Targa Florio 1969

Porsche 908/02 with starting number 266; Winning car from Gerhard Mitter and Udo Schütz

Cockpit of a Porsche 908/02

Eight-cylinder boxer engine from the Porsche 908/02

Lancia Fulvia HF F&M Special

Claudio Maglioli in the Lancia Fulvia HF F&M Special

The 53rd Targa Florio , also 53 ° Targa Florio, Piccolo Circuito delle Madonie, Sicilia , took place in Sicily on May 4, 1969 and was the fifth round of the sports car world championship of that year.

The race

As in the previous year, the big absentee of the 53rd Targa Florio were the works cars of Scuderia Ferrari . If the Enzo Ferrari racing team did not have a suitable vehicle after a change in the regulations in 1968 , the official reason given in 1969 was to participate in the Spanish Grand Prix , which took place on the same weekend. For the race at the Circuit de Montjuïc in Barcelona , however, the Scuderia had only registered one Ferrari 312 for Chris Amon . Since it was unusual for Scuderia not to start at the Targa Florio, the rumor soon spread in the paddock that Enzo Ferrari and the organizers' officials could not have agreed on the entry fee demanded by Ferrari.

In contrast to Ferrari, the Porsche works team traveled with seven cars. Race director Rico Steinemann registered six Porsche 908/02 with Spyder bodies and one Porsche 911R . Regular driver Jo Siffert , who drove a Lotus 49B for Rob Walker at the Formula 1 race in Spain, did not start. The team also included Umberto Maglioli , now 41 , who had already won the Targa three times in 1953 , 1956 and 1968. As in the previous year, Maglioli was Vic Elford's partner . The other 908 were entrusted to Gerhard Mitter / Udo Schütz , Brian Redman / Richard Attwood , Hans Herrmann / Rolf Stommelen , Willi Kauhsen / Karl von Wendt and Gérard Larrousse / Rudi Lins . The 911 was driven by Dieter Spoerry and the Finnish rally driver Pauli Toivonen .

The technicians at Alfa Romeo still had problems with the new 3-liter engine, so Carlo Chiti reported two Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5 with the 2.5-liter unit for Autodelta . Chiti trusted in Nino Vaccarella , who as a Sicilian was always particularly motivated at the Targa. His teammate was Andrea de Adamich . The second works Tipo 33 was driven by Ignazio Giunti and Nanni Galli , the third by Mario Casoni and Spartaco Dini .

In the first week of April, the Porsche works drivers trained on the unlocked Piccolo circuito delle Madonie . In a Porsche 911R and a 908 Spyder, the pilots drove over the country roads and through the villages, past cheering spectators, stray dogs, donkey carts and normal everyday traffic. They drove times that were achieved by the best drivers during the race on the closed road in the 1950s. In 1955, Stirling Moss drove a lap time of 43: 07.200 minutes in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, breaking the average speed limit of 100 km / h for the first time. Umberto Maglioli needed 42 minutes for the lap in the 908 Spyder in the middle of the traffic. Udo Schütz was two minutes faster. Pauli Toivonen drove twelve laps at a time for several days in a row. In the official timed practice, the Porsche drivers undercut each other. First Maglioli achieved a time of 36:34 minutes, then Mitter 36:25 and Stommelen 36:24 minutes. Vic Elford was fastest with a time of 35:34 minutes. In another attempt to drive a fast lap, Elford had an accident and caused a total loss of the training car. Autodelta lost Casoni / Dini's car after Dini also had an accident.

The last team meeting took place on the Saturday before the race day in the Porsche warehouse in a hotel in Palermo . In the morning Ferry Porsche arrived with his sister Louise Piëch in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 and took part in the meeting. There, the drivers were urged to give each other space and the faster car in the race. Failure to act would result in dismissal. In the foyer of the hotel where the Porsche team stayed, Rico Steinemann posted the schedule for the race day on a pin board. Joakim Bonnier , who drove a Lola T70 Mk.3B GT for Scuderia Filipinetti and lived in the same hotel, thwarted the requirements with his own letter, which he attached next to it. "For all Filipinetti pilots: 10 am departure from the hotel, 1 pm lunch on the track, everyone should bring their own champagne, 4 pm victory celebration"

