PORSCHE 908/3 1970

Cette collection est une adaptation de Porsche Racing collection - Éditeur : Centauria Editore s.r.l.

Thanks to its very low weight, this model, which made Porsche dominant in the 1970 targa florio, also won at the Nürburgring

Created in 1968 for the Group 6 Prototype category of the new International Championship for Manufacturers, the Porsche 908 with its 3-litre engine risked being replaced the following year by the new 917. This powerful 5-litre Sport, developed after the change in regulations in 1969 reducing the minimum number of cars produced from 50 to 25 (more within the reach of a ‘small’ manufacturer like Porsche), was competitive, but lacked agility on the twisty circuits of the Targa Florio and the Nürburgring, where the 908 excelled. In 1970, just as the 917 approached the end of its career, Porsche developed the very light 908/3, thus confirming its hegemony in Sicily and Germany.

The 908/3 of Redman and Siffert at the 1970 Targa Florio. With this victory, the two drivers bring Porsche's consecutive successes in this Sicilian endurance event to 5. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

Around ten units of the 908/3 were produced, almost half of which were used for testing and fine-tuning. For the Targa Florio, on 3 May 1970, four 908/3s were entered by Porsche's official partner teams: the British John Wyer Automotive (later Gulf) and the Austrian Salzburg. This was the fifth heat of the championship, in which Porsche - and the perfected 917K - were already well ahead with three wins and a second place.

The German firm, however, was anxious to continue the series of successes achieved by the 908/2, which was mainly responsible for the title it won in the first year, and to claim a tenth victory on Sicilian soil, the fifth in a row since 1966. The toughest opponent for the three J.W. cars (the Salzburg, second in qualifying with Vic Elford and Hans Herrmann, dropped out due to an accident on the first lap) was the Ferrari 512S of Nino Vaccarella and Ignazio Giunti, the former repeatedly challenging the Porsches. Finland's Leo Kinnunen and Pedro Rodriguez in the n°40 immediately made their attack, but the Mexican was feverish and in the second lap he was outrun by the Italian team which, thanks to the experience of Vaccarella from Palermo, was also ahead of the n°12 of Jo Siffert and Brian Redman.

Kinnunen followed a wait-and-see strategy; in the seventh lap, he took advantage of a pit stop by the Ferrari to take the lead of the race, which he held to the finish. Leo Kinnunen kept second place and pushed the Ferrari 512S into third place.

Also at the 1970 Targa Florio, the Ferrari 512 S of Vaccarella and Giunti, which finished in third place behind the two Porsches of the John Wyer team, passing through a village in Sicily. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

DEDICATION IN THE RING

Four weeks and two races later, history repeated itself at the 1000 km of the Nürburgring, where the same 908/3 (chassis no. 008), this time driven by Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens Junior, showed its class. The two drivers, racing for Salzburg, were ahead of their team-mates Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood, again pushing the 512S of Nino Vaccarella and John Surtees into third place.

Siffert and Redman, who meanwhile had won the 1000 km of Spa with the 917K, withdrew after 22 laps. The little 908/3 once again lived up to expectations, but its achievements were overshadowed by those of the 917K with Herrmann and Attwood, which on June 13 gave Porsche its first historic victory at Le Mans and secured the championship.

[THE SAME CAR WINS, BUT WITH DIFFERENT DRIVERS].

In 1971, the 908/3 returned to Sicily and the Nürburgring, but the results were no longer the same. Despite improvements, the car was no longer unbeatable at the Targa Florio, when the advantage was taken by the Alfa Romeo 33/3s, the only cars to worry Porsche, who still managed to win its third title in a row. At the 1000 km of the Nürburgring, the 908/3 (still with chassis no. 008) made up for its defeat by taking its third victory, this time with Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse, for the Martini Racing team which placed Gijs Van Lennep and Helmut Marko in third place. The J.W. of Siffert and Rodriguez completed the hat-trick in second place. In 1972, with the new World Championship for Manufacturers, Sports cars over 3 litres were excluded and Porsche withdrew, handing over the 908/3s to private teams who used them in various formulas until 1974.

JO SIFFERT AND BRIAN REDMAN

Jo Siffert and Brian Redman often feature in the annals of motorsport. The first one had a brief career cut short by a fatal accident at Brands Hatch in 1971, aged 35. For the Swiss, in addition to the victory at the 1970 Targa Florio, we must add the victories at Daytona and Sebring in 1968 and Watkins Glen in 1969, plus two class victories at Le Mans, two Formula 1 Grands Prix (in 1968 and 1971) and a national motorcycling championship (350cc) won in his country in 1959. The British Brian Redman had three successful seasons between 1968 and 1970 with the John Wyer team with Ford and Porsche. Among the races won are five editions of the 1000 kilometres of Spa, plus two class victories at Le Mans in 1978 and 1980 on a Porsche 935.

DATASHEET - PORSCHE 908/3 1970

ENGINE 8 cylinder boxer, rear central
DISPLACEMENT 2997 cm3
POWER 363 hp at 8400 rpm
TORQUE 365 Nm at 6600 rpm
DISTRIBUTION 1 ACT per bank, 2 valves
FUEL SUPPLY Bosch injection
GEARBOX type 910 with 5 gears
MAXIMUM SPEED 275 km/h
ACCELERATION 0-100 inc.
CHASSIS monocoque, aluminum
FRONT SUSPENSION quadrilateral
REAR SUSPENSION multilink
BRAKES ventilated and drilled discs
FRONT/REAR WHEELS 12” / 15”
BODYWORK fiberglass and resin
LENGTH 3540 mm
WIDTH 1950 mm
HEIGHT 675 mm
WHEELBASE 2300 mm
TRACK 1542 / 1564 mm
WEIGHT (EMPTY) 545 kg

The data on this car has never been officially published, the characteristics given here have been taken from the most reliable documentation available.