Spa-Francorchamps 1000 km race in 1969
The fourth 1000 km race of Spa-Francorchamps , also Grand Prix de Spa (1000 Kms de Francorchamps), Circuit National de Francorchamps , took place on May 11, 1969 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and was the sixth race of the sports cars World Championship this year.
Before the race
In the spring of 1969, Jackie Stewart , representing the Grand Prix Drivers' Association , visited the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack and again pointed out the safety deficiencies on the circuit to the officials of the Royal Automobile Club de Belgique . The GPDA had long criticized the lack of guard rails in the most dangerous places and Stewart found that not a single suggestion was implemented. In a hitherto unique event in Grand Prix racing, the GPDA drivers obtained the cancellation of a Formula Grand Prix . In 1969 there was no Belgian Grand Prix .
In contrast to the Formula 1 race, however , the endurance race took place. This was partly due to the fact that the 1000 km race was organized by the Royal Automobile Club of Spa and not by the Royal Automobile Club de Belgique and partly to the fact that the sports car drivers had no representation similar to the GPDA. Some of the Porsche works drivers spoke of a grotesque before the race.
The race
Rico Steinemann reported for the Porsche - factory team four Porsche 908 in the long-tail version for Vic Elford / Kurt Ahrens , Rolf Stommelen / Hans Herrmann , Jo Siffert / Brian Redman and Gerhard Mitter / Udo Schütz . Alternatively, a Porsche 917 was provided for Siffert and Redman , which made its racing debut in Spa.
After the debut at the 6-hour race at Brands Hatch came Mirage M2 by John Wyer in Spa for the second race. While Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver drove the chassis from Brands Hatch , a new vehicle was built for David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood . The two racing cars, powered by a V12 engine from BRM , had ZF 5-speed high-speed transmissions. The Hobbs and Hailwood car received a newly designed exhaust system from Weslake . After the cancellation of the Targa Florio , Scuderia Ferrari was back in the world championship. The only Ferrari 312P was driven by Pedro Rodríguez and David Piper , with Piper temporarily standing in for the sick Chris Amon . A second 312P was reported for Mario Andretti and Peter Schetty , but was not ready for use on the race weekend.
Three Alpine A220s with 3-liter V8 engines from Gordini came from France and were driven by André de Cortanze , Jean Vinatier , Jean-Claude Andruet , Gijs van Lennep , Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Henri Grandsire . The two reported work - Matra MS630 / 650 did not appear to practice and race.
The three training sessions were rainy. Siffert drove the 917 on a wet road with a time of 3: 51.900 minutes, which corresponded to an average of 228.750 km / h. After the first training session, Siffert explained that the 917 would hardly be drivable regardless of the track conditions. As the fastest driver in the Porsche driver squad, Siffert was able to choose between the 917 and the 908 and opted for the 908, which Redman also drove. Mitter and Schütz were to start the race with the 917, the 908 of which had an engine failure in the final training session. On the increasingly drier road, Paul Hawkins set the fastest time in the last few minutes of training on a Lola T70 Mk.3B GT in 3: 42.500 minutes. Hawkins in the Lola also led in the early stages of the race ahead of Ickx in the Mirage. In the third lap, Siffert took the lead in the 908, closely followed by Pedro Rodríguez in the Ferrari. As a result, a duel developed between Siffert and Rodríguez, similar to that in the 1000 km race in Monza . From Rodríguez's point of view, a preliminary decision was made when lapping Karl von Wendt in a Porsche 907 2.2 . While Siffert passed von Wendt in his Porsche on the descent to Eau Rouge , Rodríguez collided with the Porsche 907 before the curve in the Ferrari. The rear of von Wendt's Porsche crashed into a barrier, with hardly any damage to the car. Rodríguez had to pit to check the car and lost 40 seconds. After the race, Siffert also complained about von Wendt: You are always in the way. You need to look more in the rearview mirror . The decision about the overall victory was not made in the pits, but on the racetrack. Ferrari racing strategist Mike Parkes knew about his team's shortcomings even before the start. David Piper, the substitute for Chris Amon, who had measles , could not keep up with the pace of the top Porsche drivers and that of his teammate Rodríguez. Parkes therefore let Rodríguez sit in the car for the maximum driving time permitted by the regulations - 3 hours. Six minutes before this time was up, Rodríguez came to the pits to change drivers. At this point, the gap to Brian Redman, who is now driving in the leading Porsche, was 45 seconds. Since the Ferrari driver lost 40 seconds during the unplanned control stop, he only lost five seconds on the leading Porsche on the track and during the necessary refueling stops. During his 62 minute stint, Piper lost up to five seconds per lap to Redman and later to Jo Siffert. This decided the race to the disadvantage of Ferrari. At the finish the gap to the victorious Porsche was 3 minutes and 32 seconds.
