The 1970 race was the 38th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the eighth round of the 1970 International Championship for Makes. Regulations had been overhauled by the CSI, redefining motorsport categories with new Group 4 ‘Special GT’ and Group 5 ‘Sports Car’ classifications. Three drivers were now permitted in each car, and a driver was allowed to switch once to another car of the same make during the race. Maximum drive-times were set at 14 hours, in up to 240 minutes at a time with at least a one-hour break between shifts. Luminous car numbers were also introduced.
Porsche arrived as favourites, having had a dominant year in the championship. Their main opposition was expected to come from Ferrari, competing with the newly-homologated 512S model. Nine Porsche 917s and eleven Ferrari 512s were entered, representing both works teams and privateers.
Heavy rain throughout the race neutralized much of the power advantage of the Porsche and Ferrari cars, contributing to a number of serious accidents. By the halfway point, all of Ferrari’s main challengers – Ferrari, Matra, and Alfa Romeo – had encountered issues. The race saw a high rate of attrition, with only seven cars classified as finishers. The leading Porsche of Jo Siffert and Brian Redman retired with engine failure, handing the lead to Herrmann and Attwood.
Jacky Ickx crashed at the Ford Chicane during the night, resulting in the death of track marshal Jacques Argoud. Earlier in the race, an incident at Maison Blanche involved multiple cars, including Reine Wisell and Jacky Ickx, leading to the retirement of several Ferraris. The race also marked the final Le Mans start without the traditional “Le Mans start” procedure; this year drivers started strapped into their cars.
Hans Herrmann, a veteran of 13 Le Mans races, retired immediately after the victory, having promised his wife he would quit racing should he win. He had previously lost by a narrow margin in the 1969 race.
The race was also notable for being the subject of the Steve McQueen movie Le Mans, with a Porsche 908 entered by Solar Productions fitted with cameras to record footage. However, most of the on board footage was useless due to technical issues.
Steve McQueen, the actor, intended to participate in the race, but insurance issues prevented him from driving. The film crew used footage from the race and additional staged crashes for the movie.
The second-placed Martini Racing Porsche 917, with its distinctive psychedelic livery, was voted “Le Mans Car of the Century” thirty years later.
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