1000 horses for Jody!

Jody Scheckter in a Can-Am Porsche 917/10 entered by Vasek Polak at Riverside in 1973 (picture-above). The fast South African who also raced for McLaren in Formula One, and very much impressed by leading the French Grand Prix, was forced to retire in this race won by Mark Donohue in the mighty Porsche 917/30 entered by Roger Penske (picture-below).

Following the runaway success of the 917 in the 1970 and 1971 World Sportscar Championship, Porsche takes on a new challenge and develops an open-top version of the 917 – the 917/10 – for the Can-Am series in the US and Canada. Fitted with a turbo engine delivering 1000 PS, the 917/10 beats its US competitors to victory in six races out of nine during the 1972 season.

Porsche defends its Can-Am title superbly in the following year too, with the 917/10 and its successor 917/30, the latter of which is equipped with a turbo engine featuring a larger 5.4-litre engine that delivers… 1,150 PS!

Picture below: American Mark Donohue in the Sunoco Penske Porsche 917/30, passes South African Jody Scheckter in the Vasek Polak Porsche 917/10.