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| Porsche 907 | |
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| Overview | |
| Production | 1967-1968 |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Porsche 910 |
| Successor | Porsche 908 |
The Porsche 907 is a sportscar racing prototype built by Porsche in 1967 and 1968.
The 907 was introduced at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. Following a suggestion by Ferdinand Piëch, the position of the driver was moved from the traditional left (as in German road cars) to the right as this gives advantages on the predominant clockwise race tracks.
With a new longtail body, the 907s reached 302 km/h (190 mph) on the straight, even though it used the reliable 220 hp Porsche 910 2000cc 6-cyl rather than the more powerful 8-cyl. Vented brake disks were being used as standard from that point on. The best Porsche 907 finished 5th, beaten only by Ford and Ferrari with their much bigger engines.
As the record-breaking performances of the 7.0l V8-powered Ford had triggered rumors about a future rule change, Porsche started to prepare themselves in summer of 1967. The 907 was equipped with the 270 hp 2200cc Type 771/1 8-cyl which was then modified for the rules of the new 3 litre prototype category that was announced in late 1967 to come in effect already in 1968. An engine with the full 3000cc would have to be developed first, though, to be introduced in the future Porsche 908.
From 1968, the big V8 and V12 prototypes of Ford and Ferrari were banned, and Porsche hoped to secure the World Sportscar Championship and maybe an overall win at Le Mans as the competition at Ford, Matra and Alfa Romeo was not prepared with suitable 3000cc prototypes yet, either. Ferrari even sat out the whole of 1968 as a protest against the rule change. Apart from the former 2000cc-class rivals Alfa Romeo T33/2 and Renault-powered Alpine, 5000cc sportscars were also permitted to enter if at least 50 of them had been built. This loophole was intended to fill the grid with cars dating mainly from 1965, like Ford GT40 and Lola T70.
Porsche was serious. Unlike during the rather modest earlier years, four cars were entered in the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona, supported by 20 mechanics and engineers. The drivers wore cooling vests developed by NASA as the oil-cooler and the hot oil pipes caused heat in the closed cockpit.
After the #53 car of Gerhard Mitter had a big crash caused by tyre failure in the banking, his teammate Rolf Stommelen supported the #54 driven by Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch. When the #52 car of the longtime leaders Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann dropped to second due to a technical problem, these two also drove on the #54 car in case theirs broke down. Due to this, five pilots won the race, and two of them scored also second. The #51 Jo Schlesser/Joe Buzzetta car completed the 1-2-3 side-by-side parade finish that the Ferrari prototypes had shown a year earlier at the banked finish line. The three Alfa Romeo T33/2's were even beaten by a Ford Mustang.
The 1968 12 Hours of Sebring saw a 1-2 finish for the Porsche 907, with the Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann car winning and the Vic Elford/Jochen Neerpasch car finishing 2nd. The Gerhard Mitter/Rolf Stommelen and Ludovico Scarfiotti/Joe Buzzetta cars were victims of engine failures. Daytona & Sebring marked the first back-to-back major outright wins for the company, and French journalist (and occasional racer) Bernard Cahier wrote, "it's hard to imagine that anyone could beat Porsche to the championship this year." Their championship hopes in Sportscars and F1 would be significantly changed soon, though.
The next race was the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, on April 7, 1968. That fateful day, Jim Clark was supposed to drive one of the new Ford F3L P68 prototypes with the Cosworth DFV engine, entered by Alan Mann Racing. Clark instead was driving a Formula 2 at Hockenheimring to show the new sponsorship logos for Team Lotus, and was killed. Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann were fastest in qualifying ahead of Bruce McLaren/Mike Spence in the new Ford, but none finished. It was the updated John Wyer-entered Ford GT40 of Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman which won ahead of the remaining two Porsche 907's after being only 5th on the grid.
In races on faster tracks like the 1000km Monza, these modified old Ford GT40's entered by John Wyer Automotive proved to be an unexpectedly strong force. The loophole for these 5-liter sportscars was opened if at least 50 were built, to let the many existing Lola T70's take part, too[ citation needed ]. For 1969, the minimum number was lowered to 25, which opened opportunities unexpected by many[ citation needed ].
