1970 Le Mans 24 hour race

The victorious Porsche 917 short tail with starting number 23 in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. With this vehicle, Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood celebrated Porsche's first overall victory at Le Mans.

The Martini Racing Porsche 917, here with a short tail body. The same vehicle model - this time as a long-tail version - was driven by Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen in second place in the overall ranking.

The Ferrari 512S of Scuderia Filipinetti with the starting number 14. Reine Wisell was involved in the mass accident in Maison Blanche with this vehicle.

The 38th 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 38 ^s Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , and 24 Heures du Mans Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans , was held at from 13 to 14 June 1970 the Circuit des 24 Heures .

Before the race

Porsche

After Porsche had just narrowly lost overall victory in the previous year , the leadership of the racing team in Zuffenhausen no longer wanted to leave anything to chance. At the beginning of the season, Porsche signed an agreement with John Wyer , turning his British racing team into a works team. During test drives for the 1000 km race in Zeltweg, John Wyer Automotive race director John Horsman came up with the idea that would improve the difficult driving behavior of the Porsche 917 over the long term. He had small aluminum strips fitted to the rear of the car , which gave the car greater stability. These short tail versions were used by Wyer in the Manufacturers' World Championship , where the team rushed from victory to victory.

The Wyer team came to Le Mans with three vehicles. Pedro Rodríguez , who won the race for John Wyer in a Ford GT40 in 1968 , shared his 917 with the Finn Leo Kinnunen . David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood , third in the overall ranking last year, drove the second Porsche. The fastest duo were the two Porsche works drivers Jo Siffert and Brian Redman .

Martini Racing, Hans-Dieter Dechent's team , fielded one of the fast 917 long-tail cars. The car was driven by Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen . The team also used an aging Porsche 908 long tail that was driven by the two Austrians Helmut Marko and Rudi Lins . The 908 was not nearly as fast as the 917, but it was considered particularly stable and was used as a "safe variant".

The arrival of a third Porsche team was surprising. Louise Piëch , the daughter of Ferdinand Porsche , had two 917s brought to Le Mans through her Salzburg Porsche Holding . A 917 long tail that was driven by Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens and had a new 4.9 liter engine. Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood drove a 917 short tail .

Ferrari

Enzo Ferrari had sold company shares to FIAT in 1969 and invested part of the proceeds in the construction of the necessary 25 copies of a five-liter sports car. At the end of 1969, a good six months and a full racing season later than the 917, the 512S was presented and the small series required by the regulations was produced.

The works team came to Le Mans with four vehicles, driven by Jacky Ickx , Peter Schetty , Derek Bell , Clay Regazzoni , Arturo Merzario , Ronnie Peterson , Nino Vaccarella and Ignazio Giunti .

In addition to some private 512s, Scuderia Filipinetti , Ecurie Francorchamps and the North American Racing Team also used these Ferrari prototypes in the race.

Matra and Alfa Romeo

The Matra team came to the Sarthe with the 3-liter V12 cylinder Spyders. Two MS650s were driven by Patrick Depailler , Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Tim Schenken as well as François Cevert and three-time Formula 1 world champion Jack Brabham , who made a surprising comeback at Le Mans. The new MS660 was piloted by Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo .

Autodelta came to Le Mans with four Alfa Romeo Tipo 33s . At Alfa Romeo, the appearance was seen as another year of apprenticeship, as it was clear to those in charge of the Italian team that the Spyder would hardly drive through without technical problems. As a top driver , alongside the German Rolf Stommelen, the British Formula 1 driver Piers Courage was hired.

The camera car

American actor Steve McQueen was given a special privilege . The announcement that he was participating in the race in a Porsche 917 with Jackie Stewart was rejected by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest , but the officials allowed a camera car to take part in order to shoot authentic material for his Le Mans film . The Porsche 908 - which was equipped with three cameras - was driven by Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams .

Porsche co-owner Ferry Porsche acted as the starter .

The race

In training, Vic Elford had beaten Rolf Stommelen's time from the previous year by 3 seconds. The lap time of 3.19.080 corresponded to an average of 242.685 km / h. Never before has a racing car driven so fast at Le Mans.

