19.06.2025Le Mans 1970: Ferrari's total failure

In the final phase of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ferrari and Porsche fought it out for overall victory – with the better ending for the Italians. The duel between the two legendary sports car manufacturers at the endurance classic is by no means new. In the long history of Le Mans, Ferrari and Porsche also clashed in 1970 in a battle for first place. The race famously ended with the famous first Le Mans victory for Porsche with the red and white 917.

The Zuffenhausen-based company arrived at Le Mans as favorites, as their newly designed race car had already impressed on the timesheets the previous year. The only remaining issue was durability. To challenge the 917, Ferrari responded with the new 512S. With its 5.0-liter twelve-cylinder engine and 25 units produced, the car followed the same regulations as the Porsche 917.

Ferrari entered four works cars into the race. An interesting driver duo, Jacky Ickx and Peter Schetty, drove the number five car. Ickx had celebrated his first Le Mans victory with Ford the previous year, concluding the legendary GT40's four-year winning streak. The Belgian would go on to claim five more overall victories until the mid-1980s, only being surpassed by Tom Kristensen as the most successful driver at Le Mans in 2005. His Swiss teammate, Peter Schetty, had previously been successful in hillclimb races and had comfortably won the European Championship in 1969 as a Ferrari works driver. In 1970, he competed in sports car races for the Scuderia, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and subsequently became its racing director for two years. After the 1972 season, the Basel native devoted himself to managing his parents' textile company.

The 1970 Le Mans race was a major disappointment. Ferrari quickly fell behind at the start of the race. But as the evening drew to Le Mans, rain arrived, which Jacky Ickx took advantage of. The Belgian had already brought the 512S back on course for a podium finish before crashing with defective brakes at the Ford Chicane after midnight. Ickx was uninjured, but marshal Jacques Argoud was killed at the side of the track. This tragic event sealed Ferrari's doom. The three other works cars had already retired in the preceding hours of the race.

It remained the 512's only works use at Le Mans. Some private teams returned with modified versions, while the Scuderia was already focusing on the subsequent 312 PB.

The ck-modelcars label WERK83 has produced a model in scale 1:18 from resin of the Ferrari 512S from the 1970 Le Mans race driven by Jacky Ickx and Peter Schetty. The model was produced to the usual high quality and reflects the original as accurately as possible.

Ferrari 512S #5 24 Hours of Le Mans 1970 Ickx, Schetty 1:18 WERK83, RRP €119.95, item-no.: W18053001

produkter

Ferrari 512S #5 24h LeMans 1970 Ickx, Schetty 1:18 WERK83

95,96 €