PORSCHE 908/02 Spyder 1969

The year 1969 seemed destined to be an ‘off’ year for Porsche: the new 917 with its 12-cylinder, 5-litre engine needed fine-tuning and the 908 with its 8-cylinder engine had not yet reached its full potential, despite numerous improvements which, even considering the new Group 6 technical regulations (maximum 3-litre prototype cars), resulted in the Spider 908/02, which was lighter and less fragile than the first coupé version. Then, as if by magic, it began to catch on. With a spectacular victory at the 6 Hours of Brands Hatch, it marked the start of a climb that would eventually culminate in victory in the Sport-Prototype World Championship for the Zuffenhausen-based brand.

In 1969, Porsche won the International Championship of Sport-Prototypes (the future World Championship of Sports cars), thanks to two cars: the 908/02 and the 908 LH, the ‘long tail’ version of the 908/01 which proved itself in races such as the 1000 km of Monza and Spa. Initially, all the various types of Porsche struggled, to the extent that the first races appeared to confirm the supremacy of the Fords, threatened only by the performance of the Lola T70MK 3B, which won the 24 Hours of Daytona. At Brands Hatch, the potential of the 908/02 really exploded:

three ‘short’ barquettes claimed the top three places, with the Jo Siffert/Brian Redman duo ahead of Vic Elford/Richard Attwood and Gerhard Mitter/Udo Schütz, levelling with the Ferrari 312 PBs and Ford GT40s.

[LE MANS REMAINS A TABOO, BUT THE REST IS BEYOND DISPUTE].

And so the climb began. At Monza, Siffert and Redman won with the 908 LH coupé. This was followed by victory in the Targa Florio with Mitter and Schütz ahead of Elford/Maglioli and two other 908/02s. Siffert and Redman won the following races at Spa-Francorchamps and the Nürburgring, the former in a 908 LH and the latter in a 908/02.

The championship had been firmly secured by the German brand, as the final classification only took into account the five best results of the season, and Porsche had collected five consecutive victories. The final stamp of approval came two races later, at Watkins Glen, after the disappointment of Le Mans: In France, Porsche was again forced to give way to the Ford GT 40 of Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver, while taking second place with the ‘long’ 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse, who were literally beaten by a nose length.

On this occasion, at the American circuit, the 908/02 of ‘ Siffert and Redman’ dominated the field ahead of two other identical cars, celebrating victory in the final round, the 1000 km of Zeltweg, with the first World Championship for Sport-Prototypes. For the record, the day after winning the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, the Swiss-British team finished sixth on the same track in the heat that counted as part of the Can-Am championship, which was dominated for years to come by McLarens and Lolas - until 1972, when George Follmer and Mark Donohue's 917/10 brought an end to the long reign of the British cars.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the names of Lausanne-born Swiss driver Jo Siffert and Englishman Brian Redman became well-known at Porsche. The Swiss driver, whose career was to end tragically in a fatal Formula 1 accident in 1971, brought the German brand some of its best results in several disciplines between 1966 and 1971, including two victories at Le Mans and one at Daytona. With Brian Redman, Siffert teamed up to win the 1970 Targa Florio and finished a creditable second with the 917 K at Watkins Glen, just a few seconds behind their colleagues and rivals Leo Kinnunen and Pedro Rodriguez. Redman also scored four victories in the 1000 km of Spa, two of them (1969 and 1970) with Jo Siffert.