The 1970 Watkins Glen 6 Hours was an endurance race held at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course, New York, United States on July 11, 1970. It was the ninth round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season. [1]
The 1970 Watkins Glen 6 Hours was an endurance race held at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course, New York, United States on July 11, 1970. It was the ninth round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season. [1]
John Wyer's team had not won a race since Spa and they came off a disastrous attempt at winning Le Mans; losing all three of their cars in 10 hours and the race to their sister team, Porsche Salzburg. Mario Andretti returned to Ferrari to try to help the great marque repeat their triumph at Sebring less than 4 months previously. Ferrari were keen on doing this; a win here would be sufficient comeuppance for them after their humiliating Le Mans run; all four works cars had retired after 4 hours and 4 of 6 other privately entered 512's also retired.
This particular race was one of 4 timed races on the calendar; the others being at Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans. It was the only 6 hour race on the calendar in 1970.
Qualifying once again went to a Porsche; the Jo Siffert/Brian Redman 917K managed to edge out the Andretti/Giunti Ferrari 512S and the Rodriguez/Kinnunen 917K by three tenths of a second.
This would be the last Watkins Glen 6 Hours race on the original circuit. The circuit was rebuilt for the next year; they used the short track (as the extension had not yet been finished) and the whole track in 1972.
At the start, Andretti took the lead from Siffert, but the Swiss driver took the lead back from Andretti on the third lap. He then lost the lead to Rodriguez. Later on in the race, Rodriguez attempted to switch off the 917K's headlights; but instead he switched off the fuel pumps, and the engine started to fail. Rodriguez was about to come into the pits, but then he realized what he had done, switched the pumps on, and then stormed through the field, made fastest lap and he & Kinnunen went on to win for the 4th time in the season. Wyer's team finished 1-2, and both cars finished on the same lap, with the works Ferrari of Andretti/Giunti completing the podium.
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S 5.0 | 2 |  John Wyer Automotive Engineering |  Pedro Rodríguez  Leo Kinnunen | Porsche 917K | Porsche 4.9L Flat-12 | 308 |
| 2 | S 5.0 | 1 | John Wyer Automotive Engineering |  Jo Siffert Brian Redman | Porsche 917K | Porsche 4.9L Flat-12 | 308 |
| 3 | S 5.0 | 92 |  SpA Ferrari SEFAC |  Mario Andretti Ignazio Giunti | Ferrari 512S Spyder | Ferrari 5.0L V12 | 305 |
| 4 | S 5.0 | 31 | Porsche-Audi USA | Vic Elford  Denny Hulme | Porsche 917K | Porsche 4.9L Flat-12 | 302 |
| 5 | S 5.0 | 91 | SpA Ferrari SEFAC |  Jacky Ickx Peter Schetty | Ferrari 512S Spyder | Ferrari 5.0L V12 | 298 |
| 6 | S 5.0 | 32 | Porsche-Audi USA | Richard Attwood  Kurt Ahrens Jr. | Porsche 917K | Porsche 4.9L Flat-12 | 295 |
| 7 | P 3.0 | 36 | Martini International Racing |  Helmut Marko Rudi Lins | Porsche 908/02 | Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 | 288 |
| 8 | S 5.0 | 50 |  Ecurie Bonnier | Jo Bonnier Reine Wisell | Lola T70 Mk.3B | Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | 264 |
| 9 | S 5.0 | 35 | Martini International Racing |  Gijs van Lennep  Gérard Larrousse | Porsche 917K | Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 | 260 |
| 10 | GT +2.5 | 9 | Bob Grossman | Bob Grossman Don Yenko | Chevrolet Camaro 427 | Chevrolet 7.0L V8 | 243 |
| 11 | S 2.0 | 52 | Dr. Mervin Rosen | Merv Rosen Dick Jacobs | Porsche 906 | Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 | 241 |
| 12 | S 2.0 | 53 | Mike Rahal | Hugh Wise Werner Frank | Porsche 906 | Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 | 236 |
| 13 | GT 2.5 | 77 | Bruce Jennings | Bob Tuillus Bruce Jennings | Porsche 911T | Porsche 2.2L Flat-6 | 233 |
| 14 | GT 2.5 | 41 | Jim Bandy | Jim Bandy Bruce Cargill | Lotus Europa | Ford 1.6L I4 | 233 |
| 15 | S 2.0 | 39 |  Rainer Brezinka | Rainer Brezinka Horst Petermann Rudy Bartling | Porsche 906 | Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 | 231 |
| 16 | GT 2.0 | 84 | Ralph Meaney | Gary Wright Francis C. Grant | Porsche 911S | Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 | 223 |
| 17 | P 2.0 | 46 | Jim Baker | Wayne Christian Charles Reynolds Bobby Rinzler | Chevron B16 | Ford 1.8L I4 | 223 |
| 18 | GT 2.5 | 70 | Sylvain Garant | Andre Wicky Sylvain Garant | Porsche 911T | Porsche 2.2L Flat-6 | 217 |
| 19 | P 2.0 | 46 | Jim Baker | Paul Richards Jim Baker | Chevron B16 | Ford 1.8L I4 | 206 |
| 20 | GT 2.5 | 94 | Ralph Meaney | Ralph Meaney Stephen Behr | Porsche 914/6 GT | Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 | 181 |
| Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT +2.5 | 20 | John Greenwood | Allan Barker John Greenwood | Chevrolet Corvette | Chevrolet 7.0L V8 | 116 |
| GT 2.5 | 37 | Sunoco Canada | Jacques Duval George Nicholas | Porsche 911T | Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 | 92 |
| GT +2.5 | 63 | Robert Luebbe | Robert Luebbe Michael Summers | Chevrolet Corvette | Chevrolet 7.0L V8 | 85 |
| S 5.0 | 33 | Georg Loos | Georg Loos Franz Pesch | Ferrari 512S | Ferrari 5.0L V12 | 24 |
| GT +2.5 | 63 | William A. Schumacher | Bill Schumacher Robert R. Johnson | Chevrolet Corvette | Chevrolet 7.0L V8 | 8 |
| P 3.0 | 53 | A. G. Dean Ltd. | Tony Dean Peter Revson | Porsche 908/02 | Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 | 3 |
The 1971 Formula One season was the 25th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 22nd World Championship of Drivers and the 14th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over eleven races between 6 March and 3 October. The season also included a number of non-championship races open to Formula One cars.
