How 1971's benchmark Le Mans team lost with the best car
The JW Automotive Engineering team won twice at the Le Mans 24 Hours with ageing Fords and was considered the heavy favourite to add more victories to its tally after partnering with Porsche. But despite being armed with the all-conquering 917, this formidable combination was never as successful in real life as on the big screen.
There is some great real footage from Steve McQueen’s film, Le Mans. But, aside from the dubious wheel-to-wheel ‘racing’ in the closing stages, one thing that really stands out is that a Gulf Porsche 917 wins.
In real life, the JW Automotive Engineering Gulf squad had won Le Mans with the ageing Ford GT40 in 1968-69 and was the team to beat in the world sportscar championship once it joined forces with old rival Porsche for 1970-71. But Le Mans success with the iconic blue-and-orange 917s eluded John Wyer’s team.
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Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.
He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.
He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Fleet with his wife and two children.
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