In contrast to the previous starting procedure, which stipulated that the slowest vehicles in the training session went onto the track first and the fastest vehicles at the end in an interval of 20 seconds, this process was reversed in 1969 and the interval was shortened to ten seconds. However, the start turned out to be an arbitrary act by the organizer. Not the Porsche superior in training, but the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 from Vaccarella was the first racing car to take to the track. After only three more cars, the interval start was given up and the rest of the starting field was sent off almost simultaneously. As a result, all six Porsche prototypes were just behind one another. After a few kilometers they caught up with Vaccarella's Alfa Romeo. First Rolf Stommelen passed him, then Vic Elford and Gerhard Mitter. At the emergency depot at kilometer 38, Stommelen stopped because the engine made unusual noises. Rudi Lins also stopped his Porsche at the depot because the oil pressure was way too low. After the first lap, Vic Elford led in the 908 with a time of 36:27 minutes, twelve seconds ahead of Gerhard Mitter. In third place was Bonnier's team-mate Herbert Müller in the Lola, who had only entered the race last in the confusion of the start and rolled up the field from the very back. Müller, who only had a small Fiat 850 available for course study during training , achieved a lap time of 37:13 minutes. Despite his unscheduled stop, Rolf Stommelen was fourth with 37:16 minutes. The duel between Elford and Mitter was decided after the second round, when Elford came to the pits after a record lap of 35: 27,500. A fan timing belt was broken and needed to be replaced. Elford lost six minutes on Mitter. He then tried to catch up with the deficit on Mitter with record laps. On the fourth lap he collided with Nanni Galli's Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 while overtaking. While Elford was able to continue driving without a long delay, Galli had to give up with damage to the rear suspension. After the seventh lap - Schütz now drove the Mitter car and Maglioli the 908 from Elford - the gap was still four minutes. Maglioli stayed in the cockpit one lap longer than planned and only came to the pits after the eighth lap for the last stop. In the remaining two laps Elford was unable to catch up with Mitter. Mitter and Schütz's victory was in jeopardy on the last lap when an empty cement sack that was blown up covered the radiator and caused the oil temperature to rise to 140 degrees. Mitter had to stop and remove the sack. At the finish he was 2 minutes and 45 seconds ahead of his teammate Elford.

