeister car in that sponsor’s familiar orange livery, and the other a similar left-hand-drive vehicle. The K4 featured bigger turbos, an intercooler and oil pump, but the K4’s rear body differed substantially from the K3’s in that the entire back end was fabricated over the existing rear window so that the team could open the complete rear section of the car as one large piece. This gave the pit crew an advantage during pit
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stops by allowing much-improved access to the engine, gearbox, wheels, and other vital parts.
At least on the European and American stage, the 1980s began with the knowledge that Group 6 was to be replaced with the FIA’s latest Group C rules in 1982. This resulted in a varied collection of contenders at Le Mans in the early part of that decade, as some manufacturers understandably delayed the development of their new cars while others went ahead with theirs. Whether one viewed this situation with pessimism or interest, such a varied grid did provide the race-goer with some entertaining trackside action.
The No. 7 Taka-Q Joest Racing Porsche 956B of Klaus Ludwig/ Paolo Barilla/Louis Krages only managed 196 laps before being parked with engine failure. Just before half distance, the race was brought up behind the pace car following the accident in which Jo Gartner was killed. The entire field circulated behind the pace car for three hours while the barriers were rebuilt, which affected some race cars’ cooling systems and engines. The No. 7 Joest Porsche was one of the cars forced to retire.
The No. 2 Rothmans works Porsche 962 C (chassis 004), driven by Jochen Mass/Bob Wollek/Vern Schuppan, had an accident on lap 180 and retired. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
MANSLEATPORSCHE 154
Corporate Archives Porsche AG
The No. 180 Porsche 961 factory entry attracted a lot of interest in the 1986 race. Driven by the French pairing of René Metge/Claude Ballot-Léna, the one-off Porsche 961 (chassis 10016) finished a remarkable seventh overall and first in the IMSA GTX class (it was the only car in this class!), despite a broken throttle linkage and a high-speed blowout, which required a new driveshaft to be fitted. The 961 was the first four-wheel-drive car ever to race at Le Mans, completing 321 laps against the 368 laps of the winning factory 962. The Type 961 was powered by a twin-turbocharged 2,847cc engine and, with a maximum output of 680 horsepower, it was close to the Group C spec engine. The 961 could reach a top speed of 205 miles per hour (330 kilometers per hour) down the Mulsanne Straight, but weighing in at 2,535 pounds (1,150 kilograms) she was no lightweight, being more than 662 pounds (300 kilograms) heavier than a Group C car, which makes its seventh-place finish all the more remarkable.
Corporate Archives Porsche AG
For the spectators camped alongside the track in tents, sleeping must have been a bit of a challenge with the likes of the Group C cars flashing by continuously. After a shunt at the Tertre Rouge by the No. 9 Obermaier Racing Porsche 956, in which the front of the car was damaged by Jürgen Lässig, the German driver, his teammates Fulvio Ballabio and Dudley Wood recovered well to record a fifth overall placing. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
155 s1980
The No. 1 Rothmans works Porsche 962 C (chassis 003), driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck/ Derek Bell/Al Holbert, stops in the pits for refueling. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
MANSLEATPORSCHE 276
Driving the Belgian-entered No. 75 Prospeed Competition Porsche 911 RSR (997) were Abdulaziz Al Faisal/Bret Curtis/Sean Edwards. Their race was cut short following an accident after 180 laps. Glen Smale
German team owner Christian Ried and his Italian teammates Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti, class winners in the season opening round at Sebring, were running a promising fourth in the race in the No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 RSR (997). But after 222 laps, Gianluca Roda had to park the 911 trackside without any drive.
Driving a steady race in the British-entered No. 55 JWA-AVILA Porsche 911 RSR (997) were Paul Daniels/Markus Palttala/Joël Camathias. This team finished thirty-third overall and eighth in the GTE Am class. Glen Smale
Glen Smale
Glen Smale
277 BEYONDAND...s2010 2012 Race Results
Starting from eighth place in class on the grid, the all-French team of Raymond Narac, Nicolas Armindo, and Anthony Pons held the highest position at the end of twentyfour hours in their No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 RSR (997). They were robbed of class victory by tire damage in the final minutes, having led the field until just a few laps before the flag came down at the end of the race.
Posting a blistering qualifying time ahead of the two GTE Pro Porsches was the No. 79 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, driven by Porsche works driver, Patrick Pilet with Americans Seth Neiman and Spencer Pumpelly. Starting the race as pole-sitters in their class, they defended their top position in the early phase of the race, only to be temporarily thrown out of the top ten after a quick tour into the gravel. They recovered from this mishap to finish twentyseventh overall and fourth in the GTE Am class. Glen Smale
Pos. Car/Model No. Driver(s) Entered Class Cl. Pos Laps Reason 21 911 RSR 67 Anthony Pons (FR)/Raymond Narac (FR)/Nicolas Armindo (FR) IMSA Performance Matmut GTE Am 2 328 27 911 RSR 79 Seth Neiman (US)/Patrick Pilet (FR)/Spencer Pumpelly (US) Flying Lizard Motorsport GTE Am 4 313 33 911 RSR 55 Paul Daniels (GB)/Markus Palttala (FI)/Joël Camathias (CH) JWA-AVILA GTE Am 8 290 DNF 911 RSR 88 Christian Ried (DE)/Gianluca Roda (IT)/Paolo Ruberti (IT) Team Felbermayr-Proton GTE Am 222 Retired DNF 911 RSR 77 Richard Lietz (AT)/Marc Lieb (DE)/Wolf Henzler (DE) Team Felbermayr-Proton GTE Pro 184 Retired DNF 911 RSR 75 Abdulaziz Al Faisal (SA)/Bret Curtis (US)/Sean Edwards (GB) Prospeed Competition GTE Am 180 Accident DNF 911 RSR 80 Jörg Bergmeister (DE)/Patrick Long (US)/Marco Holzer (DE) Flying Lizard Motorsports GTE Pro 114 Accident