VIN: the Martini Racing Porsche 911 2.8 / 3.0 Carrera RSR chassis 9113600974 R8
History of chassis 9113600974 R8
For 1973, the Martini Racing Team (overseen by ex-Gulf Racing manager, David Yorke) was tasked with campaigning Porsche’s new 911 RSR in European rounds of the World Sportscar Championship.
Eight different chassis were used during the 1973 campaign, one of which was 9113600974, better known as R8.
R8 made its debut at Round 4 of the world series: the Monza 1000km (April 25th). Both the works RSRs in attendance at Monza had three-litre engines as debuted at the Dijon 1000km two weeks earlier. They also featured the same rear suspension upgrades used in France which was a point of consternation for one of the Italian competitors who claimed the changes in question had not been homologated in the Group 4 GT category.
The organisers ultimately decided to put the Martini Porsches in the Group 5 Prototype class and they were forced to re-qualify on the second day of practice.
As a result, the Martini crew decided to take advantage of the unrestricted modifcations permitted in Group 5 and hurriedly riveted additional rear spoiler panels in place either side of the original ducktail. These extra winglets subsequently became known as Mary Stuart collars.
R8 was allocated to George Follmer and Manfred Schurti who qualified fastest of the production-based cars in 24th. The sister entry (R6, for Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Muller) lined up in 34th.
Unfortunately, R8 was an early retirement; after just 19 laps, Follmer came into the pits having over-revved the engine to 9300rpm when he missed a gear. R6 later fell by the wayside too when its engine blew a piston.
After receiving a fresh engine, R8 next appeared for the Targa Florio two weeks later.
Martini Racing took four cars to Sicily, R2, R6 and R8 plus the spare, 0002.
Factory driver Gunter Steckkonig was joined in R8 by Targa specialist, Giulio Pucci.
However, the car never made it to the grid; during practice on Friday evening, Pucci lost it in a big way at the top of Campofelice and slammed sideways into a tree. Fortunately, the impact was on the passenger side of the car, otherwise Pucci would almost certainly have been killed.
With its bodyshell severely crumpled beyond repair, R8 was written off.
Porsche nevertheless went on to take a famous outright win at the 1973 Targa thanks to Muller and van Lennep in R6.
Notable History
Porsche System / Martini Racing Team
Silver Martini livery
25/04/1973 WSC Monza 1000km (G. Follmer / M. Schurti) DNF (#82)
13/05/1973 WSC Targa Florio (G. Pucci) DNS (#107)
Wrecked in Giulio Pucci’s practice accident at the Targa Florio
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
