Kopf to Testa

Preparing for the new-for-1970 Group 5, (up to 5 litre engine capacity), sportscar class, the FIA announced in April 1968 that the number of cars required for homologation would be reduced from 50 to 25.  Within two months, the Porsche board had agreed a go-ahead for the 917 project and Hans Mezger’s team began work on designing the type 912 flat 12 engine soon afterwards.  A car was ready for presentation at the Geneva Salon in mid-March 1969.  A successful inspection of 25 completed cars was carried out by the FIA at Zuffenhausen the following month, and homologation was confirmed, effective 1^st May.

Left: 917 chassis #001 at the factory ready for shipping to Geneva, March 1969.

Right: Presentation of the first 512S, November 1969

Ferrari shook off the demoralising defeats at the hands of Ford at Le Mans, 1966-69, and also decided to contest the revised racing category.  Mauro Forghieri and his team had the first 512S ready for presentation in November 1969, with homologation signed off in January 1970.  Although the Ferrari was relatively late in comparison with the 917, it had been possible to compress the design process as Franco Rocci specified the Tipo 261 engine on the basis of the 3 litre V12 used for Formula 1 prior to the advent of the flat 12.  Also, the chassis was largely that of the 612P Can-Am car.  On the latter point, it is notable that this was a semi-monocoque - a significant factor in making the 512, at 845 kgs, 47 kgs heavier than the tubular frame chassis 917.  The 512 was produced both as a closed coupe and also without a roof panel, targa style, and referred to as a Spyder.

 

In their initial forms, the 917 (4.5 litre) and the 512S (5.0 litre) both ran with engine power outputs of around 550 bhp, (the 917 with 560 by the first race of 1970).  Thus, a closely fought dual for the World Sportscar Championship was apparently on the cards for the 1970 season.  To optimise the 917’s competitiveness, Porsche sub-contracted the running of the works entries primarily to J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd.  The John Wyer/John Willment team was a proven success, it having secured the World Championship for Ford in 1968 with the GT40.  The team enjoyed lucrative sponsorship from the Gulf oil company.  To provide strength in depth, a second factory-supported equipe ran cars under the Porsche Konstruktionen Salzberg banner.  As the season progressed, additional cars appeared at championship races, entered by David Piper, AAW, Gesipa, Martini and Porsche-Audi Division (US).  The Ferrari factory entries were in the name, S.p.A. Ferrari S.E.F.A.C., and these were supplemented eventually by additional cars run by N.A.R.T, Scuderia Filipinetti, Georg Loos (Gelo), Scuderia Picchio Rosso and Ecurie Francorchamps. 

The leading drivers were, J.W. Automotive – Jo Siffert, Pedro Rodriguez, Brian Redman and Leo Kinunnen; Porsche Salzberg – Vic Elford, Hans Herrmann, Richard Attwood, Helmut Marko and Kurt Ahrens Jr.  S.E.F.A.C. Ferrari – Jacky Ickx, Clay Regazzoni, Ronnie Peterson, Derek Bell, Arturo Merzario, Ignazio Giunti, Nino Vaccarella, Mario Andretti, Peter Schetty,  Martini - Willi Kauhsen, Gerard Larrousse and Gijs van Lennep.  Scuderia Filipinetti - Mike Parkes, Herbert Muller; Jo Bonnier, Reine Wisell, Corrado Manfredini and Giampiero Moretti. 

Along with the 917 and the 512, other models of both manufacturers appeared at the season’s championship rounds – most notably the Porsche 908. Its inherent agility made it a favoured choice for the Targa Florio and the Nurburgring.  And the ‘old’ Ferrari312P was still capable of competitive performance in the Prototype class – indeed a N.A.R.T.-entered pair finished 4^th and 5^th overall at the opening round at Daytona. 