The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from 4.5 to 5.0 litres, the 917 was introduced in 1969 and initially proved unwieldy on the race track but continuous development improved the handling and it went on to dominate sports-car racing in 1970 and 1971. In 1970 it gave Porsche its first overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a feat it would repeat in 1971. It would be chiefly responsible for Porsche winning the International Championship for Makes in 1970 and 1971. Porsche went on to develop the 917 for Can-Am racing, culminating in the twin-turbocharged 917/30 which was even more dominant in the role. Porsche drivers would win the Can-Am championship in 1972 and 1973. 917 drivers also won the Interserie championship every year from 1969 to 1975.
Joseph Siffert was a Swiss racing driver.
Brian Herman Thomas Redman, is a retired British racing driver.
Michael Johnson Parkes was a British racing driver, from England. Parkes was born into an automotive background as his father John, was Chairman of the Alvis Group.
John Wyer, was an English automobile racing engineer and team manager. He is mainly associated with cars running in the light blue and orange livery of his longtime sponsor Gulf Oil.
Ferrari 512 S is the designation for 25 sports cars built in 1969–70, with five-litre 12-cylinder ("512") engines, related to the Ferrari P sports prototypes. The V12-powered cars were entered in the 1970 International Championship for Makes by the factory Scuderia Ferrari and private teams. Later that year, modified versions resembling their main competitor, the Porsche 917, were called Ferrari 512 M. In the 1971 International Championship for Makes, the factory focused on the new Ferrari 312 PB and abandoned the 512 which was only entered by privateers. From 1972 onwards, the 512 was withdrawn from the world championship following a change in the regulations, and some 512s in private hands were entered in CanAm and Interserie races.
The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906-Porsche 910-Porsche 907 series of models designed by Helmuth Bott (chassis) and Hans Mezger (engine) under the leadership of racing chief Ferdinand Piëch.
The Porsche 907 is a sportscar racing prototype built by Porsche in 1967 and 1968.
The 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 39th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1971. It was the ninth round of the 1971 International Championship for Makes.
The 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 38th Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on 13 and 14 June 1970. It was the 8th stage of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 36th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 28 and 29 September 1968 on the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France.
The 1970 24 Hours of Daytona was an endurance race at the 3.8 mile road circuit at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA that took place on January 31 and February 1, 1970. It was the first race of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season. This was the first race for the iconic Porsche 917K and Ferrari 512 S cars.
The 1970 12 Hours of Sebring was an endurance race held at the 5.2 mile (8.3 km) Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida, United States on March 21, 1970. It was the twentieth running of the endurance classic and the second round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 1970 1000 km of Brands Hatch was an endurance race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England, United Kingdom on April 12, 1970. The race was the 3rd round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 1970 1000 km of Monza was an endurance race held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy on April 25, 1970. It was the fourth round of the 1970 International Championship for Makes. This was the first official 1000 km race at Monza that used only the road course; in 1956 and 1965-1969 the organizers utilized the combined road and banking courses; but the banking was abandoned because of safety issues; the 1969 1000 km race was the last race ever held on the concrete-surfaced banking. Mexican driver Pedro Rodríguez won this race in John Wyer's Gulf-sponsored Porsche 917K, he was able to hold off 3 hard-charging works Ferrari 512's after his co-driver Leo Kinnunen lost most of the lead Rodríguez had built up. Ex-Ferrari driver John Surtees returned to Ferrari after 4 years to drive a works 512.
The 1970 Targa Florio was an endurance race that took place on 3 May 1970. It was held on a 44.6 mi (71.8 km) anti-clockwise circuit made up entirely of public roads on the mountainous Italian island of Sicily. It was the fifth round of the 1970 International Championship for Makes.
The 1970 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps was an endurance race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on May 17, 1970. It was the sixth round of the 1970 International Championship for Makes.
The 1970 1000km of Nürburgring was an endurance race held at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Nürburg, West Germany on May 31, 1970. It was the seventh round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 1970 Austrian 1000km was an endurance race held at the Österreichring, near Zeltweg, Austria on October 11, 1970. It was the tenth and final round of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season.