Targa Florio 1968

The victorious Porsche 907 2.2 from Umberto Maglioli and Vic Elford

Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 as it was used in the 1968 Targa Florio

The two Austrians Helmut Marko and Willy Mlaker reported a Lotus Europa with a 1.5-liter Renault engine . However, the car did not show up for training and racing

The 52nd Targa Florio , also 52a Targa Florio, Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie, Sicilia , took place in Sicily on May 5, 1968 and was the fifth round of the World Sports Car Championship of that year.

The race

After those in charge of Autodelta , the Alfa Romeo racing team , had registered three works cars for the 1000 km race in Monza , but the team did not come to Monza , Italian sports journalists speculated about the reasons for the absence. In the days before the Targa Florio , on the Piccolo circuito delle Madonie , Carlo Chiti enlightened the professional world and the interested public. Alfa Romeo wanted to concentrate fully on the Targa Florio so that it could stand up to Porsche there . Since the Scuderia Ferrari did not have a suitable racing car after a change in the regulations and in 1968 decided not to compete in the world championship, those responsible at Alfa Romeo were under particular pressure.

The top driver at Alfa Romeo was Nino Vaccarella . The Palermo- born racing driver was the spectators' favorite, although he could not always meet their expectations. In addition to spectacular accidents, he achieved overall victory in the works Ferrari 275P2 in 1965 with partner Lorenzo Bandini . In 1968 he drove the race with Udo Schütz in an Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5 with a 2.5 liter V8 engine . The three other registered factory T33 / 2s - driven by Ignazio Giunti / Nanni Galli , Lucien Bianchi / Mario Casoni and Giancarlo Baghetti / Giampiero Biscaldi - had the 2.0-liter V8 engine. A fifth and sixth TT3 / 2 were reported by the Belgian Racing Team VDS for Teddy Pilette / Rob Slotemaker as well as Gustave Gosselin and Serge Trosch .

The Porsche works team entered the race with four Porsche 907 2.2s . The driver pairings were Vic Elford / Umberto Maglioli , Hans Herrmann / Jochen Neerpasch , Jo Siffert / Rolf Stommelen and Ludovico Scarfiotti / Gerhard Mitter . Maglioli was next to Scarfiotti the second Italian in the team and was specially signed for the Targa. Born in 1928 Piemontser was applied to a 20-year -seater - and sports car career to look back and the Targa had in 1953 on a work - Lancia D20 and 1956 together with Fritz Huschke von Hanstein ever won for Porsche.

Scarfiotti and Mitter had to start with the replacement car because Scarfiotti had an accident during training in the Porsche with the number 230. The fastest in practice was Vic Elford, who in the Porsche with the number 224 completed the 72-kilometer route in a time of 36: 47.700 minutes on his fastest lap. The average achieved was 117.107 km / h. In accordance with the regulations, the cars start on race Sunday from 8 a.m. every 20 seconds in the reverse order of their training times (the fastest at the end) within their classes. There was a five-minute break in front of the 2-liter prototypes and sports cars. The first on the track were ten Lancia Fulvia Zagatos , all of them with Italian driver pairings. Siffert, Scarfiotti and Elford's Porsches were the last to enter the race.

At the top, the expected duel between the racing cars from Porsche and Alfa Romeo developed right from the start. Despite the standing start, fast lap times were set on the first lap. Rudi Lins in the Porsche 910 drove 38: 41.100 minutes and was 11 seconds faster than Ignazio Giunti in the Alfa Romeo. Scarfiotti undercut the 37: 29,000 minutes of Nino Vaccarella with a time of 37: 07.600 and thus took the lead. On the first lap, two Porsches ran into serious difficulties. Vic Elford went off the road on the mountainous stretch of the track. Spectators pushed the Porsche back onto the street with a puncture on the right front. Elford fitted the spare wheel and went back into the race with some loss of time. Siffert's Porsche got worse, as it had damaged its suspension. Siffert drove slowly back to the pits, where the right rear steering knuckle had to be changed, which threw the car back hopelessly.

After the end of the second round, Scarfiotti had increased his lead on Vaccarella to 28.3 seconds, which Vaccarella was able to reduce to 20 seconds after the third round. Before the start of the fourth lap, the leading vehicles stopped in the pits to refuel and change drivers. Scarfiotti handed over the cockpit to Gerhard Mitter, and Vaccarella to Udo Schütz. Only Vic Elford, who gradually made up the gap to the front, stayed in the car. In the third lap he had achieved the fastest lap time ever driven at the Targa with a time of 36: 92.300 minutes. For Nino Vaccarella and Udo Schütz, the race ended 12 kilometers after the pit stop. Schütz got off the track and damaged the Alfa Romeo so badly on a stone wall that he could no longer drive. After the end of the fifth lap, Elford pitted in seventh place and handed the Porsche over to Maglioli. With Gerhard Mitter's stop in the leading Porsche, the tide seemed to be turning in the direction of Alfa Romeo. The Porsche suffered from clutch and brake problems and would not start for a long time after refueling. Nanni Galli and Mario Casoni passed and gave Alfa Romeo a one-two lead. The Porsche's starter problem was due to a broken fuel pump , which finally failed on the seventh lap.