The championship’s first round was the Daytona 24 Hours, 1^st February. Although the revised, ‘Kurz’ 917 had proven very fast in testing at the Florida track two months previously, pole with a margin of 1.3 seconds was taken in wet conditions by a 512S driven by Mario Andretti.  Siffert/Redman’s 917 qualified second, with the Rodriguez/Kinnunen car third on the grid, though the Matra MS 650 of Beltoise/Pescarolo had been nearly 3 seconds quicker in a dry afternoon extra session.  The race featured plenty of damage incidents and reliability issues, resulting in some reshuffling of the driver/car allocations and several retirements.  With three 512s retiring as a result of accidents, only a single S.E.F.A.C. car finished – with driver credits for Andretti/Merzario/Ickx.  And this car managed third place, so not a hugely disappointing outcome.  However, for the J. W. Automotive team celebrations were fully justified since the 917 driven by Rodriguez/Kinnunen/Redman was 1^st and the Siffert/Redman car though 45 laps down, came in 2^nd.  The Salzberg 917 of Elford/Ahrens Jr retired with fuel system troubles at a little less than half distance.

Left to right: N.A.R.T. 512 at Daytona. Courtesy Fred Lewis; Daytona winning Gulf 917. Courtesy Lou Galanos;

Andretti in the S.E.F.A.C. 512 at Daytona. Courtesy Lou Galanos; Gulf 917 of Pedro Rodriguez at Daytona. Courtesy Fred Lewis

Several weeks later, the Porsche:Ferrari duel resumed at Sebring for the venue’s ’12 Hours.’  At Porsche, the ‘second’ team was run under the name ‘Porsche Audi USA,’ with driver pairings, Elford/Ahrens Jr, and Herrmann/Rudi Lins.  As at Daytona, Mario Andretti found his driving style and the 512 highly compatible, enabling him to capture the pole once again.  This time the margin was just a whisker under 1 second, with the Siffert/Redman 917 2^nd and Elford/Ahrens Jr 3^rd.  The Ickx/Schetty 512 was 4^th.  As technical issues and shunts took their toll, there was some shuffling of drivers by the teams, the most notable being a late drafting of Andretti into the Giunti/Vaccarella 512, which Mario then took to a narrow victory, Ferrari’s first sportscar World Championship win for two seasons.  Accounts of this race often focus on another dimension, usually characterised as ‘glamour.  This stemmed from the drivers of the second-placed Porsche 908 being Hollywood star, Steve McQueen and super-wealthy, (courtesy of the family’s ‘Revlon’ cosmetics business), Peter Revson.  The Rodriguez/Kinnunen 917 – with some help from Siffert after his own car retired with accident damage – came in 4^th .  Only one 917 and one 512 finished, and Ferrari in particular experienced a variety of failures and malfunctions.

Left to right: Gulf 917 of Rodriguez/Kinnunen leads N.A.R.T. 512 of Posey/Bucknum at Sebring. Courtesy Evo Magazine; Sebring start. Courtesy Harry Hurst; Andretti’s 512 passing the Revson/McQueen Porsche 908. Courtesy Lou Galanos

The next round was the 1000 Kms at Brands Hatch, April 12^th.  J.W. Automotive entered two 917s, for Siffert/Redman, Rodriguez/Kinnunen and also fielded a T car, nominally for Kinnunen and David Hobbs.  Hobbs main role however was as co-driver with David Piper who entered his own 917.  Salzburg entries were for Elford partnered by Denny Hulme and for Hans Herrmann/Dickie Attwood.  S.E.F.A.C. 512 Spiders were assigned to Ickx/Jackie Oliver and to Chris Amon/Merzario.  Scuderia Filipinetti – with S.E.F.A.C. support - ran Herbert Muller/Mike Parkes.  Another 512, owned by GELO team’s founder, Georg Loos, co-driven by Jonathan Williams, qualified for the race but was unable to start, lacking suitable tyres for the prevailing, very wet, race day conditions.  The race is well known for Rodriguez’s exceptional performance in such adverse weather, the superiority of his driving expertise indicated by the margin of his win – 5 laps!  The Salzberg 917s finished 2^nd and 3^rd.  The 512s came 5^th, 8^th and 13^th.  For Zuffenhausen this event’s outcome expunged the gloom occasioned by the Sebring defeat.

Left to right: Brands Hatch B.O.A.C. 1000 kms race start; Gulf 917 of Rodriguez leads 512 of Ickx; Salzberg 917 of Elford/Hulme

Two weeks later, whatever the weather in Kent, at Monza the conditions were in stark contrast with that endured for the Brands Hatch race.  But for Ferrari, the outlook was not so bright – Rodriguez had been devastatingly fast enough in the English deluge yet here in Italian sunshine both the J. W. Automotive and Salzberg teams had a new, full five litre, engine to try out.  Additional torque from this unit made for improved pick up and acceleration out of bends and Siffert demonstrated this in practice with a time virtually on par with the existing Formula 1 record, though a 4.5 engine was re-installed for the race because of lubrication issues. 

