Alright... here's the proof of just how good John is at telling a story: I just caught myself LEANING in my armchair as John's hands were out talking about the embankment at Daytona... and the more he tilted his hands, the more I was leaning. If it wasn't for the commercial break, I'd have fallen out my darn chair. 🤣🤣👏👏 As always did NOT disappoint!
Hilarious! I watch the videos first because, like many VinWiki car story fans, I want to guess who is sitting in the Big Chair, based on the title of the story. (of course, this is a"well duh"). I too was enthralled by John's signature style of storytelling to the point of leaning and following his hand movements. Incredible! #FicarraClassics❗
@@theanomalous1401 Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
My dad drove to Daytona from Washington state to see this. He told me Ferrari was frantic just prior to the race whilst Porsche Gulf Wyer team were just chillin ready to race.
I love the story about how the 917 was an absolute terror to drive in the beginning. Then they noticed during high speed testing that the rear adjustable spoilers/wings had no insects squashed all over them, whereas the windscreen did. Even though things were set up for max download at the rear. The conclusion was obvious: There was pretty much zero airflow over what was supposed to keep the rear end grounded at speed. Some aerodynamic tweaks, and things rather improved.
@@maufuentes Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
Oh SWEET JESUS! Another video from John! Time to go watch it on the big screen instead of my phone. ❤️ the way this man spins a yarn. If you love the automotive world, you gotta hold this guy in high regard. 👍👏 One of the ONLY channels you can comment your excitement on the video BEFORE you even watch because you're guaranteed great content!! ❤️
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
I feel like I have been blessed with this man telling us this story. It's like a reward for working the grind all week - get home, and here is your late Friday reward!
I know racing is way way way safer today. But it was so much more interesting back in those days. Because literally anything of size and shape could show up on race day. No two cars looked the same, drove the same, and drivers from types showed up. And it wasn’t as clinical either. The idea today of engineers using duct tap and self tapping screws to keep the cars going is just insane. That’s why everyone should truly watch and be apart of Lemons rally’s and events. Thats as close as you will get to those times.
The rally guys getting out and "fixing" somehting with duct tape, interesting French words and a hammer seems like it could happen today, but that might just be me.
I photographed that race with a 200mm telephoto lens as a teen. In the turn that the cars came out of the infield onto the tri-oval, I could get most of the drivers to lift a hand and wave. Not the 917 drivers. That had to keep both hands on the steering wheel of that beast!
JOHN FICCARA is an absolute artist. He paint’s a beautiful picture. I appreciate how John makes me feel like I’m there. Thanks ED for the GREAT Content!!!
I loved this!!!! I had a chance to see the 917 at a Can-Am race at Laguna Seca in early 70's. I recall Mark Donahue coming up behind an Alfa 12-cyl car (which, by the way, was incredibly loud!). He followed it for a bit, then coming out of turn 3 (the one that led toward the bridge) he just moved left, you heard a whoosh! and he passed that Alfa like it was running on 8 cylinders. What an amazing car, and an amazing driver. Thanks for this cool re-cap!
@@charlie1832 Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
John Ficarra brings racing to life! The perfect mix between man and machine in his storytelling. It is like watching the race with all the excitement in fast forward with details that you would only get from someone loves it. Keep them comming!
Ficara is the best storyteller. My fav on VinWiki by far. Id like to see him try his hand at other peoples scripts maybe. See him tell stories he isnt so familiar with to expand the potential of what he can share. Content!
John, could you maybe talk about the 84 Hours of Nürburgring race of 1969? It was such a brutal race, I mean first off its Nürburgring, and we all know just what type of circuit that is. Second, its about 3 and a half times longer than Le Mans, which is brutal on the cars. Of the 64 cars that started the race, only 19 finished.
I love this ! He should teach car racing history. What I learned today is racing used be served extra raw like a steak. No lights. No safety. No nonsense
Aspects I learned about the Ferrari 512 from the Mark Donohue book, "The Unfair Advantage" was when Kirk F. White contracted with the Penske team to field a Ferrari 512M for the 1971 Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans, and Watkins Glen endurance races. To hear it from Donohue, the Ferrari 512 was lacking in design, build, and quality components. The Penske team redid the electricals and fueling system; had new bodywork separately fabricated, by an aftermarket vendor, that were lighter and fitted better than the factory originals; and Donohue said if they had the luxury of time, they would have rebuilt the 512 from the ground-up. The Ferrari factory race team logistics, according to Donohue, was extremely peculiar. At Le Mans in 1971, the Ferrari team asked the Penske team if they could borrow a spare 512 engine for the race. Seems mighty odd that the Ferrari factory team was short on spare engines; where they went to a privateer (Penske) for an engine.
@@23GreyFox Well . . . Mark Donohue and the Penske team had issues dealing with Porsche in the early days; as the staff at Porsche were suspect on the depth of the Penske team engineering savvy when it came to race car preparations . . . it was sort of an 'old-world' versus 'new-world' cultural clashes. But, it didn't take long for Porsche's engineering staff to become impressed with Mark Donohue and Roger Penske when, after Donohue did shakedown drives with the 917 Can-Am car, Donohue came up with suggestions how to resolve some of the early teething problems with the 917.
John is one of our lifetimes great automotive minds. His love and passion for the workd of cars is unrivaled. In my family cars are special and yeah, I talk to my car and treat her special and he make me feel not crazy. He puts emotion and personification to these cars' stories in a way nobody else can.
First time I've seen John tell a story and I was hooked on the content. He did an outstanding job making the story of the 917 most interesting. Thanks, John!
