1970 Daytona 24 hour race

Porsche 917K with starting number 2; Winning car from Pedro Rodríguez , Leo Kinnunen and Jo Siffert

Ferrari 312P Coupe

Matra-Simca MS650

The fifth Daytona 24-hour race , also the Ninth Annual World's Championship 24 Hours of Daytona International Road Race, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida , took place on February 1 and 2, 1970 at Daytona International Speedway and was the first race of the sports car world championship this year.

Before the race

1970 began the collaboration between the Porsche racing department and John Wyer Automotive , John Wyer’s team . Two weeks after the end of the sports car world championship in 1969 , the team was invited to test drives with the Porsche 917 . The test took place at the Österreichring , where the 1000 km race in Zeltweg was held 14 days earlier , in which two Porsche 917s met the Mirage M3 from Wyer. Wyer had traveled with the entire management team - David Yorke , Ermanno Cuoghi , Peter Davies and John Horsman - and extensively tested the car under the direction of Porsche technicians Peter Falk and Helmut Flegl . The tests were driven by Porsche works drivers Kurt Ahrens , Leo Kinnunen and Brian Redman, as well as by Piers Courage , who was hoping to get involved with Wyer. It was the decisive test for the Porsche 917, where John Horsman attached a wide plate to the rear of the racing car (similar to a Gurney Flap , only larger) and thus finally solved the aerodynamic problems on the vehicle. The contract between Porsche and Wyer included the use of two cars for the entire season and the takeover of the two Porsche works drivers Jo Siffert and Brian Redman. Wyer was allowed to choose the other two pilots. Dream driver Jacky Ickx was not available after moving to Scuderia Ferrari . Conversely, Pedro Rodríguez left the Italian racing team after just one year and switched to BRM in Formula 1 . Rodríguez had already driven for Wyer and is now returning to the team. Fourth driver would be David Hobbs , who was part of the regular Wyer team. During a test in the fall, a gearshift error by Hobbs destroyed all of the valves in the V12 engine of a 917. Ferdinand Piëch was so upset about this that he insisted on replacing Hobbs. Wyer finally had to agree and accept Leo Kinnunen as the fourth driver

In 1969 the Porsche team had won the world championship at great expense. In 1970, alongside Wyer, the Porsche Salzburg team led by Louise Piëch took on the works outings. The contracts of a large number of the pilots were extended. Porsche was hit hard by the fatal accident of Gerhard Mitters . Mitter was for many years and works driver during practice for the Grand Prix of Germany in 1969 on a Formula 2 - BMW F269 is killed. His friend and team-mate Udo Schütz then announced his resignation. The only exit concerned Rolf Stommelen , who switched to Autodelta .

The race

Three Porsche 917s were at the start in Daytona. In addition to the two Wyer cars for Siffert / Redman and Rodríguez / Kinnunen, a Porsche Salzburg 917 for Kurt Ahrens and Vic Elford . The Ferrari 512S , the Scuderia's new emergency car, made its racing debut . Three of the new 5 liter racing cars were registered by Scuderia and entrusted to the driver teams Mario Andretti / Arturo Merzario , Jacky Ickx / Peter Schetty and Nino Vaccarella / Ignazio Giunti . Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team reported a fourth 512S for Dan Gurney and Chuck Parsons . The North American Ferrari team came to the race with a large crew. In addition to the 512S, there were two 312P coupes for Sam Posey / Mike Parkes (who made a comeback as a driver) and Tony Adamowicz / David Piper , a 250LM for Gregg Young and Luigi Chinetti junior , a Ferrari 275 GTB / C for Harley Cluxton / Gordon Tatum and a Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 for Ronnie Bucknum / Wilbur Pickett . The two wealthy Italians Corrado Manfredini and Giampiero Moretti drove another 512S .

Matra Sports reported two MS650s . While Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo received a completely new chassis, Jack Brabham and François Cevert were given the car with which Beltoise and Piers Courage finished fourth overall in the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours . The Matra van had an accident on the way from New York City to Daytona Beach . The two cars were so badly damaged that a third chassis had to be flown in from Buenos Aires . The car with which Beltoise and Pescarolo had won the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires served as a part donor for the two damaged emergency vehicles.