The traditional Le Mans start was history in its old form. The racing cars were still set up at an angle to the road in the order of the training times. However, the pilots no longer had to walk across the street to get to their cars, but were already seated in the bolide with their seat belts when the starting flag fell.

Ferrari disaster in Maison Blanche

In the second hour of the race a real catastrophe occurred for Ferrari when the Swede Reine Wisell , who shared a Ferrari 512 from Scuderia Filipinetti with Jo Bonnier , slowed down to the pits because of an oil-smeared windshield. Clay Regazzoni in the factory Ferrari couldn't evade in time and drove into Wisell's car. Mike Parkes , who followed closely with the second Filipinetti-512, had no chance of avoiding the cars standing across and completed the crash trio. To make matters worse, the disaster was approaching Derek Bell, who braked heavily and avoided another accident, but over-revved the engine of his Ferrari and also retired. Four 512s were eliminated in one fell swoop. But it got worse. During the night, the second Jacky Ickx had a serious accident that killed a marshal. Only the US duo Sam Posey and Ronnie Bucknum for the North American Racing Team and the 512 from Ecurie Francorchamps, with Alistair Walker and Hughes de Fierlant at the wheel, came through and finished fourth and fifth overall, albeit with more than 400 km behind the victorious Porsche.

The further course of the race

At this point in time, the Rodríguez / Kinnunen Porsche 917 with a defective radiator had failed and the Vaccarella / Giunti factory Ferrari had an engine failure. When Mike Hailwood had an accident in the Porsche corners shortly after the Ferrari disaster, seven vehicles of the ten fastest in practice had to retire after 1½ hours of racing. The race lost some of its tension right from the start.

One of the reasons for the many slip-ups was rain, which got stronger until the evening fell. All three Matra failed due to defective cylinders before midnight. None of the Alfa Romeos finished either. For the John Wyer team, the race also ended on Saturday. Jo Siffert - while in the lead - over-revved the engine of his Porsche while lapping and had to give up.

The Elford / Ahrens-Porsche led until the 18th hour of racing, then the new 4.9-liter engine went on strike. Hans Herrmann, of all people, who had lost the race so narrowly to Jacky Ickx last year, clinched the first overall Porsche victory at Le Mans. The Porsche Austria team led a Porsche triple victory. Hans Herrmann, a veteran of motorsport who made his Formula 1 debut in 1954 and was still at the start of the Mille Miglia, announced his retirement from racing at the press conference after the race.

16 vehicles - including the camera car - crossed the finish line, but only seven were rated. Even before the race, the event, which had not exactly poor in attractions over the years, was robbed of another. A team from the Bahamas missed the qualification. It would have been the first racing team from the island nation to take part in the 24-hour race.

Results

Pilots by nationality

30 French	17 British	11 Swiss	9 Germans	9 Italians
8 Belgians	5 Americans	3 Sweden	2 Dutch	2 Austrians
2 Spaniards	1 Australian	1 fin	1 Luxembourger	1 Mexican