Of the six Porsche 908s that started, four were at the head of the field. After Mitter / Schütz and Elford / Maglioli, Rolf Stommelen and Hans Herrmann came in third. Fourth place went to Willy Kauhsen and Karl von Wendt. After the early problems with the oil pressure, Rudi Lins and Gérard Larrousse had to be content with 21st place. Richard Attwood and Brian Redman dropped out after a drive shaft damage. The Porsche 911R went up in flames on the second lap after an accident involving Pauli Toivonen. Alfa Romeo had a total breakdown. After Nanni Galli retired after the collision with Vic Elford's Porsche, engine failure stopped the duo Vaccarella / de Adamich on lap six. On Joakim Bonnier's Lola T70, wheel nuts came loose at high speed; the subsequent breakage of the suspension led to the failure of the car.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	P 3.0	266	Porsche AG	Gerhard Mitter Udo Schütz	Porsche 908/02	10
2	P 3.0	270	Porsche AG	Vic Elford Umberto Maglioli	Porsche 908/02	10
3	P 3.0	274	Porsche AG	Rolf Stommelen Hans Herrmann	Porsche 908/2	10
4th	P 3.0	272	Porsche AG	Willi Kauhsen Karl von Wendt	Porsche 908/02	10
5	P 2.0	248	Scuderia Madunina	Enrico Pinto Giovanni Alberti	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	10
6th	P 3.0	276	BG Racing Team	Gerhard Koch Hans-Dieter Dechent	Porsche 907 2.2	9
7th	P 3.0	278	Corrado Manfredini	Corrado Manfredini Luciano Selva	Porsche 907 2.2	9
8th	S 5.0	178	IGFA	Erich Bitter Helmut Kelleners	Abarth 2000 p	9
9	P 2.0	238	Squadra Lancia HF	Rauno Aaltonen Sandro Munari	Lancia Fulvia HF F&M Special Spider	9
10	GT 2.0	86	Everardo Ostini	Everardo Ostini Giampiero Moretti	Porsche 911T	9
11	S 1.3	122	Scuderia Pegaso	Salvatore Calascibetta Vincenzo Ferlito	Abarth 1000 SP	9
12	GT 2.0	74	Gianfranco Bonetto	Gianfranco Bonetto Donzel Mores	Porsche 911T	9
13	GT 2.0	88	Rally Community Ulm	Eberhard Sindel Dieter Benz	Porsche 911S	9
14th	S 5.0	188	JCB Ltd.	Peter Brown Roger Enever	Chevron B8	8th
15th	S 1.3	128	Scuderia Etna	Giuseppe Virgilio Angelo Bonaccorsi	Abarth 1000 OT	8th
16	S 1.3	126	Enzo Buzzetti	Enzo Buzzetti Walter Dona	Abarth 1000 SP	8th
17th	GT 2.0	72	Scuderia Pegaso	Eugenio Renna Francesco Troia	Porsche 911S	8th
18th	GT 1.3	20th	Jolly Club	Tony case, Ruiz Jimenez	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	8th
19th	GT 1.3	6th	Scuderia Pegaso	Raffaele Restivo Alfonso Merendino	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	8th
20th	GT 2.0	100	Dan Margulies	Dan Margulies Rob Mackie	Porsche 911T / R	8th
21st	P 3.0	264	Porsche AG	Rudi Lins Gérard Larrousse	Porsche 908/02	8th
22nd	GT 1.6	42	Scuderia Pegaso	Paolo de Luca Francesco Jemma	Alfa Romeo Duetto	8th
23	GT 1.3	16	Jolly Club	Cesare Poretti Fiorenzo Genta	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	8th
24	S 5.0	186	Racing team falcons	Angus Clydesdale Edgar Berney	Chevron B8	8th
25th	P 2.0	246	Leandro Terra	Leandro Terra Turillo Barbuscia	Ferrari Dino 206P	8th
26th	S 1.6	158	Scuderia Pegaso	Pietro Lo Piccolo Ignazio Serse	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	8th
27	GT 1.6	32	Scuderia Pegaso	Adriano Reale Vincenzo Mirto Randazzo	Porsche 356 SC	8th
28	GT 1.3	14th	Scuderia Pegaso	Sergio Mantia Gaetano Lo Jacono	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	8th
29	GT 2.0	82	Scuderia Aretusa	"Sancho" "Zorba"	Ferrari Dino Spider	8th
30th	GT 1.3	4th	Franco Lisitano	Franco Lisitano Mateo Calabro	Lancia Fulvia Sport	8th
31	S 1.3	124	Scuderia Nord-Ovest	Eris Tondelli Marco Crosina	Abarth 1000 SP	8th
32	GT 1.6	46	Scuderia Nord-Ovest	Francesco Cosentino Walfrido Orecchioni	Fiat 124 Spider	8th
33	P 3.0	268	Porsche AG	Richard Attwood Brian Redman	Porsche 908/02	7th
34	S 1.3	132	Scuderia Etna	Santo Scigliano Giuseppe D'Amico	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato	7th
35	GT 1.6	36	Assosport	"Wilson" Domenico Patti	Porsche 356 SC	7th
36	GT 1.6	40	Scuderia Pegaso	Giancarlo Mercadante Salvatore Barraco	Alfa Romeo Giulia SS	7th
37	S 1.3	138	Scuderia Nissena	Antonio Ferraro Giuseppe Valenza	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	7th
38	GT 1.3	2	Roberto Fusina	Roberto Fusina Enrico Re	Bertone Racer	7th
