Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Paperwork from the Past

Ah, the glory days of sports car racing were the early '70s when Porsche 910s and 917s battled with Ferrari 512s and 312s at Le Mans, the Nurburgring, and Watkins Glen. The cars can still be seen today at vintage racing events (or on a DVD "Le Mans" the film with Steve McQueen), but it's always interesting to have a peek behind the scenes of that era. Fortunately for us, some years ago, Watkins Glen International liquidated a great deal of their old records and now they're popping up in area antique stores at reasonable prices. Such an example are these entry papers my dad found in a shop downtown for the John Wyer Gulf-Porsche 917s and SEFAC Ferrari 312s in the 1971 6-Hours of Watkins Glen: (click to enlarge images)


Interestingly, the UK based Wyer team submitted their papers through the R.A.C. - Note various typos such as " (17k " on the visa slip and " MEXCIO " under Pedro Rodriguez's address.




And here, the Ferrari SEFAC (Scuderia Enzo Ferrari Auto Corse) papers. Amusing that even though the paperwork was being sent to the US, the letter is written in Italian. Ferrari also seems a lot more lax in general in terms of filling things out completely.



Roughly translated:
"To whom it may concern, we enclose your model registration for the 6 hours of Watkins Glen of July 24, 1971, drivers Jacky Ickx and Mario Andretti, and we confirm participation in the Can-Am race on July 25, 1971 with a car 312P and a Can-Am car."



Results:



130Andrea de Adamich/Ronnie PetersonAlfa Romeo T33/32796:00:25,000
21Jo Siffert/Gijs van LennepPorsche 917K277+ 2 laps
32Derek Bell/Richard AttwoodPorsche 917K259+ 20 laps
463Alain De Cadenet/Lothar MotschenbacherFerrari 512M253+ 26 laps
549Robert R.Johnson/John GreenwoodChevrolet Corvette229+ 50 laps
659Peter Gregg/Hurley HaywoodPorsche 914/6 GT228+ 51 laps
757Dave Heinz/Don YenkoChevrolet Corvette221+ 58 laps
841Bill Schumacher/Bob McClure/Bob KieferChevrolet Corvette210+ 69 laps
931Bert Everett/Bob BeasleyPorsche 911T168+ 111 laps
1068Pat Keating/Levon Pentecost/Anthony TorgersenPorsche 911S162+ 117 laps
DNF36Nanni Galli/Vic ElfordAlfa Romeo T33/3258Collision
DNF67Pete Harrison/Tom Fraser/Bobby Rinzler/Skip BarberLola T212 Ford226Collision
DNF43Tony Adamowicz/Mario CabralPorsche 917K191Not classified
DNF46Mike Rahal/Hugh Wise/Horst KrollPorsche 906180Not classified
DNF14Sam Posey/Ronnie BucknumFerrari 512M126Starter motor
DNF61Hugh Kleinpeter/Tony BelcherLola T212 Ford104Engine
DNF33Henri Pescarolo/Rolf StommelenAlfa Romeo T33/397Accident
DNF64Bob Baechle/Michael Summers/Fred KeplerChevrolet Corvette90Radiator
DNF40Jacky Ickx/Mario AndrettiFerrari 312PB55Starter motor
DNF6Mark Donohue/David HobbsFerrari 512M53Steering
DNF87Tony Dean/Steve Matchett/Chuck ParsonsPorsche 908/0247Fuel pump
DNF32Jim Locke/Bob BaileyPorsche 911S25Wheel
DNF48Herbert Müller/George EatonFerrari 512M17Collision
DNF16Michael Keyser/Bruce JenningsPorsche 911T13Collision
DNF50Richard Hoffman/Frank Cipelle/John GreenwoodChevrolet Corvette6Suspension
DNF60Robin Ormes/Bobby Brown/Bob BondurantLola T70 Mk.32Throttle cable
DNS21Gregg Young/Jim AdamsFerrari 512M0Fuel leak
DNS35Vic Elford/Nanni GalliAlfa Romeo 33TT30Accident practice
DNS80Milt Minter/Rudy Bartling/Fritz HochreuterPorsche 9110


1 comment:

  1. I hadn't pieced together the reason for the change in Porsche drivers until now. Pedro Rodriguez was killed in Germany in a Ferrari 512 after Wyer submitted the forms - a year to the day after the Ferrari paperwork was submitted.

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