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	S 5.0	23	Porsche KG Salzburg	Hans Herrmann Richard Attwood	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12	G	343
2	S 5.0	3	Martini International Racing	Gérard Larrousse Willi Kauhsen	Porsche 917L	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12	G	338
3	P 3.0	27	Martini International Racing	Rudi Lin's Helmut Marko	Porsche 908 / 2L	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8	G	335
4th	S 5.0	11	North American Racing Team	Ronnie Bucknum Sam Posey	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		313
5	S 5.0	12	Ecurie Francorchamps	Hughes de Fierlant Alistair Walker	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		305
6th	GT 2.0	40	Établissement Sonauto	Claude Ballot-Léna Guy Chasseuil	Porsche 914/6 GT	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		285
7th	GT 2.5	47	Écurie Luxembourg	Erwin Kremer Nicolas Koob	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.3L Flat-6		282
Not classified
8th	GT 5.0	2	Greder Racing	Henri Greder Jean-Pierre Rouget	Chevrolet Corvette C3	Chevrolet 7.0L V8		286
9	P 3.0	29	Solar Productions	Herbert Linge Jonathan Williams	Porsche 908/2 (camera car)	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8		282
10	P 3.0	57	North American Racing Team	Tony Adamowicz Chuck Parsons	Ferrari 312P	Ferrari 3.0L V12		281
11	GT 2.5	62	René Mazzia	René Mazzia Pierre Mauroy	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		275
12	GT 2.0	42	Wicky Racing Team	Sylvain Garant Guy Verrier	Porsche 911T	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		271
13	GT 2.5	67	Jacques Dechaumel	Jean-Claude Parot Jacques Dechaumel	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		271
14th	GT 2.5	45	Claude Laurent	Claude Laurent Jacques Marché	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		262
15th	GT 2.0	64	Claude Haldi Hart Ski Racing	Jean Sage Pierre Greub	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		254
16	GT 2.0	66	Raymond Touroul	Jean-Claude Lagniez Claude Swietlik	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		231
Disqualified
17th	P 3.0	35	Autodelta SpA	Nanni Galli Rolf Stommelen	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8		213
Failed
18th	P 3.0	34	Donald Healey Motor Company	Roger Enever Andrew Hedges	Healey SR XR37	Repco 740 3.0L V8		264
19th	S 5.0	25th	Porsche KG Salzburg	Vic Elford Kurt Ahrens	Porsche 917L	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12	G	225
20th	P 3.0	36	Autodelta SpA	Piers Courage Andrea de Adamich	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8		222
21st	P 2.0	49	Paul Watson Racing Organization	Ian Skailes John Hine	Chevron B16	Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4		213
22nd	P 2.0	44	Paul Watson Racing Organization	Clive Baker Digby Martland	Chevron B16	BMW 2.0L I4		187
23	P 2.5	61	Wicky Racing Team	André Wicky Jean-Pierre Hanrioud	Porsche 907	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		161
24	S 5.0	20th	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Joseph Siffert Brian Redman	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12		156
25th	S 5.0	5	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Jacky Ickx Peter Schetty	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12	F.	142
26th	GT 2.5	63	Rey Racing	Jacques Rey Bernard Chenevière	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.3L Flat-6		132
27	S 5.0	9	Escuderia Montjuich	José Juncadella Juan Fernández	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		130
28	P 2.0	60	Guy Verrier	Daniel Rouveyran Willy Meier	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		128
