Porsche vs Ferrari

Showdown! 24 Hours of Le Mans 1971

In Porsche vs Ferrari: Showdown! 24 Hours of Le Mans 1971, author George Levy and photographer Pete Biro guide the reader through this legendary race—from team and driver arrivals through the checkered flag—all brought to life via participant stories and amazing photography.

Get an all-access pass to the legendary 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans through first-hand accounts and exhilarating photography, including never-before-published photos from the Porsche archive.

The 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans was not just another running of this legendary motorsports event. It was:

• The fastest road race in history—in fact, the fastest lap at the 1971 race was unsurpassed until 2017. 
• The final time in the 20th century that sports car racing’s two most storied names—Porsche and Ferrari—would meet in combat at the world’s most popular race.
• A true battle of nations, featuring teams from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, France, and the United States, all with a legitimate chance to win.
• The race at which Porsche set a record still unbroken for most entries by a single marque: 33 of the 48 starters began life in Stuttgart.
• The race that would determine which of racing’s two greatest teams of the day—Roger Penske and John Wyer—would win the contract to run what many call the greatest race cars ever: the all-conquering, 1500-horsepower Porsche 917/10 and 917/30 turbocharged Can-Am racers.
• Run during the debut of Steve McQueen’s racing film Le Mans, which raised global recognition of the race to unprecedented levels.

Porsche vs Ferrari tells the story of the race in the words and memories of the living stars and notables, including winners Gijs van Lennep and current Red Bull F1 boss Dr. Helmut Marko (who also wrote the book's foreword), Richard Attwood (2nd place), Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz (3rd), Luigi Chinetti, Jr. (5th), Roger Penske, Derek Bell, Jackie Oliver and Porsche’s Norbert Singer and Jurgen Barth. Renowned motorsports journalist Doug Nye provides an afterword. We hear, too, from some participants who are gone, like John Wyer, John Horsman (Wyer chief engineer), Mauro Forghieri (Ferrari team manager), Pedro Rodriguez, Vic Elford, and Mark Donohue.

Thanks to Pete Biro’s stunning and extraordinarily comprehensive photos, you feel like you’ve been transported back to June 1971. The story unfolds beginning with the teams’ arrival at the track, then proceeds through paddock scenes, tech inspection, qualifying, race, and finish. You’ll also get behind the scenes thanks to photographs and documents from Porsche’s Archive in Zuffenhausen, many of them never published before. 

When you turn the final page, you’ll feel like you’ve just attended one of the greatest, most exciting, and most influential races of all time!

Contributor: Helmut Marko (Foreword by), Doug Nye (Afterword by), Pete Biro (By (photographer))

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