6 Hours of Watkins Glen 1971

Track layout 1971

The fourth 6-hour race of Watkins Glen , also Six-Hours and The Can-Am, The Glen, Watkins Glen , took place on July 24, 1971 in Watkins Glen and was the eleventh round of the sports car world championship of that year.

The race

By the time the race started at Watkins Glen, the 1971 World Sports Car Championship had long been decided. With Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse's victory in the Porsche 908/03 at the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring , Porsche won the one-make cup for the third time in a row. The last time the Porsche 917K was used in a world championship race was Watkins Glen . The team of John Wyer reported two 917K. The team had lost their regular driver Pedro Rodríguez in his fatal accident on July 11th in an Interseries race at the Norisring . Richard Attwood was signed for him . He contested the race with Derek Bell , who was originally Jo Siffert's teammate . With Gijs van Lennep , Siffert also got a new partner. He came to Wyer for Jackie Oliver . Van Lennep was part of Hans-Dieter Dechent's racing team in 1971 , which no longer made the trip to North America and was in the process of dissolution. Vic Elford, also a former Dechent driver, came to Alfa Romeo . His racing partner in the Alfa Romeo T33 / 3 was Nanni Galli . Two more T33 / 3s were driven by Andrea de Adamich , Ronnie Peterson , Henri Pescarolo and Rolf Stommelen . For the Scuderia Ferrari went Jacky Ickx and Mario Andretti in Ferrari 312PB into the race.

The race took place on a partially wet track and was influenced by technical problems at Wyer and Ferrari. Derek Bell lost many laps because he got stuck on the track with a broken accelerator pedal. After fixing the pedal in place, he drove back to the pits, where the team could fix the defect. At the long leading works 312PB, the starter went on strike after a pit stop. The race was decided by the better choice of tires on the de Adamich / Peterson-Alfa Romeo. They contested the race with intermediates and thus saved themselves the need to switch from wet tires to slicks . At the finish they were two laps ahead of Siffert and van Lennep's Porsche.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	P	30th	Autodelta SpA	Andrea de Adamich Ronnie Peterson	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	279
2	S.	1	JW Automotive Engineering	Jo Siffert Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	277
3	S.	2	JW Automotive Engineering	Derek Bell Richard Attwood	Porsche 917K	259
4th	S.	63	Ecurie Francorchamps	Alain de Cadenet Lothar Motschenbacher	Ferrari 512M	253
5	GT + 2.5	49	John Greenwood Racing	Robert Johnson John Greenwood	Chevrolet Corvette	229
6th	GT 2.5	59	Brumos Porsche-Audi	Peter Gregg Hurley Haywood	Porsche 914/6	228
7th	GT + 2.5	57	Or Costanzo Tri City Corvette Club	Dave Heinz Don Yenko	Chevrolet Corvette	221
8th	GT + 2.5	41	Iroquois Racing Associates	Bill Schumacher Bob McClure Bob Kiefer	Chevrolet Corvette	210
9	GT 2.5	31	Locke Development Corporation	Bert Everett Bob Beasley	Porsche 911T	168
10	GT 2.5	68	Baker Motor Co.	Pat Keating Levon Pentecost Anthony Torgersen	Porsche 911S	162
Not classified
11	S.	43	David Piper Racing	Tony Adamowicz Mario Cabral	Porsche 917K	191
12	S.	46	Brokers Racing Nationwide Food	Mike Rahal Hugh Wise Horst Kroll	Porsche 906K	180
Failed
13	P	36	Autodelta SpA	Nanni Galli Vic Elford	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	258
14th	P	67	Baker Motor Co.	Pete Harrison Tom Fraser Bobby Rinzler Skip Barber	Lola T212	226
15th	S.	14th	North American Racing Team	Sam Posey Ronnie Bucknum	Ferrari 512M	126
16	P	61	Promotional advertising	Hugh Kleinpeter Tony Belcher	Lola T212	104
17th	P	33	Autodelta SpA	Henri Pescarolo Rolf Stommelen	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	97
18th	GT + 2.5	64	Bob Baechle	Bob Baechle Michael Summers Fred Kepler	Chevrolet Corvette	90
19th	P	40	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Jacky Ickx Mario Andretti	Ferrari 312PB	55
20th	S.	6th	Roger Penske Kirk F. White	Mark Donohue David Hobbs	Ferrari 512M	53
21st	P	87	AG Dean Racing	Tony Dean Steve Matchett Chuck Parsons	Porsche 908/02	47
22nd	GT 2.5	32	Locke Development Corporation	Jim Locke Bob Bailey	Porsche 911S	25th
23	S.	48	Herbert Müller Racing	Herbert Müller George Eaton	Ferrari 512M	17th
24	GT 2.5	16	Toad Hall Racing	Michael Keyser Bruce Jennings	Porsche 911T	13
25th	GT + 2.5	50	John Greenwood Racing	Richard Hoffman Frank Cipelle John Greenwood	Chevrolet Corvette	6th
26th	S.	60	Bahamas Racing	Robin Ormes Bob Brown Bob Bondurant	Lola T70 Mk.3B GT	2
Not started
27	S.	21st	Young American Racing Team	Gregg Young Jim Adams	Ferrari 512M	1
28	P	35	Autodelta SpA	Vic Elford Nanni Galli	Alfa Romeo T33 / TT / 3	2
29	GT 2.5	80	Fritz Hochreuter	Milt Minter Rudy Bartling Fritz Hochreuter	Porsche 911	3
30th	S.	T	JW Automotive Engineering	Jo Siffert Gijs van Lennep Derek Bell Richard Attwood	Porsche 917K	4th
Not qualified
31	GT 2.5	5	Jacques Duval	Jacques Duval George Nicholas	Porsche 914/6	5
32	GT 2.5	12	Ralph Meaney	Charles Pete Conrad Raymond Caldwell	Porsche 914/6	6th
33	GT 2.5	37	Holbert Oest	Dieter Oest Mike Tillson	Porsche 911	7th
34	GT 2.5	70	Kremer Racing	Erwin Kremer Dick Durant	Porsche 911	8th
35	GT + 2.5	31	Robert Luebbe	Robert Luebbe John Orr	Chevrolet Corvette	9