29	GT 2.5	65	Claude Haldi Hart Ski Racing	Claude Haldi Arthur Blank	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		124
30th	P 2.0	46	Christian Poirot	Christian Poirot Ernst Kraus	Porsche 910	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		120
31	S 5.0	18th	AAW Racing Team with David Piper	David Piper Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12		112
32	S 5.0	16	Scuderia Filipinetti	Giampiero Moretti Corrado Manfredini	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		111
33	S 5.0	4th	Racing Team VDS	Teddy Pilette Gustave Gosselin	Lola T70 Mk. IIIB	Chevrolet 4.9L V8		109
34	GT 2.5	43	Jean-Pierre Gaban	Jean-Pierre Gaban Willy Braillard	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		109
35	P 3.0	31	Equipe Matra Simca	Jean-Pierre Beltoise Henri Pescarolo	Matra MS660	Matra 3.0L V12	G	79
36	P 3.0	32	Equipe Matra Simca	Jack Brabham François Cevert	Matra MS650	Matra 3.0L V12	G	76
37	P 3.0	30th	Equipe Matra Simca	Patrick Depailler Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Matra MS650	Matra 3.0L V12	G	70
38	GT 2.5	59	Jean Egreteaud	Jean Égreteaud Jean Mésange	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6		70
39	P 2.0	50	Écurie Intersports SA	Guy Ligier Jean-Claude Andruet	Ligier JS1	Cosworth FVC 1.8L I4		65
40	S 5.0	10	Gelo Racing Team	Helmut Kellener's Georg Loos	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		54
41	S 2.0	22nd	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	David Hobbs Mike Hailwood	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12		49
42	P 3.0	38	Autodelta SpA	Teodoro Zeccoli Carlo Facetti	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8		43
43	S 5.0	7th	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Derek Bell Ronnie Peterson	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12	F.	39
44	S 5.0	8th	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Arturo Merzario Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12	F.	38
45	GT +5.0	1	Écurie Léopard	Joseph Bourdon Jean-Claude Aubriet	Chevrolet Corvette C3	Chevrolet 7.0L V8		37
46	S 5.0	15th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Mike Parkes Herbert Mueller	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		37
47	S 5.0	14th	Scuderia Filipinetti	Joakim Bonnier Reine Wisell	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		36
48	S 5.0	21st	John Wyer Automotive Engineering	Pedro Rodríguez Leo Kinnunen	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.9L Flat-12		22nd
49	P 2.0	48	Levi's International Racing	Julian Vernaeve Yves Deprez	Chevron B16	Mazda 10A 1.0L Wankel		19th
50	S 5.0	6th	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Nino Vaccarella Ignazio Giunti	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12		7th
51	P 3.0	37	Autodelta SpA	Toine Hezemans Masten Gregory	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Alfa Romeo 3.0L V8		5
Not started
52	S 5.0	24	Porsche KG Salzburg	Rico Steinemann Dieter Spoerry Vic Elford Kurt Ahrens Hans Herrmann Richard Attwood	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12		1
53	P 3.0	28	Martini International Racing	Dieter Spoerry André de Cortanze Rudi Lins Hans-Dieter Dechent Gérard Larrousse Gerhard Koch	Porsche 908/2	Porsche 3.0 Flat-8		2
54	P 3.0	39	North American Racing Team	Tony Adamowicz Sam Posey Chuck Parsons	Ferrari 312P	Ferrari 3.0L V12		3
55	GT 2.0	41	Wickey Racing Team	Sylvain Garant Jéan Mesange Bernard Cheneviére	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6		3
Not qualified
56	S 5.0	17th	Grand Bahama Racing	Robin Ormes David Prophet	Lola T70 MKIIIB	Chevrolet 5.0 V8		4th
57	S 2.0	68	Roy Johnson	Roy Johnson Erwin Barnes Yves Martin	Chevron B8	BMW 2.0 L4		4th

