The ‘slow’ Porsche that started a Le Mans legend

By:

Kevin Turner

Sep 20, 2020, 3:19 PM

Fifty years ago Porsche took its inaugural win at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1970. KEVIN TURNER tells the improbable story of the car that got the ball rolling for the 24 Hours' most successful manufacturer

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Richard Attwood thought he had got it wrong. After having the fastest car in the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours and being robbed of victory by unreliability, he now believed he'd been too conservative for the 1970 race.

Porsche was still searching for its first win in the French classic. The handling of its initially evil 917 monster had been sorted, but Attwood's main focus when asked which version he would like had been stability and reliability.

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Kevin Turner

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Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.