39	P 3.0	262	Autodelta	Nino Vaccarella Andrea de Adamich	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2 2.5	6th
40	S 5.0	176	Taurinova	Baldassare Taormina Pasquale Tacci	Porsche 906	6th
41	GT 1.3	8th	Jolly Club	Luigi Cabella Giovanni Marini	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	6th
42	P 1.0	204	Scuderia Etna	Francesco Patané Orazio Scaglia	Fiat-Abarth 1000 S.	6th
43	S 1.3	130	Claudio Bruschi	Claudio Bruschi Mario Spataro	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato	6th
44	P 1.0	202	Jolly Club	Ugo Locatelli Mario Zanetti	Abarth 1000 SP	5
45	P 1.0	202	Jolly Club	Francesco Morelli Erik Banti	De Sanctis	5
46	P 1.0	206	Racing Development Hawks	John Markey Terry Hunter	Costin-Nathan GT	5
47	GT 1.3	12	Girolamo Capra	Girolamo Capra Angelino Lepri	Lancia Fulvia Sport	5
48	GT 2.0	84	Hans-Dieter Weigel	Hans-Dieter Weigel Ferfried von Hohenzollern	Porsche 911T	5
49	GT 2.0	62	Corrado Ferlaino	Corrado Ferlaino Nino Todaro	Porsche 911T	5
50	GT 1.6	44	Scuderia Etna	P. Mendozza Cesare di Belmonte	Fiat 124 Sport Spider	5
51	S 1.3	140	Scuderia Etna	Alfio Gambero Girolamo Perniciaro	Abarth 1300 OT	5
52	S 1.6	154	Scuderia Pegaso	Giuseppe Garofalo Salvatore Sutera	Osca 1600 GT	5
Disqualified
53	GT 2.0	66	Brescia Corse	Ennio Bonomelli Cesare Guzzi	Porsche 911T	9
Failed
54	S 1.6	156	Brescia Corse	Giancarlo Sala Alessandro Uberti	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	4th
55	S 5.0	180	Autodelta	Ignazio Giunti Nanni Galli	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	4th
56	P 1.0	208	Scuderia Pegaso	Alfonso Vella Giovanni Rizzo	De Sanctis	4th
57	P 2.0	232	Squadra Lancia HF	Claudio Maglioli Raffaele Pinto	Lancia Fulvia HF F&M Special Spider	4th
58	P 2.0	250	Antonio Nicodemi	Jonathan Williams Antonio Nicodemi	Porsche 907	4th
59	GT 1.3	18th	"Killimany Duns"	"Killimany Duns" "Elles Angell"	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	3
60	GT + 2.0	112	Alan Smith	Alan Smith Nick Faure	Triumph TR5	3
61	S 5.0	174	Antonio Zadra	Antonio Zadra Mario Casoni	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	3
62	S 5.0	190	Scuderia Filipinetti	Herbert Müller Jo Bonnier	Lola T70 Mk.3B GT	3
63	P 1.0	212	Romano Martini	Romano Martini Aldo Horvat	ATS 1000 SP	3
64	P 2.0	224	Jack Wheeler	Jack Wheeler Martin Davidson	Austin-Healey Sprite	3
65	P 2.0	252	Mark Konig	Mark Konig Gabriele Konig	Nomad Mk.2	3
66	GT 1.6	50	Scuderia Ateneo	Silvestre Semilia Salvatore Gagliano	Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider	2
67	S 1.3	134	Scuderia Pegaso	Guido Garufi Franco Tagliavia	Abarth 1300 OT	2
68	S 1.6	160	Scuderia Ateneo	Alfonso di Garbo Girolama Caci	Osca 1600 GT	2
69	P 2.0	230	Scuderia Ateneo	Enzo Pinelli Antonio Guargliardo	Fiat-Abarth 2000 S.	2
70	P 2.0	234	Scuderia Nissena	Aldo Bardelli Carmelo Giugno	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2	2
71	P 2.0	240	Porsche AG	Dieter Spoerry Pauli Toivonen	Porsche 911R	2
72	GT 2.0	64	Pierre Greub	Pierre Greub Jean Égreteaud	Porsche 911S	1
73	GT 2.0	70	Scuderia Pegaso	Armando Floridia Libero Marchiolo	Porsche 911S	1
74	GT + 2.0	114	Scuderia Montegrappa	Alessandro Federico Vito Coco	Ferrari 275 GTB / C	1
75	S 5.0	184	Scuderia Pegaso	Piero Bellavia Daniele Stabile	Abarth-Simca 2000 Bialbero	1
76	P 1.0	218	M. Dickin	Tony Bending Alan Capell	Austin-Healey Sprite	1
77	P 2.0	226	Pierre Dumaz	Pierre Dumaz Marc Soleil	Fournier-Marcadier	1
78	GT 1.6	34	Luciano Verrocchio	Luciano Verrocchio Licio Pardi	Porsche 356 SC	1
79	GT 2.0	76	Claude Haldi	Claude Haldi Jacques Rey	Porsche 911S	1
Not started
80	S 1.6	152	Scuderia Ateneo	Pasquale de Francisci Stefano Alongi	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	1
81	S 5.0	172	Autodelta	Mario Casoni Spartaco Dini	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	2
82	S 5.0	182	Giampiero Moretti	Giampiero Moretti Giampiero Biscaldi	Porsche 910	3
83	P 2.0	228	Unipower Cars Ltd.	Andrew Hedges Piers Forester	Unipower GT	4th
84	P 2.0	236	Julian Hasler	Peter Jackson Clive Baker	Nomad Mk.1	5
85	GT 2.0	T	Hans-Dieter Weigel	Hans-Dieter Weigel Ferfried von Hohenzollern	Porsche 911S	6th
86	P 3.0	T	Porsche System Engineering	Vic Elford	Porsche 908/02	7th

