Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann, the winners – After making a name for himself in various races like Daytona, Sebring, the Nürburgring, the Targa Florio and the Carrera Panamericana, and giving Porsche its first podium finish in 1958 then its first overall victory, Hans Herrmann retired in the wake of his 14th participation in the 24 Hours. In nine starts, Richard Attwood secured his best results at Le Mans at the wheel of the 917. After the win in 1970 with the Porsche Konstruktionen Salzburg team, he finished second the following year at the wheel of a 917 Gulf shared with Swiss driver Herbert Müller.

Vic Elford and Nino Vaccarella, going after pole position – During qualifying at the 38th running of the 24 Hours, the Ferrari-Porsche duel didn't disappoint. Winner at Le Mans in 1964, Nino Vaccarella (Ferrari) established the time to beat in the first session before Vic Elford in the 917 LH clinched a record pole position, the first to surpass an average 240 kph (242.685 in 3:19.8). He repeated the performance with the fastest in-race lap (3:21 at an average 241.236 kph). Vaccarella and Elford had both won on the Sicilian roads of the Targa Florio, on the 22 kilometers of the legendary Nürburgring and at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Elford never reached the top step on the Le Mans podium, but in 1968 at Daytona he scored the first win for a Porsche prototype in a 24-hour race, along with Hans Herrmann, Jochen Neerpasch, Jo Siffert and Rolf Stommelen.

Jacky Ickx and Pedro Rodríguez: Porsche, Ferrari…and Ford – Before joining the Gulf team and taking the wheel of a Porsche 917 in 1970 then 1971, Rodríguez competed in nine 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ferrari. Twice Ickx took the start in the race with the Italian marque, in 1970 and 1973, prior to winning four of his six victories at the 24 Hours with Porsche. The Mexican driver and Belgian driver also won the race at the wheel of the same car: the Ford GT40 #1075 chassis, winner in 1968 thanks to Pedro Rodríguez-Lucien Bianchi, then in 1969 with Jacky Ickx-Jackie Oliver.

Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell, their first encounter – At the 1970 24 Hours, the Belgian and the Brit were both factory Ferrari drivers, crossing paths for the first time as members of the same team. For his fourth 24 Hours, Ickx shared the wheel of the #5 512 S with Swiss driver Peter Schetty. Bell was a rookie at Le Mans, as was Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson, his teammate in the #7 512 S. Both driver line-ups were forced to retire. Schetty and Peterson never returned to Le Mans, but Ickx and Bell went on to take the start four more times, as a duo and with outstanding results: three wins (1975-81-82), second place (1983) and four pole positions (1975-81-82-83).

Pedro Rodríguez and Jo Siffert, darlings of the Porsche 917 – The Mexican driver and Swiss driver both achieved accomplished careers in single-seaters and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Porsche 917 was "the" car to enter them in the motorsport hall of fame. In 1969, Jo Siffert and Kurth Ahrens gave the German marque its first win in Austria. In 1970 then 1971, representing Gulf Oil, Pedro Rodríguez and Siffert established a domination nearly unparalleled in the World Marques Championship. Who can forget the image of their 917s neck and neck in the rain in the Raidillon at Spa-Francorchamps in 1970? Sadly, they never reached the top step on the 24 Hours podium at the wheel of the car that brought them so much glory.

Ferrari's rookies – Of the eight drivers for the four factory Ferrari 512 Ss at the 1970 24 Hours, five were rookies: Derek Bell, Ignazio Giunti, Arturo Merzario, Ronnie Peterson and Clay Regazzoni. The first two would go on to impressive careers in Formula 1, with 10 and five wins, respectively. Merzario's speed made him a spearhead for Ferrari in endurance racing until 1973, they year of the Italian marque's last official participation in prototypes to date. Two driver line-ups were all rookies: Bell-Peterson and Merzario-Regazzoni. On the other hand, of the 14 drivers at the wheel of the seven Porsche 917s at the start, only two were rookies: the Finn Leo Kinnunen and Dutch driver Gijs van Lennep, who later scored two victories at the 24 Hours, in 1971 and 1976.

 

PHOTO (Copyright - ACO/ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 13-14 JUNE 1970. Porsche and Ferrari gave excellent performances at the 38th running of the race, with this Porsche 917 K of winners Richard Attwood-Hans Herrmann (#23) and Ferrari 512 S of Jacky Ickx-Peter Schetty (#5).