Borderline experience - Porsche 917 in (historic) test

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Borderline experience - Porsche 917 in (historic) test

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Created on August 1, 1970

Text:

José Rosinski

Photos:

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Porsche 917 (1970) - Jürgen Neuhaus at the 300-mile race on the Hockenheimring in the Interseries

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Porsche 917 (1970) - Jo Siffert tests the fastest Porsche at the Hockenheimring in 1970

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Porsche 917 K - Original construction plan

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Porsche 917 (1970) - with the new, rising short tail

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Porsche 917 (1969) - Factory photo of the interior

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Porsche 917 (1969) - the new 4.5-liter twelve-cylinder in a factory photo

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12-cylinder engine of the Porsche 917 from 1969 - not a boxer engine, but a V12 with a 180-degree angle

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Porsche 917 - Zuerst 540 PS und 240 kg - zuletzt 1100 PS und 285 kg

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Porsche 917 (1969) - The new four-piston brake

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Hans Herrmann in the Porsche 917 at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Porsche 917 K (1970) - Overall winner Le Mans 1970

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Porsche 917 (1971) - in Lucky Strike livery entered by David Piper in the 9 Hours of Kyalami, driven by Richard Attwood/Dave Charlton (No. 3) and Tony Adamowicz/Mario Casoni (No. 4)

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Porsche 917 (1970) - The Gesipa team's car tested for the magazine "sport auto" on the southern loop of the Nürburgring

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Summary

Few things are as impractical as a test report on a thoroughbred racing prototype. But it is the only way to satisfy the curiosity of all those mere mortals who will probably never sit behind the wheel. José Rosinski was allowed to test the Gesipa team's Porsche 917 on the southern loop of the Nürburgring in 1970 and discovered that his own abilities are finite, but those of the Porsche 917 are not.

This article contains the following chapters

Technology
At the wheel
On the track
Summary

Estimated reading time: 13min

Preview (beginning of the article)

For the 1967 one-make world championship races, the engine capacity was limited to 3 liters for prototypes and 5 liters for sports cars, but the sports cars had to be produced in 25 units. Only the Ford GT 40 and Lola-Chevrolets were homologated in this category, while Porsche and Ferrari continued to modify the prototypes, where they hoped to gain more from the more favorable power-to-weight ratio. However, the balance between sports cars and prototypes only lasted until some constructors had enough money and experience to build 25 prototypes with 5-liter engines, which then became sports cars according to the homologation. While the Italians lamented the absurdity of the new regulations, the Stuttgart-based company developed the future sports car from the Porsche 908-3-liter, which was presented to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1969.

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