Porsche on the Targa Florio

By Greg MacLeman

| 30 Sep 2014

Few road races of the 20th century can lay greater claim to being the king of endurance events than the Targa Florio. The first running took place in 1906, when Sicily native Vincenzo Florio dropped the chequered flag on 6 May. The course was gruelling – three 92.7-mile laps on roads more regularly used by oxcarts rather than racing cars – with sheer rock faces and plunging drops around every corner.

More than 30 cars were entered for that first contest, but only 10 made it to the island. Vincenzo Lancia was one of the better known competitors, but victory belonged to Alessandro Cagno, who drove his Itala 35/40hp for more than nine and a half hours at an average speed of just 29mph.

Bugatti, Maserati and Alfa Romeo all dominated the event at various points, but it was Porsche that would have the most success up until the last true Targa Florio in 1973, before the competitive element was toned down due to safety concerns.

Porsche's first attempt at the Targa Florio came in 1956 at the behest of Ferry Porsche, who encouraged the firm's motor sport director, Baron Fritz Huschke von Hanstein, to compete in a 550A RS. He was paired with Umberto Maglioli, who ended up driving the whole 576km course on his own – and won against much more powerful competition.

One of Porsche's most dominant Targa performances came just three years after its initial victory. The top four positions were all held by the Stuttgart firm's racers. First place belonged to Edgar Barth and Wolfgang Seidel's 718RSK, closely followed by a 550RS and two 356A Carreras.

Stirling Moss and Graham Hill took up the cudgels in 1961 at the wheel of a 718RSK. Moss managed to build up a lead of more than a minute and a half before handing over for two laps to Hill, who fell back due his unfamiliarity with the course. Moss managed to overturn the deficit on his second stint and stormed into the lead, only to suffer a blown differential just a few miles from the finish line.

Nino Vaccarella chalked up a class win for Porsche driving a 718GTR in 1962, although he was beaten to the top prize by Willy Mairesse's Ferrari Dino 246SP and Lorenzo Bandini's Dino 196SP.

Despite Ferrari's win in 1962, '63 belonged to Porsche. Lorenzo Bandini and Willy Mairesse were joined by Ludovico Scarfiotti in a Dino 196SP, but couldn't hold off the pairing of Jo Bonnier and Carlo Abate, whose Porsche 718GTR finished a whisker ahead of the Ferrari – by just 11.9 secs.

Porsche came out on top of Ferrari again in 1967 when the all-conquering 910 filled the top three positions, headed by Paul Hawkins and Rolf Stommelen's 910/8. The best that the Italian manufacturer could do was to hold on to fourth position – and third in class.

Porsche's victory in 1968 ranks among the greatest in the history of the event. Vic Elford, who had memorised the course, suffered a serious setback when the wheelnuts on his Porsche 907 became loose, closely followed by a punctured tyre just two laps in. When he rejoined the race he was 18 mins adrift of the leaders, but he remained unbowed. With a bit of help from teammate Umberto Maglioli, he took the lead with one lap to go.

Elford's heroics in 1968 set a high standard for the Porsche factory drivers the following year. The man himself could only bring his 908/02 home in second position, but he needn't have worried: of the top seven finishers, only one – Pinto and Alberti's fifth-placed Alfa Romeo T33/2 – wasn't a Porsche.

The top spot was won by Gerhard Mitter and Udo Schütz, also driving a 908/02.

Though the only Porsche works car failed to finish in 1970, it was nonetheless a great year for the German manufacturer. Jo Siffert and Brian Redman were overall winners in their 908/03, while Leo Kinnunen, a rally specialist, set the fastest ever lap of the Circuito Piccolo dell Madonie – 33 mins 36 secs.

As well as his 908/03, Elford also drove a 917K in practice, setting the fifth-quickest qualifying time. But he described the car as being "all over the place, impossible to drive".

Porsche's long history of success on the Targa Florio continued up until the very last running in 1973, when Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Müller took on the much faster Italian prototypes from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari in their 911 Carrera RS – and won.

Against the odds, the Martini-liveried Porsche romped home to victory ahead of the previous year's winner Sandro Munari. Stuttgart's cause was helped by rival Vaccarella's Ferrari 312P suffering a puncture on the second lap, followed by half-shaft failure, while the second works Ferrari crashed.