The debut race of the Porsche 917, which rolled down the pit lane with an over-revving engine, lasted just under a lap.
Results
Final ranking
Item | class | No. | team | driver | vehicle | Round | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | P 3.0 | 25th | Porsche System Engineering |
Jo Siffert Brian Redman |
Porsche 908 LH | 71 | ||
2 | P 3.0 | 8th | Spa Ferrari SEFAC |
David Piper Pedro Rodríguez |
Ferrari 312P | 71 | ||
3 | P 3.0 | 5 | Porsche System Engineering |
Vic Elford Kurt Ahrens |
Porsche 908 LH | 70 | ||
4th | P 3.0 | 11 | Porsche System Engineering |
Hans Herrmann Rolf Stommelen |
Porsche 908 LH | 67 | ||
5 | S 5.0 | 32 | Ecurie Bonnier |
Jo Bonnier Herbert Müller |
Lola T70 Mk.3B GT | 67 | ||
6th | P 3.0 | 16 | Racing Team VDS |
Teddy Pilette Rob Slotemaker |
Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5 | 65 | ||
7th | P 3.0 | 2 | JW Automotive |
David Hobbs Mike Hailwood |
Mirage M2 / 300 | 65 | ||
8th | S 5.0 | 33 | Paul Hawkins Racing |
Paul Hawkins David Prophet |
Lola T70 Mk.3B GT | 64 | ||
9 | S 5.0 | 38 | Peter Sadler |
Peter Sadler Paul Vestey |
Ford GT40 | 64 | ||
10 | S 5.0 | 37 | IGFA Deutsche Auto Zeitung |
Helmut Kellener's Reinhold Joest |
Ford GT40 | 64 | ||
11 | S 5.0 | 34 | PR For Men |
Picko Troberg Bjorn Rothstein
|
Lola T70 Mk.3B GT | 63 | ||
12 | S 2.0 | 39 | William Bradley |
William Bradley Tony Dean
|
Porsche 910 | 61 | ||
13 | GT 2.0 | 59 | Gérard Larrousse |
Gérard Larrousse Rudi Lins Dieter Spoerry |
Porsche 911T | 58 | ||
14th | GT 5.0 | 58 | Scuderia Filipinetti |
Jacques Rey Edgar Berney |
Ferrari 275 GTB / C | 58 | ||
15th | S 2.0 | 43 | Guy Edwards |
Guy Edwards Mike Franey
|
Chevron B8 | 58 | ||
16 | S 2.0 | 20th | Bridges Walker |
John Bridges John Lepp
|
Chevron B8 | 58 | ||
17th | P 3.0 | 5 | Societé Automobiles Alpine |
André de Cortanze Jean Vinatier |
Alpine A220 / 69 | 57 | ||
18th | GT 2.0 | 55 | Jean-Pierre Gaban |
Jean-Pierre Gaban Yves Deprez |
Porsche 911S | 56 | ||
19th | S 2.0 | 46 | Lord Angus Clydesdale |
Angus Clydesdale Terry Hunter
|
Chevron B8 | 56 | ||
20th | S 2.0 | 41 | JCB Excavators Ltd. |
Peter Brown Roger Enever
|
Chevron B8 | 56 | ||
21st | P 3.0 | 4th | Societé Automobiles Alpine |
Jean-Claude Andruet Gijs van Lennep |
Alpine A220 / 69 | 54 | ||
22nd | P 2.0 | 21st | Andrew Mylius |
Andrew Mylius Alan Harvey
|
Chevron B8 | 54 | ||
23 | GT + 5.0 | 57 | Chris Tuerlinx |
Chris Tuerlinx Etienne Stalpaert
|
Chevrolet Corvette | 53 | ||
24 | P 2.0 | 22nd | Richard Dawkins |
Richard Dawkins Rod Eade
|
MGB | 51 | ||
25th | GT 2.0 | 56 | Hans-Dieter Blatzheim |
Hans-Dieter Blatzheim Werner Zanders
|
Porsche 911T | 41 | ||
Failed | ||||||||
26th | P 3.0 | 12 | German BG Racing Team |
Karl von Wendt Willi Kauhsen |
Porsche 907 2.2 | 7th | ||
27 | S 5.0 | 30th | Porsche System Engineering |
Gerhard Mitter Udo Schütz |
Porsche 917 | 1 | ||
28 | P 3.0 | 1 | JW Automotive |
Jacky Ickx Jackie Oliver |
Mirage M2 / 300 | |||
29 | P 3.0 | 3 | Societé Automobiles Alpine |
Jean-Pierre Jabouille Henri Grandsire |
Alpine A220 / 68 | |||
30th | P 3.0 | 14th | German BG Racing Team |
Hans-Dieter Dechent Gerhard Koch |
Porsche 907 2.2 | |||