At the twisty Targa Florio, the only privately entered GT40 finished last, but the Alfa Romeo T33/2 were strong. In lap 1, Vic Elford had lost 18 minutes due to a tyre failure. Supported by veteran Umberto Maglioli, he showed a fantastic race in the 907, reminiscent of Juan Manuel Fangio's legendary 1957 German Grand Prix, beating the old lap record by one minute and winning by 3 minutes. Hans Herrmann & Jochen Neerpasch came in 4th among four Alfas. In the Porsche advertising poster celebrating the win, only an exhausted yet smiling Elford was shown, not the cars as usual.
The 1000km Nürburgring was won with the new Porsche 908 with its 3000cc engine, but it still was unreliable. The underpowered 2200cc 907 with less than half the Ford's displacement continued as Porsche's best entry in the 1000km Spa, Watkins Glen 6 Hours and 500km Zeltweg, losing to the Ford GT40's.
This set up the stage for a showdown at la Sarthe, as due to political unrest in France, the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans had been postponed from its traditional mid-June date to the end of September. Porsche could not take advantage of the additional time to improve the 908 nor read the French rule book properly[ citation needed ]. For the first time, Porsche were the fastest in qualifying and the early stages of the race, but troubles with the 908's alternator caused delays and even disqualifications as the new Porsche staff had misinterpreted the repair rules[ citation needed ].
For the third time in a row, a V8-powered Ford won the 24h classic. A Porsche 907LH came in second in front of the sole surviving 908. In addition, Ford had taken the World Sportscar Championship, too.
At that time, Porsche had already decided to make a risky investment in order to go one step further beyond the 3-liter 908 prototype: they committed themselves to develop a new 5-liter sportscar and built the required number of 25 in advance[ citation needed ]. This car was the legendary Porsche 917.
During the following seasons, several 907s were entered by privateers, scoring occasional top-10 finishes, with a podium at Monza in 1969 and a 7th at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans being the more remarkable results.
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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.
Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood is a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix, achieved one podium and scored a total of 11 championship points. He was also a successful sports car racing driver and won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche's record 19 victories at the famous race.
Victor Henry Elford was an English sports car racing, rallying, and Formula One driver. He participated in 13 World Championship F1 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 July 1968. He scored a total of 8 championship points.
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.
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 910 or Carrera 10 was a race car from Porsche, based on the Porsche 906. 29 were produced and were raced in 1966 and 1967. The factory name for the 910 was the 906/10. The 910 was considered the next sequence in the 906 line.
The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 was a sports racing prototype raced by the Alfa Romeo factory-backed team between 1967 and 1977. These cars took part for Sport Cars World Championship, Nordic Challenge Cup, Interserie and CanAm series. A small number of road going cars were derived from it in 1967, called Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.
The 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 10 and 11 June 1972. It was the 40th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the ninth race of the 1972 World 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 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was a motor race staged at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France on 14 and 15 June 1969. It was the 37th Grand Prix of Endurance and was the eighth round of the 1969 International Championship for Makes. The race was open to Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars.
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.
Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.
The 1968 World Sportscar Championship season was the 16th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing and featured the 1968 International Championship for Makes and the 1968 International Cup for GT Cars. The former was contested by Group 6 Sports Prototypes, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars and the later by Group 3 Grand Touring Cars only. The two titles were decided over a ten race series which ran from 3 February 1968 to 29 September 1968, but one race was only worth half points, and only the five best results were counted.
The 1969 World Sportscar Championship season was the 17th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1969 International Championship for Makes, which was a series for FIA Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars and the 1969 International Cup for GT Cars, which was restricted to Group 3 Grand Touring Cars. The season ran from 1 February 1969 to 10 August 1969 and comprised 10 races.
Udo Schütz is a German entrepreneur, who was competing successfully with racing cars in the 1960s, and with yachts in the 1990s.
Günter "Bobby" Klass was a versatile German racing driver, competing in hillclimbing, rallying, and the World Sportscar Championship as factory driver for Porsche and the Scuderia Ferrari.
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 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 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.
