1971 Le Mans 24 hour race

The victorious Porsche 917 with starting number 22. Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep set a new distance record with 5335.313 km

Refueling stop and driver change at the winning car. Helmut Marko is standing behind the car with the red helmet

Joseph Siffert and Derek Bell's Porsche 917 long tail in front of the Hotel de France in Le Mans

The Martini Racing Porsche 917 long tail with starting number 21. Driven by Gérard Larrousse and Vic Elford, the car broke down after nine hours of racing with an overheated cylinder.

Porsche 917 "Pink Pig" with starting number 23

The 39th 24-hour race of Le Mans , the 39 ^e Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , also 24 Heures du Mans, Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans , took place from 12 to 13 June 1971 on the Circuit des 24 Heures .

The race

The race of records

The 24-hour race of 1971 went down in the history of this event as the race of records. After a driving time of 24 hours, the victorious Porsche 917 driven by Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep had set a new distance record of 5335.313 kilometers, surpassing the previous record of Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt from 1967 by almost 100 kilometers. This distance corresponded to a racing average of 222.304 km / h and that including all pit stops. For a long time this record was considered one for the ages. However , the record fell in 2010 when the Audi R15 TDI driven by Timo Bernhard , Mike Rockenfeller and Romain Dumas also covered 397 laps and improved the record to 5410.713 km thanks to the longer route. The two Audis that reached the finish behind it also covered a longer distance than the Porsche in 1971.

In practice, Pedro Rodríguez drove a record lap with an average of 250.069 km / h. Nobody had driven faster at Le Mans on the race weekend before him. Team mate Jackie Oliver had set a time of 3: 13.600 minutes in the preliminary tests. This is the fastest lap time at Le Mans to date.

New start procedure

The year before that , the Le Mans start introduced in 1925 had already been adapted. After the protests of the drivers had accumulated, who ran across the street to their stationary vehicles and had to start them, they started standing up in 1970 - albeit still at an angle in front of the pits. The main criticism was that the drivers could not seat their seat belt properly and some of them drove to the first pit stop of the race without wearing the seat belt.

From 1971 on this tradition was completely abandoned and the Indianapolis start was taken over, in which the vehicles cover the introductory lap behind the pace car and are sent into the race at full speed as they cross the starting line.

Before the race

Even before the race it became clear that this endurance race would be a racing event for the Porsche brand . 33 of the 49 starters were Porsches. This large number was led by seven Porsche 917s. Striking was the 917 from Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen , who was known as the “Pink Pig” and was painted out of pork halves. The Martini Racing 917 hatchback had a lightweight body made of magnesium . In addition to the 917, there were five 3-liter Porsche 908/02 and one 2-liter Porsche 907 as well as 18 Porsche 911 and two Porsche 914 , all of which competed in the GT class . After the Ferrari factory team did not do so, it was left to private teams to put the Ferrari 512M to the start. Too few units of the new Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 were produced for the homologation of the GT class, so that all registered 365 had to start in the sports car.

With the MS660, Matra only brought a prototype to Le Mans and the Ligier JS3 was powered by the 3-liter Cosworth engine from Formula 1 .

Marie-Claude Charmasson was the first female participant in almost two decades. The starting ban for women imposed by the ACO after Annie Bousquet's fatal accident at the Reims 12-hour race in 1956 was lifted in 1971 as out of date.

The course of the race

As in the two years before, the Porsche 917 took the lead right from the start. Jackie Oliver drove record laps at the beginning and was at the front with his partner Pedro Rodríguez for the first seven hours of racing, interrupted only by various pit stops. The best Ferrari at the time was the 512 from David Hobbs and Mark Donohue, which was in fifth place . When the Oliver-917 failed with a technical defect, a Ferrari was in the lead for a short time. The Escuderia-Montjuich-512 driven by José Juncadella and Nino Vaccarella led to the gearbox failure.

In the second half of the race, the Marko / van Lennep car was in the lead and never gave it up until the end.

