VIN: the Martini Racing Porsche 911 2.2 Carrera RSR Turbo chassis 9114609016 R9
History of chassis 9114609016 R9
R9 was one of four 911 RSR Turbos campaigned by the Martini-backed works team in the Group 5 three-litre Prototype class of the 1974 World Sportscar Championship. The programme’s aim was to provide valuable experience for a new line of turbocharged 911 racing cars.
As the RSR Turbos were pitched directly against scratch-built Group 5 Prototypes from Matra, Mirage and Alfa Romeo, the production-based 911 was not expected to be in contention for class or outright wins. Nevertheless, several highly impressive results were achieved during the season.
Along with chassis R12, R9 was present for the RSR Turbo’s first public showing at the annual Le Mans Test in late March. Completed late, the cars were totally unsorted and a real handful to drive. Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Muller posted seventh quickest time in R9.
The test weekend closed with a non-championship two hour race. Muller and van Lennep started fifth but retired at mid-distance with turbocharger trouble.
R9 then served as the T-car at Monza and Spa before being recalled for competition duty at the Nurburgring 1000km. Driven on this occasion by Manfred Schurti and Helmut Koinigg, it qualified 14th and finished seventh.
Both RSR Turbos looked decidedly second-hand afterwards; the big rear wing was blamed for obscuring rear vision which led to a number of bumps with other cars during the seven hour race.
At the newly opened Imola circuit two weeks later, R9 was back in the hands of van Lennep and Muller.
After an initially fast start from sixth on the grid, van Lennep began to slow. The freshly laid surface had caused his tyres to blister severely. The car was also jumping out of gear and operating without the second cog at all.
R9 limped on for several more hours, slowly getting worse until Muller stopped when the gearbox finally expired.
The car’s last outing came at the Zeltweg 1000km. This was two weeks after the sister car, R13, had taken second overall at Le Mans.
R9 posted sixth fastest time in qualifying and ran reliably for most of the Austrian event. However, late on, Muller was hampered by a broken throttle linkage which he pulled over and fixed out on track. Muller and van Lennep eventually claimed sixth overall.
With the season over, R9 returned to the factory.
In 1975 it was sold to Dr. William Jackson who was building an exceptional Porsche collection in Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Jackson retained the car for the next 25 years before it passed to the late Matt Drendel in Hickory, North Carolina.
Notable History
Porsche System / Martini Racing Team
Silver Martini livery
24/03/1974 IND Le Mans Test (G. van Lennep / H. Muller) 7th oa, 7th S3.0 class (#9)
24/03/1974 IND Le Mans 4 Hours (G. van Lennep / H. Muller) DNF (#9)
25/04/1974 WSC Monza 1000km (T-car) - (#8T)
05/05/1974 WSC Spa 1000km (T-car) - (#14T)
19/05/1974 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (M. Schurti / H. Koinigg) 7th oa, 7th S3.0 class (#9)
02/06/1974 WSC Imola 1000km (G. van Lennep / H. Muller) DNF (#6)
30/06/1974 WSC Zeltweg 1000km (G. van Lennep / H. Muller) 6th oa, 6th S3.0 class (#7)
1975 sold to Dr William Jackson, Denver, Colorado
2000 sold to Matt Drendel, Hickory, North Carolina
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