Three laps before the end of the race, Elford took over the Porsche with the number 224 from Maglioli again. After two fast laps, Elford passed the two Alfa Romeos in the lead and won the race for Porsche with a lead of 2½ minutes over the best-placed Alfa Romeo of Ignazio Giunti and Nanni Galli.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	P 3.0	224	Porsche System Engineering	Vic Elford Umberto Maglioli	Porsche 907 2.2	10
2	P 2.0	186	Autodelta	Ignazio Giunti Nanni Galli	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	10
3	P 2.0	192	Autodelta	Lucien Bianchi Mario Casoni	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	10
4th	P 3.0	222	Porsche System Engineering	Hans Herrmann Jochen Neerpasch	Porsche 907 2.2	10
5	P 2.0	178	Racing Team VDS	Teddy Pilette Rob Slotemaker	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	10
6th	P 2.0	182	Autodelta	Giancarlo Baghetti Giampiero Biscaldi	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	10
7th	S 5.0	128	Karl von Wendt	Karl von Wendt Willi Kauhsen	Porsche 906	10
8th	GT 2.0	82	Ecurie Les Corsaires	Claude Haldi Pierre Greub Edgar Berney	Porsche 911T	10
9	P 2.0	190	Valvoline Racing Team	Rudi Lin's Rico Steinemann	Porsche 910	9
10	P 2.0	172	Piccionaia Racing Team	Carlo Facetti Antonio Nicodemi	Porsche 910	9
11	P 2.0	110	HF Squadra Lancia	Sandro Munari Raffaele Pinto	Lancia Fulvia Zagato	9
12	S 5.0	130	BMC Racing	Andrew Hedges Paddy Hopkirk	MGB GT	9
13	GT 2.0	70	Scuderia Pegaso	Armando Floridia Vincenzo Mirto Randazzo	Porsche 911S	9
14th	GT 1.3	16	Jolly Club	Giuseppe Giacomini Sergio Barbasio	Lancia Fulvia Sport	9
15th	P 2.0	174	HF Squadra Lancia	Claudio Maglioli Marco Crosina	Lancia Fulvia Zagato	9
16	GT 2.0	76	Carlo Ferlaino	Corrado Ferlaino Gaetano Starrabba	Porsche 911S	9
17th	GT 2.0	72	Scuderia Filipinetti	Jacques Rey Sylvain Garant	Porsche 911S	9
18th	P 3.0	226	Porsche System Engineering	Jo Siffert Rolf Stommelen	Porsche 907 2.2	9
19th	P 2.0	196	HF Squadra Lancia	Pat Moss Rosadelle Facetti	Lancia Fulvia HF	9
20th	GT 2.0	78	Claude Laurent	Claude Laurent Jacques Marché	Porsche 911T	9
21st	S 5.0	134	Enzo Buzzetti	Enzo Buzetti Secondo Ridolfi	Porsche 906	9
22nd	P 2.0	106	Bam-Bam	Hans Wängstre Evert Christofferson	Ferrari Dino 206S	9
23	GT 1.3	24	Scuderia Pegaso	Eugenio Renna Giuseppe Garofalo	Lancia Fulvia Sport	9
24	P 2.0	202	JCB Ltd.	Peter Brown Tony case	MGB	9
25th	GT 1.3	2	Jolly Club	Ugo Locatelli Cesare Poretti	Lancia Fulvia Sport	9
26th	GT 2.0	68	Patrice Sanson	Patrice Sanson Roland Lefevre	Porsche 911S	9
27	GT 1.3	12	Zefferino Filippi	Zefferino Filippi Giorgio Danieli	Lancia Fulvia Sport	9
28	GT 1.6	48	Scuderia St. Ambroeus	Girolamo Capra Giancarlo Sala	Alfa Romeo Duetto	9
29	S 5.0	140	Ted Worswick	Ted Worswick Richard Bond	Austin-Healey 3000	9
30th	GT 1.3	22nd	Scuderia Pegaso	Sergio Mantia Gaetano Lo Jacono	Lancia Fulvia Sport	9
31	GT 1.3	14th	"Snoopy"	"Snoopy" "Nano"	Lancia Fulvia Sport	9
32	P 2.0	208	Nomad Cars	Mark Konig Tony Lanfranchi	Nomad Mk.1	8th
33	S 1.6	126	Scuderia Pegaso	Pietro Lo Piccolo Salvatore Sutera	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	8th
