1969 Daytona 24 hour race

Lola T70 Mk.3B GT

Porsche 908 long tail

The fourth 24 Hours of Daytona , also the 8th Annual World's Championship 24 Hours of Daytona International Road Race, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida , took place on February 2nd and 3rd, 1969 at Daytona International Speedway and was the first race of the sports car world championship this year.

Before the race

After the narrow defeat against Ford , represented by the works team of John Wyer , in the sports car world championship in 1968 , the team responsible for Porsche again took up the challenge in 1969 to finally win the title of world brand championship. The team traveled to Daytona with five newly built Porsche 908 long-tail cars . After the defeat at Le Mans in 1968 , the 8-cylinder boxer engines received more power and all five cars received a new 5-speed high-speed gearbox. With Brian Redman , a new driver joined the team in Daytona. Redman, who worked for John Wyer the previous year, signed a contract with Porsche before Daytona. His racing partner was Vic Elford . The other driver pairings were Jo Siffert / Hans Herrmann , Richard Attwood / Joe Buzzetta , Gerhard Mitter and Udo Schütz, who had returned from Alfa Romeo , and Rolf Stommelen / Kurt Ahrens . Rico Steinemann was the new race director at Porsche . The Swiss racing driver had replaced Fritz Huschke von Hanstein , who had been in office since 1952 .

Besides a Matra, the five works Porsches were the only entries in the 3-liter prototype class. Ferrari had returned to the Manufacturers ' World Championship with the 312P after a year of absence , but the cars were not yet ready for use and were subjected to a final test in Vallelunga . Alfa Romeo was also absent from Daytona. The announced Tipo 33 with the 3-liter V12 engine was a long time coming. Problems arose again and again during test drives.

In the sports car class up to 5 liters, John Wyer reported the tried and tested Ford GT40 . After Brian Redman's departure, his compatriot Jackie Oliver joined Jacky Ickx in the team. The second car was driven by David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood . Lucien Bianchi , who won the Le Mans 24-hour race for Wyer the previous autumn, had signed a contract with Alfa Romeo. His team-mate there, Pedro Rodríguez , was part of the Ferrari works team in 1969 . The two Fords were joined by four Lola T70s with V8 engines from Chevrolet . Roger Penske used one of these vehicles for his Penske Racing team . The chassis was delivered to Penske in Mooresville on January 1st . The mechanics dismantled the Lola down to the fuselage shell and then reassembled the prototype part by part. The oil lines were cleaned, the wheel bearings replaced and the brake lines replaced with better quality ones. All connection points have been checked and all screws replaced with higher strength ones. The tanks were checked for leaks and cleaned. In the end, the wheel suspensions were readjusted with measuring devices. David Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum were registered as drivers . Before the first training session, Bucknum, who had broken a finger in a motorcycle accident, had to forego the start. Chuck Parsons was flown in for him at short notice . Actor James Garner registered two T70s for his American International Racing team . The drivers were Ed Leslie , Lothar Motschenbacher , Scooter Patrick and Dave Jordan . The fourth Lola came from Europe and was driven by Joakim Bonnier and Ulf Norinder .

The race

During the first night training, the Porsche mechanics discovered a crack in the plastic-coated aluminum tank of the Mitter / Schütz-908 . The car was taken out of practice and the team lost valuable testing time. In the second night training, Henri Pescarolo had a serious accident in the Matra-Sports 630M . Pescarolo had never driven in Daytona and came off the ideal line with the Matra on his fourth lap when lapping a Porsche 911 and crashed into the boundary on the steep face. The Matra overturned and stayed on the roof. Pescarolo was able to get out of the wreck unharmed.

The best practice time was achieved by Vic Elford, who drove 1: 52.200 minutes in the last practice session and took the lead in the number 52 Porsche after the start of the race. Elford and team-mate Joseph Siffert in the car with the number 50 led the way at the beginning, followed by the Lolas with Donohue and Bonnier and the rest of the Porsches. The two Ford GT40s started at a slow pace at the end of the prototype and sports car field. After an hour of racing, the leading Elford even lapped David Hobbs' Ford. The first refueling stops and driver changes pulled the field apart. Ulf Norinder, who had taken over the Lola from Joakim Bonnier, hit the wall in the banked curve with the car and had to give up with a defective wheel suspension.