S.E.F.A.C. fielded three 512s, the third being driven by John Surtees, back in a Ferrari as a prodigal son, partnered by Peter Schetty.  Supporting the factory entries were two more 512s, Parkes/Muller for Scuderia Filipinetti and Manfredini/Moretti for Scuderia Picchio Rosso.  A sixth 512 for Gelo’s Loos/Franz Pesch failed to qualify.  Private entered 917s were in the hands of David Piper (owner), sharing with Tony Adamowicz, whilst AAW’s was crewed by Hans Laine/van Lennep, and Gesipa Racing Team’s by Jurgen Neuhaus/Helmut Kelleners. 

Giunti made a storming start to the race and led until the Gulf Porsches took up first and second positions after a few laps.  A lead pack comprised of Siffert, Giunti, Elford and Rodriguez then developed and broke away from the rest of the field.  Subsequently Siffert was delayed by accident damage.  Elford became the established leader as the laps accumulated, the 5 litre engine giving his car a small performance advantage over Rodriguez’s 917.  Whilst the Ferraris could not keep pace with the Porsches, they did all run reliably whilst various troubles began to afflict the Porsches – the Piper car was out with gear selection problems after 55 laps.  Just 8 laps later the Salzberg 917, with Attwood at the wheel, suffered valve gear failure.  A little short of a further 30 laps, Arhens Jr’s 917 had a rear tyre failure and the flailing rubber did enough damage to the suspension and oil tank to force the retirement of this Salzberg entry too.  So, by flag-fall, only one 917 was still in circulation, but this one – driven by Rodriguez – did have the distinction of being in first place, whilst the S.E.F.A.C. 512s had the consolation of finishing 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, and the Filipinetti and Picchio Rosso cars were 8^th and 9^th, respectively.

Left to right: 917 of Laine/van Lennep, Racing Team AAW, at Monza; Amon’s 512 leads Kinnunen’s Gulf 917; 917 of Gesipa Racing Team; Scuderia Picchio Rosso’s 512S

For the early-May running of the Targa Florio, J. W. Automotive put all its effort into the three 908/03s supplied by the factory.  The 917 was clearly not well suited to the Piccolo circuito delle Madonie, though a single 917 was shipped to Sicily by the Salzberg team.  Elford/Herrmann drove it primarily as a testing exercise but did record a time of 35:06.6, (before it was put away, not to be seen on race day) -  half a minute slower than their best time in the 908/03 which put them second on the grid. 

With the 312 PB still 8 months away in the future, Ferrari had no option but to use the 512S.  S.E.F.A.C. sent two for Giunti/Vaccarella to drive, one of which was to serve purely as training car.  Scuderia Filipinetti also entered one for Muller/Parkes. 

J. W. Automotive’s pairing of Siffert/Redman took the victory, with Rodriguez/Kinnunen 2^nd.  908s filled four of the top six places, but Ferrari was able to take some comfort from the 3^rd achieved by the Giunti/Vaccarella 512, and Parkes/Muller’s finish in 6^th. 

At this halfway point in the championship, it was already clear that Porsche was most likely to finish the season victorious, the Marque’s points tally having reached 42, with Ferrari on just 25.

Left to right: Targa Florio specialist Nino Vaccarella’s 512 Spider; Scuderia Filipinetti’s 512S; Salzberg 917

A fortnight on, round 6 was contested at Spa.  J. W. Automotive had two 917s present for the usual driver pairings of Siffert/Redman and Rodriguez/Kinnunen.  Salzberg followed suit with a two car line up for Elford/Ahrens Jr and Attwood/Herrmann.  Also entering their preferred crews were Gesipa with Neuhaus/Kelleners, while AAW ran Laine/van Lennep.  Both J. W. Automotive and the Elford/Ahrens Jr cars were equipped with the new 4,907 cc engine, while Attwood/Herrmann’s and the Gespia and AAW 917s retained the 4,494 cc version.
 