34	GT 1.6	54	Scuderia Pegaso	Raffaele Restivo Francesco Jemma	Alfa Romeo Duetto	8th
35	GT 1.3	20th	Franco Lisitano	Franco Lisitano Mateo Calabro	Lancia Fulvia Sport	8th
36	GT 1.6	32	Aretusa	"Zorba" "Sancho"	Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider	8th
37	S 1.3	102	Giovanni Rizzo	Giovanni Rizzo Stefano Alongi	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	8th
38	GT 1.6	30th	Francesco Cosentino	Francesco Cosentino Gianluigi Verna	Fiat 124 Spider	8th
39	GT 1.3	10	Francesco Fiorentino	Francesco Fiorentino Giuseppe Pirrone	Matra Djet 6	8th
40	P 1.0	160	Etna	Francesco Patané Orazio Scaglia	Fiat-Abarth 1000 SP	8th
41	GT 1.6	34	Scuderia Pegaso	Francesco Troia Salvatore Barraco	Alfa Romeo Giulia SS	8th
42	S 1.6	124	Aldo Bersano	Aldo Bersano Sergio Morando	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	8th
43	S 1.0	90	Etna	"Don Pedrito" Cesare di Belmonte	Fiat-Abarth 1000S	8th
44	S 1.0	96	Scuderia Pegaso	Salvatore Calascibetta Vincenzo Ferlito	Fiat-Abarth 1000S	7th
45	S 1.3	104	Romano Ramoino	Romano Ramoino Federico Giunta	Abarth 1300 OT	7th
46	P 1.0	162	Gianfranco Padoan	Gianfranco Padoan Giuliano Savona	Minimach Cooper	7th
47	P 1.0	164	Nissena	Giuseppe Parla Ludovico Del Sette	Fiat-Moretti 1000SS	7th
48	S 1.3	108	Nissena	Giuseppe Valenza Antonio Ferraro	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	7th
49	P 3.0	230T	Porsche System Engineering	Ludovico Scarfiotti Gerhard Mitter	Porsche 907 2.2	6th
50	S 1.3	106	Etna	Giuseppe Virgilio Salvatore Panepinto	Abarth 1300 OT	6th
51	GT 1.6	38	Scuderia Pegaso	Adriano Reale Giuseppe Vassalo	Porsche 356C	6th
52	GT 1.6	46	Michele Paratore	Michele Paratore Giovanni Rigano	Fiat 124 Spider	6th
53	S 1.3	112	Donald Healey Motor Company	Rauno Aaltonen Clive Baker	Austin-Healey Sprite	5
54	S 5.0	136	Terry Drury	Terry Drury Terry Sanger	Ford GT40	5
Failed
55	P 3.0	220	Autodelta	Nino Vaccarella Udo Schütz	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5	3
56	S 5.0	138	Paul Vestey	David Piper Paul Vestey	Ferrari 250LM	2
57	GT 1.3	8th	Jolly Club	Cesare Fiorio Giovanni Marini	Lancia Fulvia Sport
58	GT 1.6	40	Giuseppe de Gregorio	Giuseppe de Gregorio Alfonso Merendino	Alfa Romeo Duetto
59	GT 1.6	42	Scuderia Pegaso	Paolo de Luca Giovanni La Mantia	Alfa Romeo Giulia SS
60	S 1.3	110	Nissena	Francesco Botindari Raffaele Cammarota	Abarth 1300 OT
61	S 1.3	114	Etna	Alfio Gambero Angelo Bonaccorsi	Abarth 1300 OT
62	S 5.0	132	Gaetano Starrabba	Gaetano Starrabba Everardo Ostini	Porsche 906
63	P 1.0	152	Erik Banti	Erik Banti Cristiano Del Balzo	De Sanctis
64	P 1.0	158	Jack Wheeler	Jack Wheeler Martin Davidson	Austin-Healey Sprite
65	P 2.0	180	Racing Team VDS	Gustave Gosselin Serge Trosch	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2
66	P 2.0	188	Piccionaia Racing Team	Giovanni Alberti Tullio Sergio Marchesi	Porsche 910
Not started
67	P 2.0	194	Alberto Luti	Alberto Luti	Porsche 910	1
68	P 2.0	212	Ignazio Capuano	Ignazio Capuano Ferdinando Latteri	Porsche 910	2
69	P 3.0	228	Alain de Cadenet	Alain de Cadenet Tony Beeson	Chevron B8	3
70	P 3.0	230	Porsche System Engineering	Ludovico Scarfiotti Gerhard Mitter	Porsche 907 2.2	4th