After just under two hours of racing, the problems at Porsche began. First Gerhard Mitter had a puncture in the oval at high speed, but was able to bring the 908 to the pits undamaged. In the third hour, Brian Redman came into the pits in second place. He ran over the Porsche box and had to push the car back. Exhaust gases had penetrated the cockpit and nearly made the driver faint. It was the beginning of a disaster with manifolds and exhausts on all Porsche 908s. In order to save weight, the parts were made of lighter material. Due to the loads that arose in the banked curves, the weld seams broke in series. After a driving time of five hours, the 908 from Elford / Redman, which had been leading up to that point, stood in the pits for half an hour because the manifold had to be replaced here too. Before the car could get back on the track, the mechanics had to solve the same problem on the Stommelen / Ahrens car. Due to the breaking weld seams, exhaust gases penetrated into the cockpits of all 908 and made the pilot difficult. Joe Buzetta had to be lifted out of the car, half passed out. Gerhard Mitter was even at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning . The team doctor gave the all-clear, but Mitter was not allowed to continue. Siffert at the front lost the entire exhaust on the track. None of the five Porsche 908s reached their destination. In addition to the problems with the manifolds, there were also difficulties with the camshafts, which led to the failure of Siffert / Herrmann, Stommelen / Ahrens and Mitter / Schütz. Mitter / Schütz's car stayed in the race the longest and was ranked 24th in the overall standings. Elford / Redman and Attwood / Buzzetta suffered an engine failure.

