Porsche pays tribute to 1970 Le Mans winning 917K

Porsche is paying tribute to its debut success at Le Mans by giving its two works GTE cars in the delayed 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours 1970-inspired foil-wrap liveries, along with the names of the drivers and the year.

With half a century between them, this year’s 911 RSRs competing in the GTE-Pro class are a very different breed from the 917 that gave Attwood and Herrmann victory. But one thing appears the same: with one car painted red and white (after the Austrian flag), and the other black and white, they bear the same colours as the team cars in 1970.

If you think the liveries are familiar it may be because you saw them in digital form on screen when Porsche previewed them in the virtual Le Mans on 13^th-14^th June – when this year’s event was meant to take place before the coronavirus pandemic enforced a three-month delay. Even now we will only be able to see them on screen because the race, which gets under way at 2.30pm on Saturday, is taking place behind closed doors.

A link to the 1970 win is apposite because it did mark the start of something big for Porsche, its cars going on to win the world’s oldest and toughest long distance race 19 times. No Porsches are competing for outright honours this year so a 20^th overall victory is not on the cards, but the company has its sights set on a GTE-Pro class win.

That is being entrusted to a driver line-up that includes reigning World Endurance champions Michael Christensen from Denmark and Kévin Estre from France.

Fifty years on there is no young Dickie Attwood behind the wheel of a works Porsche, but there will be plenty of British interest in the race, most significantly Aston Martin whose leading Vantages Porsche will have to beat if it is to take the Pro class title this year.

Should be a cracking battle…