The three works Ferraris also carried a familiar driver squad – Ickx/Surtees, Schetty/Merzario and Giunti/Vaccarella.  The local team, Ecurie Francorchamps, entered a fourth 512 for Derek Bell/Hughes de Fiefiant.
 
During practice a revised rear section was tried on Rodriguez’s car and this successfully improved the aerodynamics, enabling him to record a stunning pole time which was 4 secs lower than Siffert was able to manage.  Ickx was close behind, but still 4.6 seconds ‘slower’ than Rodriguez.
 
The race got under way in drying conditions and soon was largely about a persistent battle between the J. W. Automotive 917s and the Ickx/Surtees 512.  At times the main difference came down to the efficiency and speed of the teams’ pitwork, and, on this occasion, J. W. Automotive’s was not as good as Ferrari’s.  Another significant factor was the varying expertise of the individual drivers in such powerful cars on such a challenging circuit, and, this day at least, Surtees was not especially quick, and consequently much of time that Ickx had saved when he was at the wheel was squandered during Surtees’s stints.  The car did however manage to finish on the same lap as the winning Siffert/Redman 917, though it would have been 3^rd if the Rodriguez/Kinnunen Porsche had not retired with a gearbox failure shortly after half distance.  Accordingly, it was the Elford/Ahrens Jr Salzberg 917 that took the final podium placing.

Left to right: Spa race start. Courtesy Motor Sport Images; Piech (centre, standing) and Wyer (right) in the Spa pit. Courtesy Motor Sport Images; Ferrari pit work at Spa -  512 of Schetty/Merzario refuelling. Courtesy Motor Sport Images

Championship round 7 was held at the Nurburgring at the end of May.  As at the Targa Florio, Porsche’s effort was concentrated on the circuit-suiting 908 model and only two 917s appeared – an AAW Racing Team entry for Toivonen/Axelsson, (which was withdrawn when Hans Laine was killed at the wheel of the team’s 908 during practice), and Gesipa’s for Neuhaus/Kelleners.  The latter qualified 9^th, quicker than several 908s and on a par with the 512s but was retired from the race with a wheel bearing failure.  908s finished 1-2 and 5-6-7-8, but the S.E.F.A.C. 512 of Surtees/Vaccarella managed 3^rd and Parkes/Muller brought the Filipinetti 512 home in 4^th.  The second works car, (Merzario/Giunti), was the race’s first retirement, with a fuel injection malfunction.

Left: Mike Parkes taking over the Filipinetti 512. Courtesy Motor Sport Images; Right: Gesipa’s 917. Courtesy Motor Sport Images

As a result of the points earned at the Nurburgring, Porsche was assured of the championship.  It had accumulated 60 points, whereas Ferrari, even if it won all the remaining three rounds, could not amass more than 57 points. 

As the teams arrived at Le Mans, Ferrari could feel a measure of confidence in the light of the Marque’s nine victories at the famous 24 Hours race.  Porsche, in contrast, and notwithstanding its unassailable lead in the current season’s championship points table, still had yet to take a first place at la Sarthe.  Little wonder therefore that no fewer than seven 917s would start the event.  However, not to be outdone, the Ferrari brand representation was spearheaded by a cohort of eleven 512s. 

Looking to optimise the 917’s performance on a circuit with such a long straight, three – J. W. Automotive’s for Siffert/Redman and Rodriguez/Kinnunen, and the Salzberg entry for Elford/Ahrens Jr – were fitted with the 4,907 cc engine.  The latter car also featured a longtail body, as did the psychedelic-liveried Martini Racing Team’s 917 assigned to Larrousse/Kauhsen.  However, the race became much more about reliability and avoiding accident damage than outright speed, especially as wet weather set in within the first hour.  For both makes, only two cars made it to the chequered flag and none of the expected front-runners figured in this group.  But this, no doubt, did not matter too much to the Zuffenhausen management because the Salzberg 917 driven by Attwood/Herrmann delivered the elusive first win.  And, for good measure, the Martini car came home second.  Perhaps the elation was a little spoiled by the fact that all three of the 5 litre engines failed. 

512s were placed 4^th and 5^th, driven by Posey/Bucknum (N.A.R.T.) and Walker/de Fieriant (Ecurie Francorchamps) respectively.  The other nine cars recorded retirements, five of which were attributable to accidents.