The two Wyer-Porsche 917s dominated the race. From the start, Jo Siffert and Brian Redman led the team-mates in the car with starting number 1. After three hours of driving, Brian Redman had to pull into the pit to an unplanned stop with a puncture on the right rear and lost the lead to Leo Kinnunen. Detaching rubber parts of the tire had damaged parts of the body that had to be repaired poorly. The brake disc was also changed. Coupling problems arose during the night. After the first refueling stops of the two Wyer-Porsche 917s, the Ferrari 512S of Mario Andretti and Arturo Merzario briefly took first position in the race and was in second place for a long time during the night. This was lost to the Siffert / Redman Porsche due to a repair on the suspension in the last phase of the race.

The Gurney / Parsons-512S was long in third place in the overall ranking. After a collision while lapping - Chuck Parsons was behind the wheel - this car too had to contend with a loosening body. As with the Siffert / Redman 917, tape was used at every pit stop . A gearbox failure led to the failure of the car after 464 laps. In the end there was a double victory for John Wyer's team.

The many SCCA pit marshals who caused some chaos in the pits and often gave the teams contradicting instructions caused displeasure. During the race, some team bosses at Bill France senior complained that this approach did not meet the standards of international sports car races .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	S.	2	JW Engineering	Pedro Rodríguez Leo Kinnunen Brian Redman	Porsche 917K	724
2	S.	1	JW Engineering	Jo Siffert Brian Redman	Porsche 917K	679
3	S.	28	Ferrari spa	Mario Andretti Arturo Merzario Jacky Ickx	Ferrari 512S	676
4th	P	24	North American Racing Team	Sam Posey Mike Parkes	Ferrari 312P Coupe	647
5	P	23	North American Racing Team	Tony Adamowicz David Piper	Ferrari 312P Coupe	632
6th	GT + 2.0	7th	Owens Corning Fiberglass	Jerry Thompson John Mahler	Chevrolet Corvette	608
7th	S.	21st	North American Racing Team	Gregg Young Luigi Chinetti Junior	Ferrari 250LM	603
8th	S.	18th	William Wonder Inc.	William Wonder Ray Cuomo	Ford GT40	579
9	P	40	Gregg Loomis	Gregg Loomis Bert Everett	Porsche 906E	573
10	P	33	Matra Sports	François Cevert Jack Brabham	Matra-Simca MS650	565
11	GT + 2.0	89	Cliff thank god	Cliff Praise Dave Dooley	Chevrolet Corvette	545
12	T + 2.0	12	Bob Mitchell	Bob Mitchell Charlie Kemp	Chevrole Camaro	535
13	GT + 2.0	6th	Owens Corning Fiberglass	Tony DeLorenzo Dick Lang	Chevrolet Corvette	534
14th	GT 2.0	74	Ralph Meaney	Ralph Meaney Gary Wright Bill Bean	Porsche 911S	533
15th	GT + 2.0	90	Or Costanzo	Or Costanzo Dave Heinz	Chevrolet Corvette	521
16	T + 2.0	14th	Ray Cuomo Racing	Ray Cuomo Bernard Gimbel George Lisberg	Ford Mustang	520
17th	T + 2.0	95	Bruce Behrens Racing	Mike Brockman John Tremblay	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	511
18th	P	34	Matra Sports	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Henri Pescarolo	Matra-Simca MS650	509
19th	T + 2.0	11	Laurel Racing	Larry Brock Larry Dent	Chevrolet Camaro	507
20th	GT 2.0	78	Waldron Motors	John Belperche Tony Lilly Don Pickett	MGB	504
21st	GT 2.0	79	Waldron Motors	Chris Waldron Lowell Lanier Bill Barros	MGB	490
22nd	T 2.0	48	Del Russo Taylor	Del Russo Taylor Hank Sheldon	Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV	478
23	T 2.0	38	Simone Fleming	Paul Fleming Amos Johnson	Fiat 124 sports coupe	473
24	GT 2.0	76	Scotty Addison	Scotty Addison Erhard Dahm	Porsche 911S	462
25th	T + 2.0	98	Norberto Mastandrea	Norberto Mastandrea Smokey Drolet Rajah Rodgers	Chevrolet Camaro	409
26th	T + 2.0	83	Vincent Collins	Vincent Collins Larry Wilson	Ford Mustang	407
27	P	71	Walle Enterprises	Ray Walle Bob Speakman	TVR Vixen	364
Failed