¹ not started ² not started ³ not started ⁴ training accident

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	P 2.0		Louis Cosson	Louis Cosson Jacques Weiprecht	Fournier-Marcadier
72	S 5.0		JW Automotive Engineering	Paul Hawkins David Hobbs	Ford GT40
73	GT 1.3		Jolly Club	Fiorenzo Genta Roberto Angiolini	Lancia Fulvia Sport
74	P 3.0		Scuderia Filipinetti	Herbert Mueller	Serenissima Mk.168
75	GT 1.3	4th	Angelo Rizzo	Angelo Rizzo "Wilson"	Lancia Fulvia Sport
76	GT 1.3	18th	Jolly Club	Maurizio Zanetti	Lancia Fulvia Sport
77	GT 1.6	36	Renzo Druetto	Renzo Druetto GF Silechhia	Fiat 124 Spider
78	GT 1.6	44	Bosch Vienna	Helmut Marko Willy Mlaker	Lotus Europe
79	GT 1.6	50	Nissena	Antonio Fasciana	Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider
80	GT 1.6	52	Domenico Cedrati	Domenico Cedrati	Alfa Romeo Duetto
81	GT 1.6	56	Ansano Cecchini	Ansano Cecchini Luigi Cecchini	Alfa Romeo Duetto
82	GT 2.0	62	Ennio Bonomelli	Ennio Bonomelli Giampiero Moretti	Porsche 911T
83	GT 2.0	64	André Wicky	Jean-Pierre Hanrioud Jean Sage	Porsche 911T
84	GT 2.0	66	André Wicky	André Wicky Willy Meier	Porsche 911T
85	GT 2.0	74	Nord-Ovest	Gianluigi Verna Francesco Cosentino	Alfa Romeo 1750
86	S 1.0	92	Piero Botalla	Piero Botalla Gianfranco Palazzoli	Fiat-Abarth 1000S
87	S 1.0	94	Luciano Pasotto	Luciano Pasotto	Fiat-Abarth 1000S
88	S 1.6	122	Nissena	Carmelo Giugno	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ
89	P 1.0	154	Richard Melville	Richard Melville	Hillman Imp
90	P 1.0	156	Remigio Cianfriglia	Remigio Cianfriglia Bruno Momigliano	Cianfriglia
91	P 1.0	166	Apulia	Brancaccio Antonio Petruzzi	Fiat-Abarth 1000 SP
92	P 2.0	176	Georges Houel	Georges Houel Walter Roser	lotus
93	P 2.0	198	Ben Pon	Ben Pon Gijs van Lennep	Porsche 910
94	P 2.0	200	Nikolaus Killenberg	Nikolaus Killenberg Georg Bialas	Chevron B8
95	P 2.0	204	Scuderia Lufthansa	Hans-Dieter Dechent Robert Huhn	Porsche 910

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P 3.0	Vic Elford	Umberto Maglioli		Porsche 907 LH 2.2	Overall victory
P 2.0	Ignazio Giunti	Nanni Galli		Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Rank 2
P 1.0	Francesco Patane	Orazio Scaglia		Fiat-Abarth 1000 SP	Rank 40
S 5.0	Karl von Wendt	Willi Kauhsen		Porsche 906	Rank 7
S 1.6	Pietro Lo Piccolo	Salvatore Sutera		Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	Rank 33
S 1.3	Giovanni Rizzo	Stefano Alongi		Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	Rank 37
S 1.0	"Don Pietro"	Cesare di Belmonte		Fiat-Abarth 1000S	Rank 43
GT 2.0	Claude Haldi	Pierre Greub	Edgar Berney	Porsche 911T	Rank 8
GT 1.6	Girolamo Capra	Giancarlo Sala		Alfa Romeo Duetto	Rank 28
GT 1.3	Giuseppe Giacomini	Sergio Barbasio		Lancia Fulvia Sport	Rank 14

Racing data

• Registered: 95
• Started: 66
• Rated: 54
• Race classes: 10
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: hot and windy
• Route length: 72,000 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 6: 28: 47,900 hours
• Overall rounds of the winning team: 10
• Total distance of the winning team: 720,000 km
• Winner's average: 111.112 km / h
• Pole position: Vic Elford - Porsche 907 2.2 (# 224) - 36: 47.700 = 117.107 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Vic Elford - Porsche 907 2.2 (# 224) - 36: 02.300 = 119.872 km / h
• Racing series: 5th round of the 1968 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• Pino Fondi: Targa Florio - 20th Century Epic. Giorgio Nada Editore Vimodrone 2006, ISBN 88-7911-270-8 .
• 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

Commons : Targa Florio 1968  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Race report
• Results

Previous race at the Monza 1000 km race in 1968

Sports car world championship

Follow -up race 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1968