Genesis of the 911 in competition

[Eric Gratz]

Who drove the first 911 in a competition?

The earliest entry in RacingSportsCars.com is for Ernst Paulsson driving a 911 in the Västkustloppet Falkenberg held on 2 August 1964 in Sweden. Very little information is provided, including if the car actually ran. What else is known about this driver and event?

Is there any consensus on who and when the first 911 was used in a competition? Any idea on when the first win was achieved?

https://www.racingsportscars.com/typ...rsche/911.html

[haul]

Eric,

I do doubt the participation of a 901 chassis at this very day.
it would be a prototype.

First 901 off line had been on 14. september 1964, chassis 300 007.

[HughH]

Eric
While he was at that event, he had a big accident in practice the day before so did not start the race (or ever race again such were his injuries). Also he did not have a 911. The car that was entered was his Elva Mk7 Porsche which was destroyed in that accident along with a 904

see this from motorsport memorial:

The Swedish race car driver Ernst Paulson, nicknamed as "Nenne" by friends, was born at Ängelholm in southern Sweden, where his family managed a clothes-store. He had a short but promising career in the early 1960s. At the wheel of a Porsche Carrera Abarth he became a serious contender in Swedish sportscar and GT races, scoring wins at Knutstorp and at Roskilde Ring in Denmark.

A couple of weeks before the 1964 Västkustloppet, scheduled on Sunday, 02 August 1964 at the Skreabanan, Ernst Paulson purchased an Elva Mk7 sportscar which was fitted with his fast Porsche engine in the back. He tested the car at Knutstorp, prior to the debut at the Skreabanen, a 4.224-kilometer public roads course located just south of the town of Falkenberg on the Swedish Westcoast, hence the name Västkustloppet (the West Coast Race).

On Saturday, 01 August 1964, Paulson at the time 29-year old, who actually led the Gr. 4 over 1150 cm³ class in the Swedish Championship, was practicing for the Sunday's Västkustlopp. Going down the fast twisty part from the Skreabanan's highest point towards the last bend before the start and finish straight, fellow competitor Hasse Radefalk in a Porsche 904 tried to pass him. But the cars collided, both of them rolled, tumbled down the track and were destroyed. Despite Paulson was wearing seat belts and his Elva had a robust rollbar, so hard was the impact that the driver sustained serious head and neck injuries.

Ernst Paulson had several operations and never recovered and was handicapped and paralysed, living in an institution for the rest of his life, assisted by his mother. He passed away 29 years later, on 03 April 1993.

The spelling of the driver's surname is erroneously reported by different sources as Paulsson. Different accounts also stated that he had his accident at the Skreabanan while driving a Porsche 904, but this is not true as Paulson was driving his open Elva - Porsche sportscar when he collided with a 904.

The 1964 Västkustlopp was the last race scheduled on the Skrea track, which was made up of public roads and was considered to be too narrow and fast. One of the roads was going to be rebuilt and would not be suitable for racing anymore and the track was abandoned. It was replaced in 1967 with the purpose-built 1.833-kilometer new Falkenberg Motorbana. That short track, long just over 1.8 kilometer, sported a fast lay-out that promised competitive and exciting racing. The opening meeting on the new racetrack on 06 August 1967 was marred by the death of the photographer Bengt Wallin who was struck by Sten Frodge's racing car.

[ecostellodo]

This car is claimed to be the first 911 to Win a road race.

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/porsche-911/

[haul]

Hugh,

thank you…

[Eric Gratz]

Haul and Hugh,

Thanks for additional information that indicates Ernst Paulson was not the first driver of a 911 in competition.

The next listing in RacingSportsCars.com is for Franz G. Meyer driving a 911 in the ADAC-Hansa-Pokal-Rennen Nürburgring held on 9 May 1965. There is very little information on this race or driver that I can find on the web, but I will continue to search to see if there is anything more conclusive.

Ecostellodo,

RacingSportsCars lists a driver with an earlier win than Ryan, Coleman and Bencker, the drivers of 300128 in the Fifth Annual Daytona 24 Hour Continental held on 6 February 1966. Charles Slade drove to a first in SCCA D Production class at the Paul Whiteman Challenge Cup Races Dayton held on 5 September 1965. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other drivers that had wins earlier than Charles Slade given that the 911 had been released a year earlier.

Here's a picture of Charles Slade's car at the Second Annual American Road Race of Champion held on 28 November 1965.

-Eric

[HughH]

Eric
I think that the first 911 to be entered in "international competition" was 300055 at the 1965 Monte Carlo rally driven by Herbert Linge and Peter Falk. The 911 was not homologated for racing until 1 January 1965 and the Monte was held 2 weeks later on 16 January
It did not win its class but came second, beaten by the 904, and was 5th outright
It is hard to see how anything could be earlier in an official event given homologation did not occur until January and it is doubtful that any track events would have been held between when cars were available and January except maybe Swedish ice racing

[Eric Gratz]

These are the competition firsts for the 911 pulled from a variety of sources including RacingSportsCars.com, www.ewrc-results.com, and http://www.euromontagna.com. Please let me know if you know of any additions, corrections or changes.

