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Video: The 1970 24 Hours of Daytona

Submitted by on December 15, 2011One Comment

The 24 Hours of Daytona kicked off the 1970 World Sportscar Championship in sublime style. Defending champions Porsche were gearing up to fight off a feisty Ferrari, who had returned to the championship after protesting changes in prototype regulations.

The Porsches put in a pretty spectacular performance. At one point Pedro Rodríguez, Leo Kinnunen and Brian Redman were leading by 190 miles and they broke the Daytona distance record by 372 miles. It was not, however, entirely smooth sailing for the second 917.

Hear from Jo Siffert, Pedro Rodríguez and John Wyer as they talk about their experience of the 24 hour race in this terrifically retro video.

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  • http://www.michaelwritesforyou.com Michael Schwartz

    msr – thank you so much for posting this clip. Motorsport Retro is very much part of my motor sport viewing.

    The theme music is very much of its time – 1970. It’s just that the composer feels that the world will end on 31 December 1970…

    I don’t think I would have liked to have crossed swords with John Wyer. He obviously didn’t tolerate fools (or anyone else, it seems) gladly.

    Pedro Rodriguez uncharacteristically sounded like a ventriloquist’s dummy. This is not the Pedro I remember. Jo Siffert was much more natural.

    And the commentator? Shaw Taylor is recognisable to generations of British TV viewers as the man who presented Police 5. This was a programme where information about stolen goods was broadcast – and you got your chance to grass to the fuzz. It was successful. One batch of stolen goods was found in a field with the note “Some day, Shaw Taylor.”

    I hate having to criticise any aspect of this wonderful site, but I clutch Autosport’s original account of the race to my bosom!