50th anniversary celebration of 1st Porsche victory at Spa 24H

August 2, 2017 Tim Havermans 911, Jacky ickx, Jean-Pierre Gaban, Noel "Pedro" Van Assche, Spa 24H

Jean-Pierre Gaban / Noel “Pedro” Van Assche reunion at the 2017 Spa 24H

To celebrate this first victory for Porsche at the Spa 24H, Jean-Pierre Gaban and Noel “Pedro” van Ascche were at the Spa 24H race, together with a replica of the Porsche 911 #23 they drove in the 1967 race. Fans from all ages welcomed the both pilots as true heroes. The #23 Porsche 911 could be admired at the famous Raidillon, and even made a lap on the track with the 2 pilots from back them.Porsche is not only in Le Mans very succesful. Between 1967 and 2010, Porsche took no less than 6 overall victories at the Spa 24H. Unfortunately the Porsches this year weren’t as successful. The Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by KÜS Team75 Bernhard with Laurens van Thoor, Kevin Estré and Michael Christensen at the wheel just missed out on the podium.

Porsche victory at the 1967 Spa 24H

However, this 69th edition of the Spa 24H was special to Porsche in a particular way. In 1967 the duo Jean-Pierre Gaban and Noel Van Assche, nicknamed Pedro, took the very first victory at the 24H endurance race in Spa.

4 Porsches 911s at the start of the 1967 Spa 24H. The Belgian duo Jean-Pierre Gaban / Noel van Assche was the fases during qualifying and secured pole position in the 1600 – 2000 class. The Porsche 911 with start number 23 achieves the 7th time overall, not bad at all against opponents like Ford ustand and Alfa Romeo GTA’s.The 19th edition of the Spa 24H had to cope with periods of severe rain, making the wet track extremely slippery and dangerous. The Belgian idol Jacky Ickx who teamed up with Hubert Hahne, dominates the first part of the race in his Ford Mustang, After 4,5 hours of racing, the Ford Mustang of Jacky Ickx and Hubert Hahne returns to the pits with differential problems. However the mechanics didn’t manage to bring the car back on the track within the allowed time. Regulations stipulated that a lap could no longer take than 1 hour. That meant the end for Jacky Ickx / Hubert Hahne of the 1967 Spa 24H with a disqualification, to the advantage of the Porsches that were running very close after the Ford Mustang.

Picture gallery and race report on next page

Wiping the windshield… manually

The duo Jean-Pierre Gaban / Noelle “Pedro” van Assche was having a fierce battle with the Italians Enrico Pinto / Arnaldo Cavallari in the Alfa, changing the leading position a few times. However, the battle seemed to be to heavy for the Alfa that couldn’t keep the oil temperature at at trustworthy level. About the same time, the Porsche 911 of Jean-Pierre Gaban / Noelle “Pedro” van Assche had electrical problems causing the windshield wipers to fail. Not exactly what you want, when the rains continues to fall from heaven.There seemed no way to repair the wipers in a decent way, and a clever mechanic quickly attached a string to the wiper so the drivers could operate them manually. This was not completely legal as the rules demand the wipers to be operated electrically. Jean-Pierre Gaban / Noelle “Pedro” van Assche manage to keep their pole position till the finish, with just half a lap of advantage to the Italian duo Enrico Pinto / Arnaldo Cavallari. Luckily they didn’t object against the creative solution the Porsche mechanics used to repair the windshield wiper. The victory for the Porsche 911 of Jean-Pierre Gaban / Noelle “Pedro” van Assche was the very first overall victory for Porsche at the Spa 24H.