31 | S 2.0 | 44 | Worcestershire Racing Association |
John Burton Paul Ridgway
|
Chevron B8 | |||
Not started | ||||||||
32 | P 3.0 | 17th | Racing Team VDS |
Gustave Gosselin Claude Bourgoignie |
Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5 | 1 | ||
33 | P 3.0 | 18th | Tony Beeson |
Tony Beeson Peter Smith
|
Chevron B8 | 2 | ||
34 | P 3.0 | 24T | Porsche System Engineering |
Gerhard Mitter Udo Schütz
|
Porsche 908 LH | 3 | ||
35 | S 5.0 | 31 | Porsche System Engineering |
Jo Siffert Brian Redman
|
Porsche 917 | 4th | ||
36 | S 2.0 | 40 | Racing Team VDS |
Jean-Marie Jacquemin Camille Demoulin Yves Deprez Jean-Pierre Cornet
|
Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ | 5 | ||
37 | S 2.0 | 45 | Peter Taggart |
Peter Taggart Tony Goodwin
|
Chevron B8 | 6th | ||
38 | S 2.0 | 48 | Ecurie Francorchamps |
Hughes de Fierlant Léon Dernier |
Ferrari Dino 206S | 7th | ||
39 | P 3.0 | 24 | Porsche System Engineering |
Gerhard Mitter Udo Schütz
|
Porsche 908 LH | 8th |
1 Piston damage in training 2 Engine damage in training 3 Replacement car 4 Replacement car 5 Accident in training 6 Not started 7 Accident in training 8 Engine damage in training
Only in the entry list
Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.
Item | class | No. | team | driver | chassis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 | P 3.0 | 6th | Matra | Jean Guichet | Matra MS630 / 650 |
41 | P 3.0 | 7th | Matra |
Johnny Servoz-Gavin Jean-Pierre Beltoise |
Matra MS630 / 650 |
42 | P 3.0 | 9 | Spa Ferrari SEFAC |
Mario Andretti Peter Schetty |
Ferrari 312P |
43 | P 2.0 | 15th | Alfa Romeo Benelux |
Enrico Pinto Camille Demoulin
|
Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 |
44 | P 2.0 | 19th | Willie Green |
Willie Green Jonathan Williams |
Chevron B5 |
45 | P 2.0 | 23 | Unipower |
Andrew Hedges Piers Forester
|
Unipower GT |
46 | S 5.0 | 35 | Tech-Speed Racing |
Chris Craft Allan Rollinson |
Lola T70 Mk.3 GT |
47 | S 5.0 | 36 | Ford France |
Michel Martin Hervé Bayard |
Ford GT40 |
48 | S 2.0 | 42 |
John Hine Mike Crabtree
|
Lotus 47 |
Class winner
Racing data
- Registered: 48
- Started: 31
- Valued: 25
- Race classes: 7
- Spectator: unknown
- Race day weather: warm and dry
- Route length: 14.100 km
- Driving time of the winning team: 4: 24: 19,600 hours
- Overall laps of the winning team: 71
- Total distance of the winning team: 1001.100 km
- Winner's average: 227.242 km / h
- Pole position: Paul Hawkins - Lola T70 Mk.3B GT (# 33) - 3: 42.500
- Fastest race lap: Brian Redman - Porsche 908 LH (# 25) - 3: 37.100 = 233.809 km / h
- Racing series: 6th round of the 1969 World Sports Car Championship
literature
- Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Zwickl: World champion through technical knockout - a racing season with Porsche . Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1969, p. 117.
- ↑ Helmut Zwickl: World champion through technical knockout - a racing season with Porsche . Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1969, p. 121.
Predecessor race Targa Florio 1969 |
Sports car world championship |
Successor 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1969 |