Results

Pilots by nationality

34 French	17 Swiss	12 British	9 Americans	8 Germans
5 Belgians	4 Italians	2 Austrians	1 Canadian	1 Luxembourger
1 Mexican	1 Moroccan	1 Dutch	1 New Zealander	1 Spaniard
1 Swede

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S 5.0	22nd	Martini Racing Team	Helmut Marko Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	F.	397
2	S 5.0	19th	John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Richard Attwood Herbert Mueller	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	F.	395
3	S 5.0	12	North American Racing Team	Sam Posey Tony Adamowicz	Ferrari 512M	Ferrari 5.0L V12	G	366
4th	S 5.0	16	David Piper Autorace	Chris Craft David Weir	Ferrari 512M	Ferrari 5.0L V12	G	355
5	S 5.0	58	North American Racing Team	Bob Grossman Luigi Chinetti Jr.	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Ferrari 4.4L V12	G	314
6th	GT + 2.0	63	ASA Cachia Bundi	Raymond Touroul André Anselme	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	D M	306
7th	P 2.0	49	Wicky Racing Team	Walter Brun Peter Mattli	Porsche 907	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	F.	306
8th	GT + 2.0	38	René Mazzia	René Mazzia Jürgen Barth	Porsche 911EC	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	M D	303
9	GT + 2.0	42	Jean Mésange	Jean Mésange Gérard Darton-Merlin	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.	298
10	GT + 2.0	26th	Nicolas Koob	Erwin Kremer Nicolas Koob Günther Huber	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	D.	292
11	GT + 2.0	39	AGACI	Guy Verrier Gérard Foucault	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.	290
12	GT + 2.0	44	The Paul Watson Race Organization	Paul Vestey Richard Bond	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.	286
13	GT + 2.0	36	Écurie Jean Sage	Björn Waldegård Bernard Chenevière	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	G	263
Not classified
14th	P 3.0	24	Automobiles Ligier	Guy Ligier Patrick Depailler	Ligier JS3	Cosworth DFV 3.0L V8	M.	270
Failed
15th	GT + 2.0	35	Pierre Greub	Sylvain Garant Pierre Greub	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	D.
16	S 5.0	57	Zitro Racing Team Dominique Martin	Dominique Martin Gérard Pillon	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12	G
17th	P 3.0	29	Wicky Racing Team	André Wicky Max Cohen-Olivar	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	F.
18th	S 5.0	17th	John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Joseph Siffert Derek Bell	Porsche 917LH	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	F.
19th	P 3.0	32	Equipe Matra-Simca	Chris Amon Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra-Simca MS660	Matra 3.0L V12	G
20th	S 5.0	9	Ecurie Francorchamps	Hughes de Fierlant Alain de Cadenet	Ferrari 512M	Ferrari 5.0L V12	F.
21st	S 5.0	6th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Corrado Manfredini Giancarlo Gagliardi	Ferrari 512M	Ferrari 5.0L V12	G
22nd	GT 2.0	47	André Wicky Racing Team	Jean-Jacques Cochet Jean Selz	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	D.
23	GT + 2.0	1	Écurie Léopard	Jean-Claude Aubriet Jean-Pierre Rouget	Chevrolet Corvette Stingray	Chevrolet 7.0L V8	D.
24	P 3.0	30th	Louis Cosson	Louis Cosson Helmut Leuze	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.
25th	GT 2.0	69	Autohaus Max Moritz GmbH	Gerd Quist Dietrich Krumm	Porsche 914/6 GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	G