The two Ford GT40s also failed. Jacky Ickx had an accident in the morning hours and Mike Hailwood had to park the second Ford with a completely overheated engine. In the end there was a double victory for Lola. The victorious Penske T70 covered 47 fewer laps than the Porsche 907 2.2 in 1968 . During the 24 hours, the Lola had 31 pit stops. The car stood in the pits for 2:10:12 hours. A defective tank valve restricted the tank volume. Instead of 37 gallons, only 20 could be refilled at one stop. In addition to the obligatory tire changes, brake pads, an exhaust gasket and the starter were changed.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	S 5.0	6th	Roger Penske Racing	Mark Donohue Chuck Parsons	Lola T70 Mk.3B GT	626
2	S 5.0	8th	American International Racing	Ed Leslie Lothar Motschenbacher	Lola T70 Mk.3 GT	596
3	T 5.0	26th	Jon Ward Racing Ent.	Jerry Titus Jon Ward	Pontiac Firebird	591
4th	GT 2.0	20th	PART	Tony Adamowicz Bruce Jennings Herb Wetanson	Porsche 911T	583
5	T 2.0	14th	Fine Grinding Co.	Bert Everett Alan Johnson Lin Coleman	Porsche 911	581
6th	S 2.0	31	Raceco of Miami	Hugh Kleinpeter Bob Beatty John Gunn	Chevron B8	579
7th	S 5.0	9	American International Racing	Scooter Patrick Dave Jordan	Lola T70 Mk.3 GT	578
8th	T 2.0	47	Harold Williamson	Harold Williamson George Drolsom	Porsche 911	577
9	GT 2.0	68	Jacques Duval	Jacques Duval George Nicholas	Porsche 911T / R	571
10	GT 2.0	48	Wicky Racing Team	André Wicky Sylvain Garant	Porsche 911T	569
11	P 2.0	97	Algar Enterprises	Claudio Maglioli Raffaele Pinto	Lancia Fulvia HF Zagato	566
12	T 5.0	5	Randy's Auto Body	Bob Grossman Bob Dini	Chevrolet Camaro	549
13	T 5.0	38	Flem-Cor Ent.	Jim Corwin Mike Manner Carson Baird	Chevrolet Camaro	549
14th	T 2.0	86	RBM Motors	Pete Harrison Jack Ryan	Porsche 911	548
15th	S 2.0	61	Sportscars Unlimited Switzerland	Masts Gregory Richard Broström	Porsche 910	544
16	GT + 5.0	96	Zorian Productions Ltd.	Smokey Drolet John Tremblay Vince Gimondo John Belperche	Chevrolet Corvette	532
17th	P 2.0	83	MacMillan Ring Free	Jim Baker Clive Baker Paul Richards	Austin-Healey Sprite	527
18th	P 2.0	4th	HRH Corp.	Jim McDaniel Steve Pieper Bill Scott	Zinc VSR	519
19th	GT 2.0	55	Waldron Motors	Jim Gammon Ray Mummery	MGB	508
20th	S 2.0	62	Rainer Brezinka	Rudy Bartling Fritz Hochreuter Rainer Brezinka	Porsche 906	507
21st	T 5.0	18th	Maurice Carter Chevrolet	Maurice Carter Nat Adams	Chevrolet Camaro	501
22nd	T 5.0	32	Harold Rose	Harold Rose Mike Richards	Chevrolet Camaro	499
23	GT 5.0	41	North American Racing Team	Sam Posey Ricardo Rodríguez-Cavazos	Ferrari 275 GTB / C	494
24	P 3.0	53	Porsche System Engineering	Udo Schütz Gerhard Mitter Richard Attwood	Porsche 908L	483
25th	T 2.0	79	Arthur Mollin Racing	Art Riley Arthur Mollin	Volvo 122 S.	473
26th	S 5.0	1	JW Automotive Eng.	Jacky Ickx Jackie Oliver	Ford GT40	470
27	GT 2.0	81	Auto of Italy Inc.	Bill Pryor José Marina	Alfa Romeo Giulia SS	451
28	T 5.0	15th	Larry Drover	Larry Bock Larry Dent	Chevrolet Camaro	449
29	GT 2.0	56	Waldron Motors	Thomas Harris Chris Waldron Ben Scott	MGB	428
Not classified
30th	T 2.0	43	Gary Wright	Gary Wright Bill Craine	Porsche 911	337
31	P 2.0	98	Algar Enterprises	Bruce Hollander Robert Clark Wayne Marsula	Lancia Fulvia HF Zagato	331
Failed
32	P 3.0	50	Porsche System Engineering	Jo Siffert Hans Herrmann	Porsche 908L	415
33	S 5.0	2	JW Automotive Eng.	David Hobbs Mike Hailwood	Ford GT40	401
34	GT 5.0	46	Bud Boles Racing	John Debo EM Parkerson	Triumph TR4	378
35	P 3.0	54	Porsche System Engineering	Rolf Stommelen Kurt Ahrens	Porsche 908L	313
36	P 3.0	52	Porsche System Engineering	Vic Elford Brian Redman	Porsche 908L	277
37	P 3.0	51	Porsche System Engineering	Richard Attwood Joe Buzzetta	Porsche 908L	273
38	T 2.0	77	Williams Racing Ent.	Marty Gifford Bill Campbell	Porsche 911	272
39	T 2.0	22nd	PART	Bob Bailey Jim Locke Mike Downs	Porsche 911	249
40	T 2.0	73	Fred Opert Racing	Fred Opert Paul Sanford	Porsche 911	223
41	GT 2.0	57	David Heinz Imports	Dave Heinz Clarence Moerwald	MGB	221
42	T 5.0	33	John McComb Racing	John McComb Dave Dooley	Ford Mustang	219
43	T 5.0	91	Mar Shipping Co.	Norberto Mastandrea Doug Silvers Robin Ormes	Chevrolet Camaro	210
44	T 5.0	11	Best Photo Serv Inc.	Don Yenko Dick Guldstrand	Chevrolet Camaro	208
45	GT + 5.0	67	Owens-Corning Fiberglass Troy Promotions	Jerry Thompson Jim Harrell Tony DeLorenzo	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	201
46	T 2.0	21st	PART	Jim Netterstrom John Kelly	Porsche 911	182
47	P 3.0	58	Escuderia Nacional CS	Àlex Soler-Roig Rudi Lins	Porsche 907 2.2	158
48	T 2.0	36	Wilbur Pickett	Wilbur Pickett Mike Downs	Porsche 911	153
49	P 2.0	40	North American Racing Team	Charlie Kolb Giampiero Biscaldi	Ferrari Dino 206S	152
50	T 5.0	17th	David McClain	David McClain or Costanzo	Chevrolet Camaro	145
51	P 3.0	25th	Dibos Ch.	Eduardo Dibos Mario Calabattisti	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5	139
52	T 2.0	59	Brumo's Porsche	Peter Gregg Sten Axelsson	Porsche 911	137
53	GT 5.0	99	Coguna Motors	Richard Robson Rajah Rodgers	Jaguar XKE	116
54	GT + 5.0	69	Robert Esseks	Ed Lowther Robert Essek's Frank Dominianni	Chevrolet Corvette	109
55	GT 2.0	93	Rick cline	Rick Cline Michael Pickering	Triumph GT6	108
56	T 5.0	72	Lafayette Speed ​​Center	Billy Hagan John McVeigh Francis Gillebard	Mercury Cougar	88
57	GT 2.0	88	Auto Enterprise of Chestnut Hills	Francis Grant Dieter Oest Barry Batchin	Lancia Fulvia HF	79
58	S 5.0	38	Team Raceco of Miami	Fausto Merello Umberto Maglioli Eddie Alvarez	Ferrari 250LM	68
59	S 5.0	60	Sportscars Unlimited Switzerland	Jo Bonnier Ulf Norinder	Lola T70 Mk.3B GT	52
60	GT + 5.0	16	Rafferty Racing	Wedge Rafferty Jack Gearhart Dick Wisler	Chevrolet Corvette	48
61	T 5.0	92	Wilton Jowett	Wilton Jowett Craig Fisher	Chevrolet Camaro	44
62	GT + 5.0	66	Owens-Corning Fiberglass Troy Promotions	Tony DeLorenzo Dick Lang	Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray	23
63	S 2.0	45	Scuderia Autosport	George Waltman Wallis Bird	Osca GT2	1
Not started
64	S 5.0	7th	William Wonder Inc.	William Wonder Ray Cuomo	Ford GT40	1
65	T 5.0	19th	Bud Moore	Charles Buckley Gordon Cooper	Mercury Cougar	2
66	P 3.0	24	Matra Sports	Johnny Servoz-Gavin Henri Pescarolo	Matra Sports 630M	3
67	T 2.0	37	Richard Crebs	Ronald Strickler Dennis Wherrell	Alfa Romeo GTA	4th
68	T 2.0	49	Richard Crebs	Richard Crebs Robert Whitaker	Alfa Romeo GTA	5
69	T 5.0	69	LeVerne Hartje	James Hall	Dodge darts	6th
70	S 5.0	60T	Sportscars Unlimited of Switzerland		Lola T70 Mk.3 GT	7th

