Faster than a plane?

Two of the Porsches destined for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans are side by side in front of a twin-engine plane: No. 12 is a works Porsche 917 LH (Porsche System Engineering) entrusted to Vic Elford and Richard Attwood, while No. 20 is a also a works Porsche 908/02 LH, but entered under the Hart Ski Racing Team banner for Jo Siffert and Brian Redman.

It is noticeable that both cars have long-tail bodies, so well suited to the long Mulsanne Straight. Unfortunately, neither will see the finish: Elford and Attwood’s car will retire after 22 hours and 327 laps, with a broken gearbox and clutch, while Siffert and Redman will retire after only 2 hours and 60 laps, with a broken gearbox.

And it was the Ford GT40 of Ickx and Oliver that won by a hair’s breadth, beating the Porsche 908 LH of Hermann and Larrousse to the finish line, with a lead of just 120 metres! Porsche will have to wait one more year, before finally winning the French endurance classic.