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.Season: 1971 (International Championship for Makes), www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved 31 January 2014
Pre-race Prior to Formula One boycotting and then cancelling the 1969 Belgian Grand Prix, because of the dangers of the ultra-high speed 8.7 mi (14.1 km) Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the track was fitted with Armco barriers in some places and was generally made safer. The layout had not been changed, and the circuit was still extremely fast and demanding; racing records were smashed at this race by the prototypes. The old Spa layout was just about flat out for the entire 8.7 mile distance and the circuit sped into the rural countryside; whereas now, the circuit stays inside a part of the mountainous Ardennes forest. Lost corners like Burnenville, Malmedy, the Masta Kink, Stavelot and La Carriere were all 180+ mph and corners like Eau Rouge, Blanchimont and Clubhouse were 150+ mph. So every corner except the ultra-slow La Source hairpin was fast and there was never any let-up for the cars on this circuit aside from La Source. To add to the mental challenge, most of those corners had to be taken just slightly under flat out. Spa was the fastest circuit in Europe at that time, and the mental challenge of this Belgian circuit was that every corner was just as important as the next; if a driver lifted even just a little bit through any of the high-speed bends, they would lose 2–3 seconds from their lap time. If a driver made even the slightest mistake, they were very likely to have a high speed accident which in those safety-absent days almost always meant serious injury or death.
The works Porsche teams brought the 917K's back into action for this race. They had used the new 908/03's previously at the Targa Florio.
In qualifying, pole position went to the Gulf-Porsche 917K of Pedro Rodriguez/Leo Kinnunen, followed by the other Gulf-Porsche 917K of Jo Siffert/Brian Redman, the works Ferrari 512S of Jacky Ickx/John Surtees, a privately entered 917K of Helmut Kelleners/Jürgen Neuhaus, and another works Ferrari 512S of Ignazio Giunti/Nino Vaccarella. Rodriguez averaged over 157 mph (253 km/h)- a new average speed record on road circuits.
Both the Wyer Porsches and the Ferraris encountered problems. The Ferrari was unstable at medium speed; the Porsches shredded their tires at the very fast bends. Both Siffert and Redman had very hairy moments. Rodriguez was aware of them but, according to John Horseman, he just responded by driving even faster.
Race It rained before the start of the race, but by the time the race started, the track was already drying. The teams had to decide on what kind of tires to use. Siffert, Rodriguez and Ickx chose mix condition tires; most of the big bangers chose rain tires.
At the start, Siffert and Rodriguez were banging wheels going into Eau Rouge, with Siffert coming out best. At the second lap Ickx managed to get in touch with the Porsches. As at the third lap the big sports cars were lapping slower GTs, some changes in the lead happened. Siffert was passed by Rodriguez and Ickx, and then he got the lead again. He opened a gap of some seconds but never a large one. Rodriguez, trying hard, shred a tire. After one hour, the first pit stops took place. Siffert's pitstop was slow one and Ickx took the lead. For a while Siffert could not get near the Ferrari. But towards the end of his double stint, he got a message from the pits: an arrow was shown, meaning he was told to speed up and catch the Ferrari. Siffert did come closer to the Ferrari, and Rodriguez had also came closer, but neither were within striking distance. At the second pitstop, Ickx switched with John Surtees and Siffert with Redman. That day Surtees had, apparently, difficulty to deal with traffic and Redman had a very good stint. After some very exciting laps, Redman went ahead, Rodriguez came close, but he had to pit and later Kinnunen abandoned (gearbox). Redman took a large lead. At the last stint, Siffert was very far away but Ickx nevertheless tried hard to gain time. He did gain, but Siffert was informed of it by the pits and responded; the gap was stable from then on.
The race featured several prominent drivers of the era, including Jo Siffert, Jacky Ickx, Pedro Rodriguez, Brian Redman, and Vic Elford, and included competition between Ferrari and Porsche. During the event, Rodríguez recorded a lap of the Spa circuit in 3:16.5, averaging 160.513 mph (258.321 km/h). The Porsche driven by Siffert and Redman won the race, while the Ferrari shared by Ickx and John Surtees finished second.
Once the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix was held 3 weeks later (a race that Rodriguez won for BRM), Formula One cars struggled to get within 12 seconds of this time; although there was a chicane at Malmedy Corner just for the F1 race.
This was the 4th victory in a row for Wyer's team, so far they had won 5 of the 6 races in the championship.
This event set a record for the fastest ever road race in history, and the record would be broken twice more in successive years at the same circuit; and the eventual record stood for decades.
