Dusk on a Ferrari 512
The Ferrari 512S could not match the pace of the mighty Porsche 917, in this 1970 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nevertheless, it promised to become a battle royal between the two racing giants. Fully nine 917s and eleven 512s, from works-supported teams and privateers, were entered.
The picture above was taken at sunset during preliminary practice before the race, the 512S of Jacky Ickx, not yet featuring all the stickers it had in the race.
Jacky Ickx, as often the fastest of the Scuderia drivers, gave it all, and climbed up to 2nd place, in heavy rain. However, the Belgian had a bad accident at the Ford Chicane during the night, when he tried to unlap himself from Siffert, and his rear brakes failed. He crashed into a sodden sandbank, was launched over it and sadly, a track marshal was killed. Ickx himself was unharmed.
Porsche then was dominant, and scored its first overall win, with Hans Herrmann and Richard ‘Dick’ Attwood at the wheel of their red Porsche 917K (picture below).
