VIN: the Racing Team AAW Porsche 917 chassis 021
History of chassis 021
Chassis 021 was one of 25 Porsche 917s presented to the FIA inspectors on April 21st 1969 after which it was dismantled for reassembly at a later date.
On April 10th 1970, chassis 021, which was now in the latest Kurzheck trim, was sold to Racing Team AAW run by Finnish industrialist, Antii Aarnio-Wihuri.
Aarnio-Wihuri’s grandfather, Hjalmar Aarnio, was a pioneering food wholesaler who established Aarnio Oy in 1901. His father, Antti Wihuri, was a shipping magnate and his mother, Rakel Wihuri, was one of Finland’s most influential businesswoman.
In 1961, the Wihuri Group was formed to manage the family’s diverse interests which by this time included the Finnish importer for Volkswagen and Porsche cars: Wihuri Yhtyma-Oy.
Antii Aarnio-Wihuri was an enthusiastic racing and rally driver. He started out with Volkswagen Beetles and quickly moved up to Porsches. His most notable result was victory on the 1969 Arctic Rally in a 911 S.
Later that year, Aarnio-Wihuri established Racing Team AAW to support promising Finnish drivers like Hans Laine, Leo Kinnunen, Pauli Toivonen and Sten Axelsson. An ex-works Porsche 908/02 was purchased (chassis 011) which for 1970 was joined by the 917 and a pair of 911 STs.
Hans Laine and his Dutch co-driver, Gijs van Lennep, took fourth overall and won the Group 6 class on their maiden outing of 1970 with the 908/02 at the Brands Hatch 1000km.
They then drove AAW’s new 917 at the Monza 1000km and qualified ninth. Chassis 021 finished eleventh after Laine touched a barrier on the opening lap. Two stops were required to properly cut away the damaged bodywork.
The AAW crew next appeared at the Spa 1000km three weeks later for which 021 had been fitted with a fresh 4.5-litre engine. The yellow and red 917 qualified sixth and had a steady run to finish fifth overall.
For the Nurburgring 1000km, AAW entered the 917 and their 908/02 which was deemed the most likely to score a good result owing to its more nimble handling. Chassis 021 was allocated to Pauli Toivonen and Sten Axelsson while Laine / van Lennep drove the 908/02.
Unfortunately, just before the end of Saturday practice, Hans Laine crashed the 908/02 down the straight having got airborne over a bump after the car lost a spoiler.
Tragically, Laine was trapped underneath the car which then caught fire and burned uncontrollably for many minutes. Poor Hans Laine suffered a most gruesome death and naturally, AAW’s 917 was withdrawn from the race.
Despite the death of one of his drivers, Antii Aarnio-Wihuri pressed ahead with an entry for Le Mans two weeks later. Hans Laine’s spot in the 917 was taken by experienced pro, David Piper, who brought backing from drinks firm Sandeman. 021 was prepared for the big race by Porsche themselves.
The AAW entry qualified eleventh but was retired after 122 laps. David Piper had been off track and damaged the front bodywork when lying third. 021 was mended back at the pits but the crash had knocked the wheels out of alignment and, shortly after, Gijs van Lennep went back out a tyre blew at 180mph.
The debris tore through the bodywork and that was that for the AAW crew.
021 was sent back to Porsche for repair. However, because there was little time before AAW’s next race at the Norisring two weeks later, the mechanical components were stripped from 021 and rebuilt around a new chassis: 012.
For carnet reasons 012 continued to race as 021.
The original chassis 021 was sent back to the factory and may have been used for the construction of AAW’s 917 Spyder (chassis 01-021) that was driven by Leo Kinnunen to win the 1971 Interserie championship.
Notable History
Porsche System Engineering
21/04/1969 factory homologation presentation
10/04/1970 sold to Antii Aarnio-Wihuri (Racing Team AAW), Finland
Yellow & Red livery
25/04/1970 WSC Monza 1000km (H. Laine / G. van Lennep) 11th oa, 8th S5.0 class (#12)
17/05/1970 WSC Spa 1000km (H. Laine / G. van Lennep) 5th oa, 5th S5.0 class (#43)
31/05/1970 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (P. Toivonen / S. Axelsson) DNS withdrawn (#49)
14/06/1970 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (G. van Lennep / D. Piper) DNF crash (#18)
After 021 was crashed at Le Mans its mechanical components were removed and fitted to a new chassis, 012, which was renumbered 021 for carnet reasons
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
