Two very different drivers would meet in the same Porsche Sportscar Team and spice up the world championship races in 1970 and 1971. On the one hand there was Jo Siffert, self-made man starting in racing from nothing and on the other hand Pedro Rodriguez, a racer who started with lots of family money. The Swiss Siffert had no chance of becoming a race driver. He had to do numerous jobs, being inventive and ingenious with much perseverance to get a seat in a monoplace car. The Mexican Rodriguez was together with his brother Riccardo programmed to be a race driver thanks to the Pesos from his father. He was already driving motorcycles at a very young age and drove his first 24 hour race in Le Mans at the age of 18.
However, the career of those two guys would come together at the end of the 60’s. And then already they, in the eyes of the fans, they were seen as inseparable.
Both drivers would meet first in the F1 in 1967 driving a Cooper-Maserati T81. While Rodriguez was, together with Jochen Rindt, part of the official team, Siffert was driving the car from Rob Walker. The Mexican won the GP of South Africa ( by luck) and ended the championship as 6th with 15 points. Siffert scored 6 points and was classified 12th .
At the start of the 1970 season during the practice sessions for the 24 hours of Daytona, they were team mates for the first time. They were both the top drivers in the John Wyer Automotive team, the official Porsche team. Jo Siffert was already a top figure in sportscar and already a Porsche factory driver. After two seasons in sportscar racing where he scored ten wins, he was the man behind the world champion title of Porsche in 1969. Although he had won the 24 hours Daytona in 1968( with V.Elford/ J.Neerpasch/ H.Hermann/ R.Stommelen, #54), he did not had the Le Mans and Targa Florio race on his record. He had the number 1 status at Porsche, together with his more discrete but efficient team mate Brain Redman.
Pedro Rodriguez was known to the endurance public for his win in the 1968 24 hours of Le Mans together with Lucien Bianchi at the wheel of a blue-orange Gulf Ford GT 40. This win gave him a place in the Wyer team. His endurance 1969 season was not his best. However, together with Chris Amon at the wheel of the spyder Ferrari 312P he was sometimes the only driver to resist to the Porsche army. His team partner for 1970 was the fin Leo Kinnunen, a very unknown driver.
The Porsche 917 of Jo Siffert carried the number 1 at the 24 hours of Daytona, confirming his leader status. His advantage was that he already knew the 917 and had already brought the car first over the finish line and he already knew his partner Redman.
The first three races however turned into an advantage for the Mexican-Fin connection, Three hours into the 24 hours Daytona race, they came into the lead and crossed the finish line winning the race with an advantage of 45 laps over the Siffert Porsche. The team was beaten by the Ferrari of Andretti/Giunti/Vacarella at Sebring. In the wet 1000 km Brands Hatch race, Rodriguez won again. He drove for five and a half hours in the wet; his teammate did only half an hour. Win number two for his new team. In the 1000 km Monza, they drove the sole remaining Porsche to a dominant win, destroying all Ferrari opposition.
Porsche entered their brand new 908/3 in the Targa Florio race. John Wyer entered three cars. Apart from the regular drivers there was a third car for Richard Attwood and Bjorn Waldegaard. Porsche definitively wanted to win and had also entered two private 908/3 cars for Laine-van Lennep and Larousse- Elford. In this race Kinnunen was faster than Pedro. They ended the race second, but winning the race was for Jo Siffert.
After his performance in Sicily was Siffert full of confidence for the 1000 km Spa. He had won the race last year. It did not begin good. Rodriguez took pole-position with an average speed of 254 km/h, smashing the lap record. At the start on Sunday the track was still wet after the rain. On the front row sat the two Gulf Porsche 917s. When the starting flag went down, Pedro shot away from his position and headed up to the Eau Rouge corner in an ideal position. Back then the start was after the La Source hairpin, pointing down to the hill towards Eau Rouge, then as now the most fearsome comer in motor racing. They made near identical starts, arriving at the left-hander at the bottom of the hill side by side. Rodriguez had the line but, astonishingly, Siffert did not — would not — budge. Side by side at hideous speed they barrelled into Eau Rouge, banging wheels, banging bodywork, and uphill through the right-hander to come. Now Jo had the line but the Mexican was in no mood to defer. Again there was contact, harder this time; they drove as if first place was one of the more minor things that the driver who lifted first would concede.
How the two negotiated the corner without coming to grief remains a thing of wonder. On top of the Radaillon Siffert got the lead. During the race both Porsche had to deal with a splendid Ferrari show from Ickx and Surtees. When Kinnunen had to stop the race and with a strong drive from Brain Redman, the win was again for Siffert. His reaction to the action of his team mate Pedro: “we are friends, but every time we meet at the racetrack, he tries to kill me.”
The balance within the team was restored at the 1000 km Nürburgring. The 908/3 of Siffert was leading the race until half distance when at a pitstop the car would not start again. In the other Wyer car Leo Kinnunen lost it after a jump over a bump.