16-Jan-1965, 1st international rally, Linge and Falk, 5th overall, 2nd in class
28-Feb-1965, 1st national circuit race, Thenaers
11-Apr-1965, 1st hill climb, Meyer
05-Sep-1965, 1st national circuit race class win, Slade, SCCA D Production
20-Sep-1965, 1st international rally class win, Wallrabenstein
06-Feb-1966, 1st international circuit race class win, Ryan, Colman & Bencker, GT2.0

Linge, Herbert (D) and Peter Falk (D), 300055, S-UV 333
16-Jan-1965, Rally Monte Carlo car #147, 5th overall, 2nd in class

Thenaers, Jacques (B), 965.HB
28-Feb-1965, Circuit des Ardennes
21-Mar-1965, Coupes de Belgique
03-Apr-1965, 12 Heures de Huy car #19, 3rd
25-Apr-1965, 12 Heures de l’Est, 13th overall, 3rd in class
16-May-1965, 500km SPA car #44, 18th overall, 4th in GT 2000

Wallrabenstein, Günter (D), 300005, LM-C 911
10-Apr-1965, Roland Rallye, 1st?
13-May-1965, International Semperit Rally car #13
25-May-1965, Austrian Alpine rally car #3, 2nd
01-Aug-1965, Rheinland-Pfalz Preis Nürburgring, 7th
20-Sep-1965, 2. Int. Donau Castrol Rallye car #7, 3rd overall, 1st in class
08-Oct-1965, Rallye-München-Wein-Budapest car #1, 20th overall, 3rd in class

Meyer, Franz G (D), MY-RA 41
11-Apr-1965, Bergpreis Bad Neuenahr, car #157
09-May-1965, DARM GT Nürburgring, 9th

Andersen, Preben Alex and Peter Reinholt (DK), BS 25.633
26-Apr-1965, Internationale Tulpenrallye car #8

Koch, H and K. Beran (A), S 64.234
13-May-1965, International Semperit Rally car #10

Kempen, E
23-May-1965, Salom de Luxembourg,

Jouillie, Christian (CH)
10-Jun-1965, François Perret, 33. Rallye de Genève car #4, 17th

Huber, Horst (D), BGD-H 99
13-Jun-1965, Hill Climb Rossfeld car #33, 45th

Auer, Carl-Gregor (D)
11-Jul-1965, DARM GT Mainz-Finthen car #11, 3rd
01-Aug-1965, Rheinland-Pfalz Preis, Nürburgring, 8th

Besier, Günter (D)
11-Jul-1965, DARM GT Mainz-Finthen, 2nd

Billo, Heinz (D)
11-Jul-1965, DARM GT Mainz-Finthen, DNF

Nyffeler, Hans-Peter (CH), PS-L 911
18-Jul-1965, DARM GT Solitude car #2, 10th
01-Aug-1965, hill climb Axamer Linzum car #28, 25th
19-Sep-1965, hill climb Gaisberg car #25
17-Oct-1965, Aspern [GT]

Bauer, Roland (D), GP-J 111
24-Jul-1965, Int. AvD Flugplatz Rennen, car #66

Egger, Karl (A), L 69.406
01-Aug-1965, hillclimb Axamer Lizum car #29, 28th
22-Aug-1965, National Zeltweg - GT

Slade, Charles (USA), __26629
05-Sep-1965, Raul Whiteman Trophy Dayton, 1st
28-Nov-1965, American Road Race of Champions car #23, 10th

Wilfried Gass(D)
20-Sep-1965, 2. Int. Donau Castrol Rallye car #6, DNF
08-Oct-1965, Willi Bretthauer, Rallye-München-Wein-Budapest car #3, 9th OA and 1st in class

Meyer, Gerd (D)
25-Sep-1965, Heinz-Dieter Feldmann, 2. Schuh Rallye Pirmasens car #93, DNF

Meert, Eddie (B)
6-Nov-1965, Battini, Tour de Corse car #91, DNF

Aarnio-Wihuri, Antti (SF), AAV-75
30-Oct-1965, Ansicht Jarvis, Pohjola Ralli car #8, 16th OA, 8th in Class

Ryan, Jack, Lin Colman & Bill Bencker (all USA), 300128
06-Feb-1966, Daytona 24 Hours, 39th overall, 1st in GT 2.0

Vestey, Paul (GB), RHD, LGK 4D
30-May-1966, Snetterton, Class "F"

[StephenAcworth]

I can confirm Horst Huber participated in the Roßfeld-Berchtesgaden hill climb in a 911 on 13 June '65 - factory documented ... registration BGD-HH99

[Eric Gratz]

Jacques Thenaers in the 12 Heures de Huy held on 3rd April, 1965.