¹ Leak in the tank ² Accident during training ³ not started ⁴ Training car ⁵ not qualified ⁶ not qualified ⁷ not qualified ⁸ not qualified ⁹ not qualified

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
36	P	3	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jo Bonnier	Lola T212
37	GT 2.5	10	Ralph Meaney	Stephen Behr Gary Wright	Porsche 914/6
38	GT 2.5	11	Ralph Meaney	Jack Cowell Jim Jenkins Charles Pete Conrad	Porsche 914/6
39	GT 2.5	13	Jim Glanton	Jim Glanton Al Alden	Porsche 911S
40	GT + 2.5	18th	Es-Pa Racing	John Paul Rodney Harris	Chevrolet Corvette
41	S.	22nd	Don Baumgartner	Don Baumgartner Don Herman	Chevron B8
42	P	45	Guillermo Ortega	Guillermo Ortega	Porsche 908/02
43	P	53	Georges Dumoing	Georges Dumoing Gérard Cerruti	Lola T212

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P	Andrea de Adamich	Ronnie Peterson	Alfa Romeo T33 / 3	Overall victory
S.	Jo Siffert	Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 917K	Rank 2
GT + 2.5	Robert Johnson	John Greenwood	Chevrolet Corvette	Rank 5
GT 2.5	Peter Gregg	Hurley Haywood	Porsche 914/5	Rank 6

Racing data

• Registered: 43
• Started: 26
• Valued: 10
• Race classes: 4
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and light rain
• Route length: 3.907 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 6:00: 25,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 279
• Total distance of the winning team: 1090.189 km
• Winner's average: 181.487 km / h
• Pole position: Mark Donohue - Ferrari 512M (# 6) - 1: 07.740 = 207.662 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Derek Bell - Porsche 917K (# 2) - 1: 08.297 = 205.967 km / h
• Racing series: 11th round of the Sports Car World Championship in 1971

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

• Race report at Motorsport Magazin
• Race results

Predecessor race 1000 km race from Zeltweg 1971

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires 1972