911 and La Sarthe

[stretch]

The other one in the paddock last summer was the Egreteaud car. Sold by Claudio in 2015.




[rower]

fap901,
Would you happen to have any information or photographs of the 1969 Porsche factory 911's?

73 xxx Porsche 911 Porsche System Engineering Not accepted GT2.0
74 xxx Porsche 911 Porsche System Engineering Not accepted GT2.0

They were not accepted, and it is difficult to find any information on them.

My suspicion is that these were 2 of the 3 LWB 1969 GT-S’s they build with lightweight tub and alloy parts, that ran the marathon de la route. The only circuit racing 1969 911’s built by werks that year I believe. Not qualified as too custom.

[matteo68]

Thought I'd give this thread a bump as some of you many be aware I am hoping to create an accurate facsimile of the GeLo Racing Team M491 2.5 S/T (chassis no. 0955) as driven at Le Mans '72 by Georg Loos, Jean Sage and Franz Pesch (carrying #44 during the race).

The car was delivered new to GeLo Racing Team by the factory in 1972 in blutorange / tangerine - one of 5 in this colour along with the Strahle/RS0002, Schiller, Zasada and Krizalla M491 cars.

Given that the car only started in 3 races in 1972 (25th Grand Prix de Paris at Montlhery (car #17 - finished 5th), Nurburgring 300 kms (car #107, finished 10th) and Le Mans, despite being entered for both numerous 1000 km races and rounds of the European GT Championship (either the car did not arrive or did not qualify), this has made trying to find photos of the car, both inside and out very difficult.

Also there was a very confusing situation at Le Mans with the car changing numbers between practice and the race and also being misrepresented as a different car completely in a supposed reference book about the race! The fact that the car then disappeared after Le Mans with only a suggestion on pbase.com that it was sold (to whom and when?) and that the car's engine (#6622034) was later put in the Toni Fischhaber M491 S/T (chassis no. 1195) - prompting yet more questions! - only adds to the mystery surrounding this car.



Having discussed this with Hugh at length (and many, many thanks to him for providing me with so much useful information), it is clear that the photo of the #44 car that appears in Pascal's 'Porsches at Le Mans' book is actually incorrect and shows the 1973 RSR entered by Jean Sage and wearing Mischler sponsorship:





The GeLo car actually carried car #78 in the usual red and yellow GeLo Racing livery and Sage's car carried #44 during practice but having qualified in 54th place, Sage's car didn't start the race. Philip Greub who was driving with Sage withdrew and Sage joined Loos and Pesch in the GeLo car which was renumbered #44 for the race for reasons unclear.





The GeLo car qualified in 52nd place with a time of 4.46.200 but later retired from the race in the 7th hour with crankshaft damage (a common problem it would seem with the long-stroke 2.5 at Le Mans that year) after running in 38th place in the preceding hour.









Hopefully when this project is complete, and the car has FIA HTP papers, I would really like to enter it at Classic Le Mans, OldTimer GP, Silverstone Classic etc and see if it can jog someone's memory as to where it might be now, if it still exists. It would be great to rediscover it hidden in a barn or garage one day, much like the Keyser / Barth car was.

If anyone has any more information on this car, please feel free to post!