26th	GT + 2.0	2	Greder Racing	Marie-Claude Charmasson Henri Greder	Chevrolet Corvette Stingray	Chevrolet 7.0L V8	M.
27	S 5.0	18th	John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Pedro Rodríguez Jackie Oliver	Porsche 917LH	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	F.
28	S 5.0	15th	Escuderia Montjuich	José Juncadella Nino Vaccarella	Ferrari 512M	Ferrari 5.0L V12	F.
29	P 3.0	28	Auguste Veuillet	Claude Ballot-Léna Guy Chasseuil	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.
30th	S 5.0	7th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Mike Parkes Henri Pescarolo	Ferrari 512F	Ferrari 5.0L V12	G
31	GT + 2.0	65	Jacques Dechaumel	Jacques Dechaumel Jean-Claude Parot	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.
32	S 5.0	23	Martini Racing Team	Reinhold Joest Willi Kauhsen	Porsche 917/20 "Pink Pig"	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	F.
33	S 5.0	21st	Martini Racing Team	Vic Elford Gérard Larrousse	Porsche 917LH	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	F.
34	GT + 2.0	33	Rey Racing	Jean-Pierre Cassegrain Jacques Rey	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	D.
35	GT 2.0	46	Ecurie Porsche Club Romand	Paul Keller Jean Sage	Porsche 914/6 GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6	F.
36	GT + 2.0	34	Richie Ginther Racing Inc.	Alain Johnson Elliot Forbes-Robinson	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	G
37	GT + 2.0	37	Pierre Mauroy	Pierre Mauroy Jean-Claude Lagniez	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.4L Flat-6	D.
38	GT + 2.0	40	Jean Égreteaud	Jean Égreteaud Jean-Marie Jacquemin	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.
39	GT + 2.0	41	Jean-Pierre Gaban	Jean-Pierre Gaban Willy Braillard	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.
40	P 2.0	50	Camel Team Huron	Guy Edwards Roger Enever	Lola T212	Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4	D.
41	S 5.0	11	Roger Penske	Mark Donohue David Hobbs	Ferrari 512M / P	Ferrari 5.0L V12	G
42	S 5.0	10	Gelo Racing Team	Georg Loos Franz Pesch	Ferrari 512M	Ferrari 5.0L V12	F.
43	P 3.0	60	Claude Haldi	Claude Haldi Hans-Dieter Weigel	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	F.
44	S 5.0	14th	North American Racing Team	Masts Gregory George Eaton	Ferrari 512S Spyder	Ferrari 5.0L V12	G
45	GT + 2.0	66	Rey Racing	Jean-Claude Geurie Claude Mathurin	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D M
46	GT + 2.0	48	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud Mario Ilotte	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	P
47	GT + 2.0	43	François Migault	Jean-Pierre Bodin Gilbert Courthiade	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.
48	P 3.0	27	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot Jean-Claude Andruet	Porsche 910	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	D.
49	S 5.0	5	Racing Team VDS	Teddy Pilette Gustave Gosselin	Lola T70 Mk.IIIB	Chevrolet 5.0L V8	F.
Not qualified
50	GT + 2.0	45	Claude Laurent	Claude Laurent Jacques Marché	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.	1
51	GT + 2.0	68	The Paul Watson Racing Organization	John Chatham Mike Coombe William Tuckett	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6	D.	2
52	GT 2.0	52	Ecurie Leopard	Joseph Bourdon Maurice Nussbaumer	Alpine A110	Renault 1.6L L4		3
Withdrawn
53	GT + 2.0	64	Porsche Kremer Racing Team	Claude Buchet Jean-Paul Agére	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		4th

