Art.Nr. 30888
The Ulcer
" Once again, we have a car about which this humble CoMod, unfortunately
, can't find any information online or in any of his books or motorsport magazines. I wonder why this always happens to me.
The Porsche is painted entirely white; only the front air intake and the small rear fins are orange. Add to that the No. 26 and a few sponsor decals (SHELL, BOSCH, CIBIE), and that’s it.
So let’s write a few general lines about the most legendary Porsche race car of all time.
Why “The Ulcer”?
The 917 earned its nickname right from the start, after the first factory drivers got their hands on the car. Eyewitnesses reported that after their laps, the drivers looked as if they’d aged years and were completely exhausted. PORSCHE sought out other drivers and eventually found two volunteers: Hubert Hahne and Dieter Quester, among others. They first had to be enticed with decent prize money. Dieter Quester once said of the first 917—still the long version—“The car was a danger. For me, it was a whole new dimension of power. The 590 PS were impossible to control on the road. The rear wheels had no traction; the car was already dangerous on the straights, and finding the limit of traction in the corners was like playing Russian roulette. There was an acute danger to life.” Kurt Ahrens had to throw up after a test drive on the Nordschleife in the 917. At Le Mans, he stated on record: “Pure horror. The car swerves wildly starting at 350; the rear end lifts up during hard braking. Rolf (Stommelen) and I eased off the gas at about 380.” Stommelen added: “That car is terrifying.” Richard Attwood once made the following statement in an interview: “At first, the car was awful. The roar of the exhaust and the acceleration gave me a headache.”
The first homologation of the Porsche 917 failed on March 20, 1969, because not all 25 cars were ready. Three cars were complete; 22 were lying around in pieces. According to the homologation commission, all cars had to be ready to drive. Homologation was granted on May 1, 1969. Twenty-five vehicles were ready; theC.S.I . commission members randomly selected a Porsche 917 from the lineup and had it drive around the courtyard. In this respect, the legend of the empty engine compartment can be dismissed as a myth.
On May 11, 1969, the Porsche 917 made its racing debut at Spa, but the car retired on the first lap due to engine failure. On the 10th, In August, the 917 claimed its first victory in Zeltweg, marking the beginning of an unprecedented winning streak that was only brought to an end by the Porsche 956. After the 1,000-km Race of Austria, Porsche remained in Zeltweg to conduct several tests with the 917. Following these tests and extensive trials, the rear end was modified (the famous wedge shape); it was only after these tests that the car suddenly became drivable.
CoMod Lotus