28	GT + 2.0	9	Mamie Reynolds Gregory	Don Yenko Bob Grossman	Chevrolet Camaro	542
29	S.	25th	North American Racing Team	Dan Gurney Chuck Parsons	Ferrari 512S	464
30th	GT + 2.0	8th	Forma Scientific	Bob Johnson Robert Johnson Jim Greendyke	Chevrolet Corvette	457
31	S.	47	Sports Motors Inc.	Jim Bandy Fred Stevenson Carl Williams	Lotus 47	442
32	S.	30th	Squadra Picchio-Rosso	Corrado Manfredini Giampiero Moretti	Ferrari 512S	412
33	P	53	Racing Team AAW	Hans Laine Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 908/02	385
34	P	43	William Harris	William Harris Richard Lewis	Austin-Healey Sprite	373
35	GT 2.0	72	Jacques Duval	Jacques Duval Bob Bailey	Porsche 911T	365
36	T + 2.0	97	Preston Hood Chevrolet	John Elliott Don Gwynne	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	354
37	S.	3	Porsche Constructions KG	Kurt Ahrens Vic Elford	Porsche 917K	337
38	GT + 2.0	34	Susan Cummings	Don Cummings Warren Stumes	Shelby GT350	327
39	T + 2.0	15th	Bob Fryer	Ed Lowther Bob Nagel	Chevrolet Camaro	320
40	S.	20th	North American Racing Team	Harley Cluxton Gordon Tatum	Ferrari 275 GTB / C	308
41	S.	17th	Trevor Graham	Piers Forester Andrew Hedges	Ford GT40	299
42	GT 2.0	77	Toad Hall Racing	Bruce Jennings Bob Tullius	Porsche 911T	279
43	T 2.0	88	Auto Enterprises of Chestnut	Barry Batchin Dieter Oest	Lancia Fulvia HF	268
44	T 2.0	84	HCAS Inc.	Walter Brown Buzz Marcus Jim Sandman	BMW 2002	257
45	T 2.0	85	Robert Whitaker	Robert Whitaker Richard Krebs Harvey Eckoff	Volvo 122S	243
46	T + 2.0	92	Flem-Cor Enterprises	Donna Mae Mims Jim Corwin Fred Pipen	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	220
47	T + 2.0	0	Roger Penske Racing	Mark Donohue Peter Revson	AMC Javelin	205
48	P	73	Ring Free Racing Team	Bobby Rinzler Charles Reynolds	Austin-Healey Sprite	178
49	S.	22nd	North American Racing Team	Ronnie Bucknum Wilbur Pickett	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	142
50	T + 2.0	96	Takondo Racing	Vince Gimondo Chuck Dietrich	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	130
51	S.	27	Ferrari spa	Jacky Ickx Peter Schetty	Ferrari 512S	115
52	P	16	Ring Free Racing Team	Jim Baker Clive Baker	Chevron B16	108
53	GT + 2.0	91	Auto Research Eng.	Allan Barker John Greenwood Richard Hoffman	Chevrolet Corvette	101
54	S.	39	Rainer Brezinka	Rainer Brezinka Horst Petermann Rudy Bartling	Porsche 906	96
55	S.	26th	Ferrari spa	Nino Vaccarella Ignazio Giunti	Ferrari 512S	89
56	T + 2.0	93	Redline Engineering Inc.	Jim Harrell Len Magner	Ford Mustang	89
57	P	37	Fred Opert Racing Chevron Cars	Brian Robinson Hugh Kleinpeter Fred Opert	Chevron B16	85
58	S.	19th	Auto Enterprises of Chestnut	Francis Grant Ray Heppenstall Buzz Marcus	Ford GT40	82
59	T + 2.0	66	Ed Matthews	Ed Matthews Don Sesslar Al Weaver	Ford Mustang	63
60	T 2.0	86	Arthur Mollin Racing	Arthur Mollin Art Riley	Volvo 122S	54
61	GT 2.0	70	Sportade Racing Team	James Patterson Paul Sanford	Porsche 911T	29
62	GT + 2.0	46	Jack Haywood	Claibourne Darden Warren Matzo	Shelby GT350	26th
63	T 2.0	55	Don Kearney	Don Kearney Richard Roberts Wayne Purdy	Datsun PL510	24
64	S.	5	Randy's Auto Body Service	John Cannon George Eaton	Lola T70 Mk.3B GT	1
65	P	54	Juan Manuel Fangio	Carlos Pairetti Alain de Cadenet Jorge Omar Del Rio	Porsche 908/02	1
Not started
66	T + 2.0	10	Hewitt Racing	Allen Hewitt Pete Ledwith	Chevrolet Camaro	1
67	P	44	HRH Corp.	Steve Pieper Jim McDaniel Jon Krogsund	Deserter GS	2
68	P	51	Escuderia Montjuich	Juan Fernández José Juncadella	Porsche 908/02	3
69	S.	52	Tony Dean	Tony Dean Peter Gregg	Porsche 917K	4th
70	GT 2.0	75	Fritz Hochreuter	Fritz Hochreuter Harry Bytzek	Porsche 911	5
71	P	T	Matra Sports	François Cevert Jack Brabham Jean-Pierre Beltoise Henri Pescarolo	Matra-Simca MS630 / 650	6th
72	S.	T	JW Engineering	Pedro Rodríguez Leo Kinnunen Jo Siffert	Porsche 917K	7th