¹ Accident in training ² Accident in training ³ Accident in training ⁴ Accident in training ⁵ Accident in training ⁶ Training car ⁷ Accident in training

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
87	GT 1.3	10	Giampaolo Baruffi	Giampaolo Baruffi Eugenio Foschetti	Lancia Fulvia Sport
88	GT 1.6	38	Domenico Tramontana	Domenico Tramontana Antonio Catalano	Fiat 124 Spider
89	GT 1.6	43	Alberto Rosselli	Alberto Rosselli Giani Belli	Fiat 124 Spider
90	GT 2.0	68	Edgar Herrmann	Edgar Herrmann Hans Schuller	Porsche 911S
91	GT 2.0	78	Moreno Baldi	Moreno Baldi Roberto Giardi	Ferrari Dino 206S
92	GT 2.0	80	Carlo Pietromarchi	Carlo Pietromarchi Giovanni Vasari	Fiat Dino Spider
93	GT 2.0	102	Nick Ukmar	Nick Ukmar Stephen Behr	Porsche 911S
94	S 1.3	136	Romano Ramoino	Romano Ramoino Federico Giunta	Abarth simca 1300
95	P 1.0	210	Luciano Pasotto	Luciano Pasotto	Abarth 1000 SP
96	P 1.0	216	Peter Mitchell	Peter Mitchell Paul Woode	Ginetta G12
97	P 2.0	242	Dominique Martin	Dominique Martin Jean-Claude Killy	Porsche 907
98	P 2.0	254	Richard Dawkins	Richard Dawkins Rod Eade	MGB

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
P 3.0	Gerhard Mitter	Udo Schütz	Porsche 908/02	Overall victory
P 2.0	Enrico Pinto	Giovanni Alberti	Alfa Romeo T33 / 2	Rank 5
P 1.0	no participant in the finish
S 5.0	Erich Bitter	Helmut Kelleners	Abarth 2000 p	Rank 8
S 1.6	Pietro Lo Piccolo	Ignazio Serse	Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ	Rank 26
S 1.3	Salvatore Calascibetta	Vincenzo Ferlito	Abarth 1000 SP	Rank 11
GT + 2.0	no participant in the finish
GT 2.0	Everardo Ostini	Giampiero Moretti	Porsche 911T	Rank 10
GT 1.6	Paolo de Luca	Francesco Jemma	Alfa Romeo Duetto	Rank 22
GT 1.3	Tony case	Ruiz Jimenez	Lancia Fulvia Sport Competizione	Rank 18

Racing data

• Registered: 98
• Started: 79
• Rated: 52
• Race classes: 10
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 72,000 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 6: 07: 45.300 hours
• Overall rounds of the winning team: 10
• Total distance of the winning team: 720,000 km
• Winner's average: 117.470 km / h
• Pole position: none
• Fastest race lap: Vic Elford - Porsche 908/02 (# 270) - 35: 08.200 = 122.948 km / h
• Racing series: 5th round of the 1969 sports car world 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 1969  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Report at Motorsport Magazin
• Results

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helmut Zwickl: World champion through technical knockout - a racing season with Porsche . Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1969, p. 112.
2. ↑ Helmut Zwickl: World champion through technical knockout - a racing season with Porsche . Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1969, p. 112.

Previous race, Monza 1000 km race, 1969

Sports car world championship

Successor 1000 km race at Spa-Francorchamps 1969