911 Porsche World

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

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One day I’ll tell the full story of Porsche’s 1983 victory at Le Mans because it is what Derek Bell ranks as perhaps his very finest race. And before you start splutterin­g, you’re right, he didn’t win it. But he and Jacky Ickx came a very close second having been dead last shortly after the start after Ickx had had to spin his 956 to avoid another car. It was an incredible comeback drive by them both. But it’s the bloke who drove the winning car across the line I want to focus upon here, because it’s the man Derek rates as the best team-mate he ever had. So no, it’s not Ickx, nor Hans Stuck, Ronnie Peterson, Stefan Bellof or Jo Siffert, though Derek shared cars with them all. It’s Al Holbert. Al who?

Some of you may know Holbert, others may only dimly recall the name. Plenty would be forgiven for never having heard of the quiet American despite the fact that he won Le Mans three times, Daytona and Sebring twice and bagged five IMSA championsh­ips. In addition he ran Porsche’s racing operations in the US, his own race team, built race cars, fettled other people’s race cars, took Porsche into Indy car racing and, at the time of his death, had designed the replacemen­t for the 962… His death? We will come to that.

But right now join me on that last lap of Le Mans. Holbert is driving a very sick 956. It’s dropping oil, the needles are off the clocks and Derek is catching fast. Al is nursing his stricken Porsche hoping the inherent strength of its engine will get it over the line. But just yards from the flag, the motor seizes solid. He gets the clutch down so the car doesn’t lock up, but it’s over. Or is it? Selecting first gear, Holbert simply sidesteps the clutch hoping the resulting shock to the system will wrench the pistons from where they have welded to their super-heated cylinder bores. It works, the 956 staggers over the line and then stops, this time for good.

‘In those conditions,’ Derek told me, ‘there’s no-one you’d rather have had in the car. He had such a cool head on his shoulders, was so methodical in his approach to all elements of racing. And he never, ever quit.’

Holbert died in 1988 aged just 41 when apparently the door of the Piper Aerostar he was piloting blew open, making the aircraft unflyable. Derek is sure that once he had realised the situation was not salvageabl­e, Al deliberate­ly steered the plane away from a residentia­l area.

‘I think we won 25 races together. Not once in any one of them did Al put a single foot wrong. No, he wasn’t quite the quickest of the quick, but there’s so much more to winning long distance races than that. You need speed, yes, but you need also mechanical sympathy, concentrat­ion, the ability to think calmly in the heat of battle and to adapt to changing situations. He could do all of that plus, of course, make sure the car was the best it could be before the race even started. Al Holbert had the whole package; he was the real deal.’

 ??  ?? Top: Al Holbert with Derek Bell at Daytona. Bell rated Holbert as the best team-mate he ever had. Middle: Bell and Holbert at Le Mans. Right: Holbert, with Porsche-powered Indycar project
Top: Al Holbert with Derek Bell at Daytona. Bell rated Holbert as the best team-mate he ever had. Middle: Bell and Holbert at Le Mans. Right: Holbert, with Porsche-powered Indycar project

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