Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/100968
with David Hobbs, both being most entertaining. ��Brian only drove for us for two seasons, 1968 and 1970, but it seemed as though it was much longer than that as he made such a strong impression. Also, he came from the same part of England as me - Lancashire! the tail, finishing up at right angles to the track with the nose a few inches from the pit wall! Very shaken and stirred but no damage! John: ��I was asked this same question at the Amelia Island gathering last year. Jo Siffert was a very fast and brave driver who won a whole lot of races for Porsche but was prone to the occasional mistake, i.e. missing a gear (and subsequent engine failure) when leading by 5 laps at Le Mans in 1970. Pedro was as quick, if not quicker, and rarely made a mistake. He also took good care of the mechanicals and was therefore more successful than Jo. So the nod goes to Pedro, but out of the car you would not find a nicer person than Jo Siffert. John: ��We never swapped chassis numbers to suit cars going to individual races as Shelby with his GT-40s reportedly did. There was no need as each car had its own paperwork for Customs. The number problems arose when, as requested by Porsche, we stripped and returned all six 917���s (one car we never used, we had too many!) at the end of the 1970 season. ��Each chassis was accompanied by its carnet. The purpose we were told by the Factory was for them to examine the chassis for cracks, repair and return, but in the event they sent back all new chassis. ��So to keep the paperwork straight we used the original numbers. ��Also, all the stressed parts off the cars were crack detected and bagged together as individual chassis numbers. ��To us it seemed natural to use these original numbers as how would we sort out the carnets now that the new chassis were already imported into UK under the original six numbers? Jay: You had two great drivers in the 917s, Rodriguez and Siffert.�� How do you compare the two in retrospect? Jay: Did you ever get to drive a 917 yourself? John:�� Sadly, no, never had the opportunity to drive one... �� The only non-professional driver to drive one of our 917s was Chief Mechanic, Ermanno Cuoghi, at Silverstone one damp morning. ��He was warming up the test car and asked if he could run it around the circuit to accelerate the process. ��He came around Woodcote, the corner before the pits, not at racing speed but quite quickly then lost Jay: A few of us fans try to trace the history of each 917 and chassis number swaps cause endless trouble.�� Was chassis number swapping simply a way around the carnet requirements when the cars were transported across national borders? Jay: After the Porsche period you became involved in team management.�� Which role did you prefer - team manager or engineer? John: ��Actually from 1972 to 1975 I was Team Manager and Chief Engineer as well as Managing Director! ��I really enjoyed the work and the overall authority despite not having the success of the prior two programs, though Le Mans 1975 made up for everything. David Yorke was a good Team Manager but his failing, in my eyes, was that during a race he kept everything to himself, never consulted on a technical point even though he was not a technician, just made off-the-cuff decisions. ��In one instance this approach cost Hobbs and Hailwood the chance to win Le Mans in 1969. ��However since we still won (Rodriguez and Oliver ��� JG), and with that fantastic finish, his error went unnoticed, except by the two drivers, of course. Jay: The Gulf colors and logo have tremendous brand equity to this day.�� Was the Gulf Corporation��happy with the impact on their business from the racing sponsorship? www.pnwr.org October 2011 21