¹ withdrawn ² accident in training ³ replacement car ⁴ not qualified

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
58	S 5.0	13	Grand Bahama Racing	Mike d'Udy Frank Gardner	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12
59	S 3.0	41	Escuderia Montjuich	José Juncudella Juan Fernandez Gordon Spice	Porsche 908/02	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
60	P 3.0	43	Donald Healey Motor Company		Healey SR XR37	Repco 740 3.0L V8
61	P 2.5	54	Guy Verrier	Guy Verrier Frederic Mural	Porsche 907	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6
62	GT 2.0	62	Hart Ski Racing Team	Arthur Blank	Porsche 914/6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
63	GT 2.0	63	Wicky Racing Team	Willy Meier Jean Mésange	Porsche 914/6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
64	GT 2.0	64	Jean-Pierre Gaban	Jean-Pierre Gaban Roger van der Schrick	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
65	P 2.0	66	Paul Watson Racing Organization		Chevron B16	BMW 2.0L I4
66	GT 2.0	71	Établissement Sonauto	Claude Ballot-Léna Guy Chasseuil	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
67	GT 2.0	72	Ecurie Luxembourg	Nicolas Koob Noel von Assche	Porsche 914/6	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
68	P 2.0	76	Ecurie Armagnac	Claude Larrieu Juan Fernandez	Chevron B16	BMW 2.0L I4
69	P 2.0	77	Paul Watson Racing Organization		Chevron B16	Ford 2.0L I4
70	P 1.3	81	Jack Wheeler	Jack Wheeler Mark Davidson	Ginetta G12
71	P 1.3	83	André Moynet	Max Jean René Ligonnet André Moynet	Moynet LM68	Simca 1.3L I4
72	P 2.0	85	Mazda Auto Tokyo Co Ltd		Mazda M10A	Mazda 2R Wankel
73	P 2.0	86	Mazda Auto Tokyo Co Ltd		Mazda M10A	Mazda 2R Wankel
74	P 2.0	87	Mazda Auto Tokyo Co Ltd		Mazda M10A	Mazda 2R Wankel
75	S 5.0		Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Mario Andretti Chris Amon	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12
76	S 5.0		Ferrari SEFAC Spa	John Surtees Jackie Oliver	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12
77	S 5.0		Equipe Nationale Belge	Derek Bell	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12
78	P 2.0		Arthur Blanck		Chevron B16	Opel 2.0L I4
79	S 5.0	9	Barracuda Racing	Jean Guichet Régis Fraissinet	Ferrari 512S	Ferrari 5.0L V12
80	S 5.0	18th	Michel Martin	Michel Martin	Ford GT40	Ford 4.9L V8
81	S 5.0	20th	Trevor Graham	Andrew Hedges Clive Baker	Ford GT40	Ford 4.9L V8
82	S 5.0	22nd	Escuderia Nacional CS	Àlex Soler-Roig Jorge de Bagration Dieter Quester	Porsche 917	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12
83	S 5.0	26th	JW Automotive Engineering Ltd Solar Productions	Steve McQueen Jackie Stewart	Porsche 917	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12
84	GT 5.0	27	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud Alain Finkelstein	Ferrari 275 GTB / C	Ferrari 3.3L V12
85	P 3.0	28	Equipe Matra Simca	François Cevert	Matra MS660	Matra 3.0L V12
86	S 3.0	30th	Pierre Maublanc	Dominique Martin Pierre Maublanc	Porsche 917K	Porsche 3.0L Flat-8
87	S 5.0	31	Jacques Foucteau	Jacques Foucteau Patrice Compain	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Daytona	Ferrari 4.4L V12
88	S 5.0	32	North American Racing Team	Robert Mieusset	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Daytona	Ferrari 4.4L V12
89	GT 2.5	50	Philippe Farjon	Philippe Farjon	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6
90	GT 2.5	51	Dieter Fröhlich	Dieter Fröhlich	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6
91	GT 2.5	52	Automobile Club Ile de France	Jean-Claude Lagniez Raymond Touroul	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.2L Flat-6
92	P 2.0	60	Mark Konig	Mark Konig Paul Vestey	Nomad Mk2	BRM P56 2.0L V8
93	S 2.0	61	Michel Roussin		Chevron B8	BMW 2.0L I4
94	GT 2.0	73	Edgar Herrmann	Edgar Herrmann Eberhard Sindel	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
95	GT 2.0	75	Joseph Beziau	Lucien Guitteny Daniel Guerin	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
96	P 1.6	79	Société Darnval	François Libert Ray Calcutt	Lenham P70	Ford 1.6L I4
97	P 1.3	80	Jack Wheeler		Ginetta G12
98	P 1.3	82	Scuderia Monzeglio	Maurizio Zanetti Ugo Locatelli	Monzeglio	Alfa Romeo 1.3L I4
99	GT 2.0	84	Aldo Crovello	Jean-Pierre Ralli	Porsche 911S	Porsche 2.0L Flat-6
100	S 5.0		Gesipa Racing Team	Helmut Kellener's Jürgen Neuhaus	Porsche 917K	Porsche 4.5L Flat-12

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance	Helmut Marko	Rudi Lins	Porsche 908/2	Rank 3
Index of Thermal Efficiency	Gérard Larrousse	Willi Khausen	Porsche 917L	Rank 2
Sports car up to 5000 cm³	Hans Herrmann	Richard Attwood	Porsche 917K	Overall victory
Prototype up to 3000 cm³	Helmut Marko	Rudi Lins	Porsche 908/2	Rank 3
GT car 2000-2500 cm³	Erwin Kremer	Nicolas Koob	Porsche 911S	Rank 7
GT cars up to 2000 cc	Claude Ballot-Léna	Guy Chasseuil	Porsche 914/6	Rank 6

Racing data

• Registered: 100
• Started: 51
• Valued: 7
• Race classes: 6
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starter of the race: Ferry Porsche , owner and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche
• Weather on the race weekend: rain
• Route length: 13.469 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 343
• Distance of the winning team: 4607.810 km
• Winner's average: 191.992 km / h
• Pole position: Vic Elford - Porsche 917L (# 25) - 3.19.080 = 242.685 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Vic Elford - Porsche 917L (# 25) - 3.21.000 = 241.235 km / h
• Racing series: Round 8 of the 1970 sports car world championship

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : 24 Hours of Le Mans 1970  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Previous race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring 1970

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour race at Watkins Glen 1970