Left to right: Winning Salzberg 917 of Attwood/Herrmann. Courtesy Motor Sport Magazine; Race start. Courtesy Autotrend.com; Longtail of 2^nd placed Martini 917 of Larrousse/Kauhsen. Courtesy Primotipo

Although the championship was already decided, there was plenty of interest in round 9 at Watkins Glen, as several of the cars and the drivers took part the following day in a round of the Can-Am Challenge.  Although Ferrari had tackled the Group 7 series previously with the 612P, it was concerned that results had been mediocre, and used the event to reconsider next steps.  Andretti and Ickx both drove S.E.F.A.C.-entered 512S Spyders, the model that would be modified the following year to carry a 7 litre version of the V12 to create the 712P.  Porsche, however, looking to the next 2 or 3 seasons, perhaps had the most interest in the category, largely because of Jo Siffert’s personal persistence and the resulting 917 PA spider.  The Zuffenhausen marque too would compete in 1971 in Can-Am with an upgraded car - the 917/10.
 
The World Championship ‘6 Hours’ encapsulated the season’s general state of play, with a cohort of six 917s smothering the efforts of just three 512s – S.E.F.A.C. entries for Ickx/Schetty, Andretti/Giunti, and for Loos/Pesch by Gelo.  The Gulf Porsches dominated, Rodriguez/Kinnunen 1^st and Siffert/Redman 2^nd.  Andretti/Giunti took 3^rd but Ickx/Schetty could only manage 5^th, while the Gelo car failed to finish.  There was some embarrassment for J. W. Automotive as Rodriguez and Siffert collided an hour and half into the race, though neither sustained retirement-enforcing damage.

Left to right: Martini 917 of van Lennep leads 512 of Giunti. Courtesy Racing Archives.org; Siffert ahead of Rodriguez in the Gulf 917s. Courtesy Racing Archives.org; Gelo Racing Team’s 512. Courtesy Ralph Jennelli

After a three months break, the 10^th and final round was held at Zeltweg in October.  It might have appeared that by this time Ferrari had lost interest with just a single S.E.F.A.C. entry for Ickx/Giunti, but this was to a new ‘M’ specification which featured revised aerodynamics, increased engine power and improved rear brakes/suspension.  Gelo’s 512S was on hand for Loos/Pesch.  In contrast, six 917s were present, three cars each for the J. W. Automotive and Salzberg teams.  Notable in regard to the latter equipe was a 917 driving debut for Helmut Marko, taking the place made vacant by the retirement from racing of Hans Herrmann.  For Ferrari, a visible point of interest was the adoption of a ‘chopped’ tail, much like that devised for the 917 in Austria 12 months previously and leading to the ‘Kurz’ designation.

 Rodriguez took pole with a time just 1.2 seconds greater than that recorded by Jochen Rindt in practice for the Grand Prix at the circuit two months previously.  However, Ickx made the better race start.  The speed of the new 512M proved to be sustainable, leaving Rodriguez unable to stay on terms, and his engine failed after only 4 laps in the attempt.  The Ferrari’s control of the race was maintained until just short of one third distance when the car’s electrics/ignition failed.  In the latter stages, the victory looked well assured for the Siffert/Redman Gulf Porsche, but with a few laps remaining, it lost power with malfunctioning valve gear.  However, with a substantial lead, the car was capable of being nursed home and did indeed claim first place.

Left to right: Ferrari 512M of Jacky Ickx. Courtesy Alamy; Porsche 917 of Siffert/Redman. Courtesy MotorSportImages

With only the seven best results counted, the final championship points table showed Porsche to be the clear winning marque with 63 points, Ferrari’s total being 37.  Headline statistics for Porsche (Ferrari’s for comparison in brackets): Race Starts: 43 (40); Wins: 7 (1); Podiums: 14 (7); DNFs: 16 (19).  Considering that data, it will be no surprise that for Porsche the ambition/plan for ’71 was ‘more of the same.’  For Ferrari there was the promise that the new M version of the 512 would be fast and reliable, but S.E.F.A.C.’s Championship-contesting focus now switched to the 312 PB to be run in the Prototype (Group 6) class.