VIN: the Jean Blaton Porsche 934 chassis 9306700153
History of chassis 9306700153
Chassis 9306700153 was sold to Belgian privateer, Jean Blaton, who usually raced under the pseudonym ‘Beurlys’.
Blaton began racing in 1957 with an old Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia. He moved on to various iterations of the 250 GT including both a GTO and LM. A series of Ferrari P cars followed along with a Ford GT40.
In 1974, Blaton purchased his first Porsche racing car, a 911 3.0 Carrera RSR (chassis 9114609072). This was followed by the 934 which he entered for the 1976 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Painted yellow (the national racing colour of Belgium), 153 was the 17th of 31 934s built.
Blaton had the car prepared for Le Mans at the legendary Kremer Racing workshop in Cologne.
It arrived at la Sarthe in its original yellow livery but, during the week long build up to the race, Blaton struck some last-minute sponsorship deals. As a result of backing from French oil and gas company, Total SA, Citizen Watches and Harley Davidson, Blaton arranged for the 934 to be repainted white, red and blue at the circuit.
It was driven at Le Mans by Blaton, Nick Faure and John Goss.
Unfortunately, after qualifying 27th, a series of turbo failures hampered their progress during the race. Although still running after 24 hours, the 168 laps covered was deemed insufficient to be classified as finishers.
Blaton raced twice more at Le Mans before hanging up his helmet; he attended both the 1978 and 1979 events with a Ferrari 512 BB LM.
In 1977, the Porsche was sold to well-known Belgian Porsche tuner, Jean-Pierre Gaban, who had raced 911s since 1967 when he took a class win at Le Mans.
Gaban entered the 934 at Le Mans in 1977 and 1978; it failed to finish on either occasion owing to a blown head gasket and broken fuel-injection pump respectively.
However, in the domestic Belgian series between 1977 and 1978, Willy Braillard and Marc Duez were frequent top three finishers in the car.
0153 was retired at the end of the 1978 season.
Gaban kept the 934 until 1982 when he sold it to the Vermeulen brothers (Huub and Jan), also from Belgium. The Vermeulens retained it for around ten years at which point it joined the collection of their countryman, Walter Pauwels.
Notable History
Yellow
Jean Blaton, Belgium
White, Red & Blue livery
13/06/1976 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (J. Blaton / N. Faure / J. Goss) NC (#70)
Sold to Jean-Pierre Gaban, Belgium
Red & White livery
12/06/1977 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (W. Braillard / G. Ortega / N. Koob) DNF (#57)
04/09/1977 BEL Zolder Bekers van de Toekomst (W. Braillard) 2nd oa, 2nd 1.6+ class (#81)
24/09/1977 BEL Zolder EG Trophy (W. Braillard) 2nd oa, 2nd 2.0+ class (#86)
23/04/1978 BEL Zolder GP (W. Braillard) 1st oa, 1st 2.0+ class (#72)
07/05/1978 BEL Spa 600km (W. Braillard) 1st oa, 1st 2.0+ class (#??)
11/06/1978 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (W. Braillard / J.L. Ravenel / J. Ravenel / P. Dagoreau) DNF (#69)
09/07/1978 BEL Nivelles Coupes Benelux (M. Duez) 2nd oa, 2nd 2.0+ class (#??)
13/08/1978 IND Nivelles (M. Duez) 3rd (#??)
15/10/1978 BEL Zolder GT Finale (W. Braillard) 15th (#??)
Sold to Huub & Jan Vermeulen, Belgium
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Fiskens Fine Historic Automobiles - https://www.fiskens.com/