¹ not qualified ² not qualified ³ not qualified ⁴ withdrawn

Only in the entry list

Here you can find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race, but did not take part for various reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires
54	GT + 2.0	3	Troy Promotions Inc.	Tony DeLorenzo Don Yenko	Chevrolet Corvette Stingray	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
55	GT + 2.0	4th	Troy Promotions Inc.	John Mahler Dick Thompson	Chevrolet Corvette Stingray	Chevrolet 7.0L V8
56	P 3.0	24	Escuderia Montjuich	José-Maria Palomo	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
57	GT 2.0	70	Escuderia Montjuich	Juan Fernández Jorge Babler	Porsche 914/6 GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
58	GT 2.0	74	Roland Tozzi	Roland Tozzi	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
59	GT 2.0	75	André Wicky Racing Team	Jean-Jacques Cochet Jean Selz	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
60	P 3.0	29	Autodelta SpA		Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8
61	P 3.0	30th	Autodelta SpA		Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8
62	P 3.0	31	Autodelta SpA		Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8
63	P 2.0	47	Team Huron		Huron 4A	Cosworth 1.8L I4
64	P 2.0	48	Team Huron		Huron 4A	Cosworth 1.8L I4
65	P 2.0	52	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud		Chevron B12	BMW 2.0L I4
66	P 2.0	53	Steinmetz Automobil Technik GmbH	Arthur Blank Bob Wollek	Chevron B19	Opel 2.0L I4
67	P 2.0	54	François Migault	François Migault	Huron 4A	Cosworth 1.8L I4
68	P 2.0	55	Scuderia Filipinetti		Lola T212	Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4
69	GT + 2.0	64	The Paul Watson Race Organization		Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6
70	GT 2.0	68	Alain Clément		Porsche 914/6 GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
71	S 5.0	5	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jean-Pierre Jabouille Ronnie Peterson	Ferrari 512F	Ferrari 5.0L V12
72	P 3.0	59	Joseph Greger	Ernst Kraus Dieter Basche	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
73	P 3.0	60	Peter Weichert	Peter Weichert Erwin Barnes	Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
74	P 3.0	61	North American Racing Team	Jacky Ickx Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari 312P	Ferrari 3.0L V12
75	P 2.0	65	Camel Filters Team Huron	François Migault	Huron 4A	Cosworth 1.8L I4
76	P 2.0	66	Ecurie Volants Shell	Guy Dhôtel Joël Auvray	BBM 2-C	BMW 2.0L Flat-6
77	P 2.0	71	John L'Amie	John L'Amie Brian Nelson	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
78	S 5.0		Ecurie Evergreen	Chris Craft Malcolm Guthrie Frank Gardner	Ford GT40	Ford 4.7L V8
79	S 5.0		David Piper Autorace		Porsche 917	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12
80	S 5.0	19th	Escuderia Nacional CS	Àlex Soler-Roig	Porsche 917	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12
81	S 5.0	23	Martini International Racing Team	Rudi Lins Willi Kauhsen Kurt Ahrens	Porsche 917	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12
82	P 3.0	59	Association of South German Automobile Sportsmen		Porsche 908	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
83	GT 2.0	59	Ecurie Porsche Club Romand	Björn Waldegård	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
84	GT 2.0	72	Porsche Kremer Racing Team	Erwin Kremer Günther Huber	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
85	GT 2.0	73	Rey Racing		Porsche 914/6 GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
86	GT 2.0		Claude Haldi	Claude Haldi Paul Keller Bernard Chenevière	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
86	P 3.0		Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot	Porsche 908/02	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance	Helmut Marko	Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	Overall victory
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Bob Grossmann	Luigi Chinetti Jr.	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Rank 5
Sports car up to 5000 cm³	Helmut Marko	Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	Overall victory
Prototype up to 2000 cm³	Walter Brun	Peter Mattli	Porsche 907	Rank 7
GT car over 2500 cm³	no participant in the finish
GT car up to 2500 cm³	Raymond Touroul	André Anselme	Porsche 911S	Rank 6

Racing data

• Registered: 86
• Started: 49
• Valued: 12
• Race classes: 5
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starters of the race: Mr. Watson, US Ambassador to Paris and actor Steve McQueen
• Race weekend weather: cold and dry
• Route length: 13.469 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 397
• Distance of the winning team: 5335.313 km
• Winner's average: 222.304 km / h
• Pole position: Pedro Rodríguez - Porsche 917L (# 18) - 3: 13.900 = 250.069 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Jackie Oliver - Porsche 917L (# 18) - 3: 18.400 = 244.387 km / h
• Racing series: Round 9 of the 1971 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : 24 Hours of Le Mans 1971  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le Mans 2010

Previous race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1971

Sports car world championship

Successor 1000 km race from Zeltweg 1971