Spa 1971, the fastest race

The 1971 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps was an endurance race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on 9 May 1971 and promised to be a fantastic battle between Porsche and Ferrari. This was the first race I attended, I was not yet 10 years old.

Picture-above: The Gulf Porsche 917K of Jo Siffert and Derek Bell take the lead at the start ahead of the Martini Porsche 917K driven by Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse, followed by the second Gulf Porsche 917K of Pedro Rodriguez and Jackie Oliver.

The circuit was still very fast and demanding; racing records were smashed at this race by the sport-prototypes and their 5L engines. Old Spa layout was just about flat out for the entire 14.1 km distance and the circuit sped into the rural counrtyside.

Corners like Burnenville, Malmedy, the infamous Masta Kink, Stavelot and La Carrière were all 300 km/h+ and corners like Eau Rouge, Blanchimont and Clubhouse were 245 km/h+. So every corner except the ultra-slow La Source hairpin was extremely fast and there was never any let-up for the cars and drivers.

Victory went to Pedro Rodriguez and Jackie Oliver in their Gulf Porsche 917K at the stunning average speed of 249.069 kmh (!) just ahead of the sister car driven by Siffert and Bell (picture-below). A day for me to always remember.