¹ not started ² not started ³ not started ⁴ engine failure during training ⁵ not started ⁶ training car 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
73	GT + 2.0	29	Rey Racing	Jacques Rey Edgar Berney Bernard Palayer Guy Verrier Jean Sage	Ferrari 275 GTB / C
74	S.	31	North American Racing Team		Ferrari Dino 246 GT
75	P	52	Tony Dean	Tony Dean Peter Gregg	Porsche 908/02
76	GT + 2.0	80	CC Canada	CC Canada Joe Hines Ed Rahal	MGC GT

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P	Sam Posey	Mike Parkes		Ferrari 312P Coupe	Rank 4
S.	Pedro Rodríguez	Leo Kinnunen	Brian Redman	Porsche 917K	Overall victory
GT + 2.0	Jerry Thompson	John Mahler		Chevrolet Corvette	Rank 6
GT 2.0	Ralph Meaney	Gary Wright	Bill Bean	Porsche 911S	Rank 14
T + 2.0	Bob Mitchell	Charlie Kemp		Chevrolet Camaro	Rank 12
T 2.0	Del Russo Taylor	Hank Sheldon		Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV	Rank 22

Racing data

• Registered: 76
• Started: 65
• Valued: 27
• Race classes: 6
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: cold and dry
• Route length: 6.132 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 52,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 724
• Total distance of the winning team: 4439.279 km
• Winner's average: 184.859 km / h
• Pole position: Mario Andretti - Ferrari 512S (# 28) - 1: 51.600
• Fastest race lap: Jo Siffert - Porsche 917K (# 1) - 1: 48.700 = 126.182 km / h
• Racing series: 1st round of the 1970 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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Horsman and the Porsche 917
2. ^ John Horsman: Racing in the Rain . Bull Publishing Ltd., Phönix 2006, ISBN 1-893618-71-4 , pp. 195 ff.
3. ↑ Buenos Aires 1000 km race in 1970

Predecessor race 1000 km race from Zeltweg 1969

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 12-hour race at Sebring 1970