Porsche 911 carrera 2.8 RSR – Müller & Van Lennep – Targa Florio 1973.

Porsche 911 rsr

The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island’s capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973.

While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race’s last decades was limited to the 72.00 km (44.74 mi) of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.

The race was created in 1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast, Vincenzo Florio, who had started the Coppa Florio race in Brescia, Lombardy in 1900. The Targa also claimed to be a worldly event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such as Alexandre Charpentier and Leonardo Bistolfi, were commissioned to design medals.

A magazine was initiated, Rapiditas, which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed.

The Targa Florio gave Porsche its first victory in a World Championship race. Umberto Maglioli triumphed in sweltering heat in 1956 with a Porsche 550 A Spyder. The history of the Targa Florio came to an end in 1973, when the road race was deemed no longer appropriate for the times and lost its world championship status.

Basically, at the final Targa Florio race, Porsche was not the favourite to take victory. The two 911 Carrera RSR cars with an output of 232 kW (315 hp) were significantly slower than the much stronger prototypes of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo.

The situation brought to mind the very early years, when Porsche took on the role of David, relying on the Goliaths to make mistakes History repeated itself. The fast cars came off the track, allowing Gijs van Lennep and Herbert Müller to dominate the race and claim victory in their reliable 911 Carrera RSR. Finishing in sixth place was a Porsche 911 with Baron Antonio Pucci and test driver Günter Steckkönig from Weissach at the wheel.

Finally, the victory of the 911 RSR was thanks in part to a stroke of luck, as demonstrated by a very timely rear wheel change: when a mechanic happened to sit on the still-warm tyre in the in the pit a short time later, it had already lost its air.

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