¹ not started ² not started ³ training accident ⁴ not started ⁵ not started ⁶ not started ⁷ training car

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
71	GT 5.0	38	Raceco of Miami	Fausto Merello	Ferrari 275 GTB / 4
72	P 3.0	58	Escuderia Nacional CS	Àlex Soler-Roig Rudi Lins Pauli Toivonen	Porsche 908

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P 3.0	Udo Schütz	Gerhard Mitter	Richard Attwood		Porsche 908L	Rank 24
P 2.0	Claudio Maglioli	Raffaele Pinto			Lancia Fulvia HF Zagato	Rank 11
S 5.0	Mark Donohue	Chuck Parsons			Lola T70 Mk.3B GT	Overall victory
S 2.0	Hugh Kleinpeter	Bob Beatty	John Gunn		Chevron B8	Rank 6
GT + 5.0	Smokey Drolet	John Tremblay	Vince Gimondo	John Belperche	Chevrolet Corvette	Rank 16
GT 5.0	Sam Posey	Ricardo Rodriguez			Ferrari 275 GTB / C	Rank 23
GT 2.0	Tony Adamowicz	Bruce Jennings	Herb Wetanson		Porsche 911T	Rank 4
T 5.0	Jerry Titus	Jon Ward			Pontiac Firebird	Rank 3
T 2.0	Bert Everett	Alan Johnson	Lin Coleman		Porsche 911	Rank 5

Racing data

• Registered: 72
• Started: 63
• Rated: 31
• Race classes: 9
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 6.132 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 01: 35.303 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 626
• Total distance of the winning team: 3838.382 km
• Winner's average: 159.756 km / h
• Pole position: Vic Elford - Porsche 908L (# 52) - 1: 52.200 = 196.736 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Jo Siffert - Porsche 908L (# 50) - 1: 54,000 = 211.236 km / h
• Racing series: 1st round of the 1969 sports car world championship

literature

• JJ O'Mailey: Daytona 24 Hours: The Definitive History of America's Great Endurance Race. David Bull Pub; First Edition edition (July 2003), ISBN 978-1893618244 .

Web links

• Race report at Motorsport Magazine
• Race results at WSPR Racing

Previous race of the 24-hour Le Mans race in 1968

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 12-hour race at Sebring in 1969