For the Le Mans race, Wyer brought three 917K. The usual teams had a 5 Liter engine and Hobbs-Hailwood a 4.5 engine. The Gulf Porsches were the favourites for winning the race. In qualifying, Siffert was 3th and Rodriguez 5th. At the start, the #20 of Siffert was fastest away from the grid. So, at the end of the first hour it was all Porsche in front with Vic Elford leading in front of the two Wyer cars. After 90 minutes in the race, Rodriguez stopped the car at Arnage, engine out. David Hobbs spun the car out of the track. At 2 am, Jo Siffert missed a gear and high-revved the car which led to an engine breakdown. All Gulf cars out.
A month later at Watkins Glenn, there was again a victory for Rodriguez and a second place for Siffert. And here also, a great battle between the two and some car-banging.
The 1971 season for Pedro Rodriguez looked a continuation of the previous year. He stayed with BRM in the F1 and he had the support from John Wyer again for the sportscars. His new partner in the Gulf Porsche was Jacky Oliver. Still there was in change in the BRM F1 team, because he was joined there by the same Siffert. The Swiss had a miserable 1970 F1 season with the STP- March. In the Wyer team Jo Siffert also got a new teammate: Derek Bell.
Would there be a battle again between the two ?
In the F1 it was the Mexican who got the upper hand. He won the non-championship race at Oulton Park, a great win at Spa and a magnificent second place at Zandvoort after a now legendary battle with Jacky Ickx and his Ferrari.
In the endurance racing, Pedro was second after Siffert-Bell in the 1000 km Buenos Aires, the race where Ignatio Giunti lost his life. But then he dominated the 24 hours Daytona despite problems with a blocked accelerator and gearbox problems. At Sebring, Pedro brought a heavily damaged Porsche to fifth just in front of Siffert. In April and May he won the 1000 km Monza and two weeks later the race at Spa; in both races Siffert finished second.
Jo however quickly found his mark in the F1 with a point finish at Zandvoort and at le Castellet, where in qualifying the two drivers were separated by only 4/10th of a second.
The Targa Florio 1971 was a debacle for the JWA Porsche 908; Alfa Romeo won it. At the Nürburgring, Pedro had an engine failure and was placed into the Siffert car to keep his changes in the championship high. They had to endure the supremacy of Elford- Larousse in the Martini 917. Pedro finished second, refusing to give the wheel to Siffert for the last stint. The 24 hours of Le Mans was again not their race! The two JWA 917were equipped with a long tail. Pedro put the #18 on pole-position. In the race both cars had troubles with overheating rear tyres, probably due to the closed long tail configuration. But further in the race, Rodriguez had an oil leak and Siffert an engine problem causing retirements.
Two weeks after Le Mans, there was the last European round of the championship in Austria. Pedro got Richard Attwood as partner for the race. Pedro had a magnificent day. He drove on his own 157 laps of the 170 laps, beat the only Ferrrari from Ickx-Regazzoni and dominated the whole race. When he got out of the car, he was still looking physically fresh.
Next race on July 11th for Rodriguez was the Interserie 200 miles Nuremberg on the Norisring street circuit in front of tribunes built forty years ago for some Nazi event. Even John Horsman, technical director at Wyer asked Pedro why he had to stuff his weekend with an unimportant race at the wheel of a Ferrari 512M. His answer: “I need the money”. And yes, even for starting the race he got 5000 dollars. But it would be his final race. Some say that a tyre exploded, but BRM team boss Louis Stanley said that an inexperienced driver forced Pedro to take the non-racing line where he lost the car.
Jo Siffert was at his home in Fribourg an July 11th. The bad news from the Norisring and the death of Pedro Rodriguez hit him hard. He was now again the remaining leader at BRM and Porsche. The sportscar championship was almost over, but more F1 races had to be done. His next race was the GP England at Silverstone. Jo put his BRM P160 on pole-position next to Stewart and Regazzoni. He had to retire in the race. But on the Osterreichring, Jo had pole-position, fastest lap and a victory. And at Watkins Glenn, he finished second behind Francois Cevert.
There was only one race remaining for him at Brands Hatch, October 24 1971. A Victory Race was organized to honour Jackie Stewart, newly crowned World Champion. For Jo it was his 41th race of 1971. He raced sportscar, F1, F2 and Canam. In fact he was not happy having to drive again. But he put the car on pole-position ! He started slow and got stuck in a group after the leaders. On lap 15 he was driving fourth. Unfortunately he never ended the lap. Three months after Pedro, another great driver had died in an accident. And in a race that was organized because the Mexican GP was cancelled because of the death of Pedro.
Even now, these two different characters still remain connected. In 1970 and 1971, they were at the top of their art !
Publication: 14/03/2024Back to overview