Official results
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps 1 S5.0 24 John Wyer Automotive Engineering Jo Siffert Brian Redman Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 71 2 S5.0 20 SpA Ferrari SEFAC Jacky Ickx John Surtees Ferrari 512 S Ferrari 5.0L V12 71 3 S5.0 28 Porsche Salzburg Vic Elford Kurt Ahrens Jr. Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 70 4 S5.0 22 SpA Ferrari SEFAC Ignazio Giunti Nino Vaccarella Ferrari 512 S Ferrari 5.0L V12 68 5 S5.0 43 Racing Team AAW Hans Laine Gijs van Lennep Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 68 6 S5.0 29 Porsche Salzburg Richard Attwood Hans Herrmann Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 68 7 S5.0 21 SpA Ferrari SEFAC Peter Schetty Arturo Merzario Ferrari 512 S Ferrari 5.0L V12 66 8 S5.0 23 Ecurie Francorchamps Derek Bell Hughes de Fierlant Ferrari 512 S Ferrari 5.0L V12 64 9 P3.0 6 Martini International Racing Gérard Larrousse Rudi Lins Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 64 10 S5.0 33 Ecurie Bonnier Jo Bonnier Reine Wisell Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 63 11 P3.0 5 Martini International Racing Hans-Dieter Dechent Helmut Marko Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 62 12 S2.0 31 John L'Amie John L'Amie Brian Nelson Porsche 910 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 59 13 P2.0 15 Hans-Dieter Blatzheim Hans-Dieter Blatzheim Ernst Kraus Porsche 907 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 59 14 S2.0 32 Paul Vestey Peter Sadler Paul Vestey Porsche 910 Porsche 1.9L Flat-6 56 15 P2.0 14 Levi's International Racing Yves Deprez Julien Vernaeve Chevron B16 Mazda 1.0L 2-Rotor 55 16 GT+2.0 59 Bernard Cheneviére Bernard Cheneviére Claude Haldi Porsche 911S Porsche 2.2L Flat-6 55 17 S5.0 30 Gesipa Racing Team Helmut Kelleners Jürgen Neuhaus Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 54 18 GT+2.0 53 Kremer Racing Erwin Kremer Karl von Wendt Porsche 911S Porsche 2.2L Flat-6 54 19 GT2.0 95 Jean-Marie Jacquemin Jean-Marie Jacquemin Bernard Palayer Alpine A110/1300S Renault 1.3L I4 52 20 GT2.0 52 Jean-Pierre Gaban G. van Butsel Robert Moerenhout Porsche 911S Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 52 21 GT2.0 60 Georges Duvingeaud Georges Duvigneaud Camille Demoulin Porsche 911S Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 50 22 P3.0 37 Tony Goodwin Tony Goodwin Peter Taggart Chevron B6/8 BMW 1.9L I4 48
Not classified
Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps GT2.0 58 Andre Wicky Racing Team Sylvain Garant Mario Ilotte Porsche 911S Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 41
Did not finish
Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Laps Reason S5.0 25 John Wyer Automotive Engineering Pedro Rodríguez Leo Kinnunen Porsche 917K Porsche 4.5L Flat-12 44 Gearbox oil pipe S2.0 40 Worcestershire Racing Association James Tangye Paul Ridgway Chevron B8 BMW 1.9L I4 40 Oil pressure P2.0 10 Philips Autoradio Racing Guy Edwards Roger Enever Astra RNR2 Ford 1.6L I4 37 Engine mountings GT2.0 51 Jean-Pierre Gaban Jean-Pierre Gaban Willy Braillard Porsche 911S Porsche 2.0L Flat-6 33 DNF S5.0 35 Racing Team VDS Teddy Pilette Gustave Gosselin Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 31 Puncture/Suspension S2.0 39 Intertech Steering Wheels Angus Clydesdale John Markey Chevron B8 BMW 1.9L I4 22 Oil and water leak S2.0 38 Martin Blackie Martin Blackie Peter Humble Chevron B8 BMW 1.9L I4 18 Overheating GT+2.0 54 Jacques Rey Jacques Rey Edgar Berney Porsche 911S Porsche 2.2L Flat-6 12 Engine P2.0 12 Stanley Robinson Stanley Robinson John Blanckley Unipower GT BMC 2.0L I4 10 DNF S2.0 41 Worcestershire Racing Association John Bamford Peter Creasey Chevron B8 BMW 1.9L I4 10 Oil pump P3.0 7 Keith Grant Keith Grant Gerry Marshall Brabham BT8 Climax 2.7L V8 4 Electrical S5.0 35 Racing Team VDS Gérard Pillon Louis Morand Lola T70 Mk.3B Chevrolet 5.0L V8 2 DSQ (outside assistance)
Statistics Pole position: #25 John Wyer Automotive Engineering Porsche 917K (Pedro Rodriguez) - 3:19.8 (157.861 mph/254.054 km/h) Fastest lap: #25 John Wyer Automotive Engineering Porsche 917K (Pedro Rodriguez)- 3:16.5 (160.513 mph/258.321 km/h) Time taken for winning car to cover scheduled distance: 4 hours, 9 minutes and 47.8 seconds Average Speed: 240.46 km/h (149.419 mph) Weather conditions: Cloudy, wet at start; later drying
References