That place, Daytona, was an absolutely wonderful place to go for a weekend of sports car racing back then. The score board, people had to change the numbers on it by hand. You could park or camp where they came outta turn 1. There was an old cafeteria in the paddocks, my dad and I sat next to Rodriguez and Graham Hill in there..2am. I was 16 and loving life, you could do just about anything ya wanted to do or go wherever you felt like. Even sit in a retired 512 in the paddocks at one in the morning, no one was around. There were the sounds of Ferrari, Porsche, Matra, Ford's, and all of the smaller cars, for 24 hours. It was glorious! This guy telling the story, he is able to take me back in time. Well done!
Just hadda see it again. Really enjoy your look back on automotive history. Yah yah yah, I only paused it...humh..3 times on some of the photo's. Best to you Scott 🏁
Thank you for this! I was at that race. 8 yrs old. I drew the Porsche 917 many times and drew the track many times after seeing that race. What an impression it made! As a Floridian, I have been to the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 hours of Sebring many, many times. Please, please tell me some stories about Peter Gregg.
I love these stories by John. He makes me think he’s there and I’m there with him. I love these stories as a Brit too as you never hear of them over here!
The verity of cars is one of the things I loved most about that race and miss the most. Was so very fortunate to live down there and be able to go to Sebring and Daytona those years
Few days ago I went to the Canepa shop and saw the 917K #2 in the museum, and to be able to set my eyes on this legendary car was just something else. I walked up the steps and my heart just stopped. its absolutely beautiful in photos and videos but its nothing compared to being literally next to it.
I was there in 70 and 72 still my favorite race car of all time fastest car ever seen thanks for the story been a long time since I’ve heard anyone talk about the best races ever
Great story which is 100% accurate!! I was there standing at the first turn, Porsche, Porsche, Ferrari. The best time for racing and the unmatchable 917!!
Amazing the 1970 era tires held up on the banking & speeds. Consider the US F1 race at Indy Motor Speedway where most teams couldn't count on their tires to last more than a few laps & withdrew. Then there was the Penske-Mercedes Indy car (another rule bending one-off just to win one 500) where the story goes the car was capable of some insane speed, 250 mph(?). Tire supplier said tires won't last. So Penske just cranked up the down force (and thus drag) and ran near full throttle.
The thing with that F1 race (and many afterwards) is that the tire manufacturers are told to make them to specific specs. They have to make them so they do not last too long, as FIA thinks pit stops add to the spectacle and give teams a chance for strategy and it slows the pace of the cars down making it "less dangerous". no joke. Otherwise you would have (and have had at that time already) F1 races without refueling and without change of tires. (I am old enough to remember F1 races without refueling. It was a thing already before they tried to find a way to scramble the field up a bit) The tire manufacturers in F1 often times criticize(d) the rulesetters for making them look bad for the viewer at home. Like they couldn't make tires that are up to the job. Which they clearly can, if we look at endurance races. (The prototypes there go as fast as F1 cars in top speeds but the tires last 20-30 or more times the distance even though the endurance cars easily weigh 200kg more, so there's more stress to the tires)
It was likely the Porsche engineer, Helmut Flegl, who pointed out that the clutch could be replaced on the second-place Gulf 917, although John Wyer's book credits Ferdinand Piech directly for that suggestion. The second place car, wearing #1, had already encountered a number of other issues and problems before the clutch failed. We could argue the 1971 Daytona race was the greater triumph for the Gulf team mechanics, since they had to rebuild the transmission, in the pitlane, on the leading car after their other car had dropped out with engine failure. The distance record set in the 1970 Daytona 24 Hour lasted until 1982 . #Gulf917
Gotta love it when someone builds monsters so powerful that only a rule change crippling the sport can even get the competition near the first place again.
The back straight at Daytona before the lights were installed was DARK. In the early 90’s I remember seeing a Dodge Charger spin at the chicane and hit the dirt embankment. All the lights went out. You would never know a car was there. No lights no reflectors. Just darkness. Then a bobbing flashlight from a corner worker, runnin on top of the bank to check it out.
Raced motorcycles at Daytona for a number of years. If you went to the Ocean Deck on Daytona Beach during bike week, it was easy to point out all of the racers for that weekend. Yes, the banking at Daytona left all of us with a semi-permanent neck kink, with everyone's head tilted to the left.
Reff "Driving around Daytona, in the dark, prior to track lighting". As a local, growing up in Daytona, the drone of race cars(at the speedway) around the area was simply another aspect of the soundtrack of our daily lives. The 24 hour event, however, was an EPIC excuse & destination for a BACHANALIA scaled party. Planning and preparation of such that extended DEEP in to the previous season. Someone was assigned to procure the box truck...someone brought the food...alcohol had a funding situation...EVERYONE was expected to collect and bring old furniture to a central loading point(hence, the box truck). Once at the track,at some point, the camp fire was lit, the libations opened, and it was...ON. Furniture was used for it's intended purpose, until the fire needed more fuel...and into the fire it went...then, another chair would come out of the truck to set on...and so it went...deep into the night. I recall waking up at one point to COMPLETE SILENCE. The race had been red flagged due to all the camp fire smoke.
Alright... here's the proof of just how good John is at telling a story:
I just caught myself LEANING in my armchair as John's hands were out talking about the embankment at Daytona... and the more he tilted his hands, the more I was leaning. If it wasn't for the commercial break, I'd have fallen out my darn chair.
🤣🤣👏👏
As always did NOT disappoint!
Hilarious! I watch the videos first because, like many VinWiki car story fans, I want to guess who is sitting in the Big Chair, based on the title of the story. (of course, this is a"well duh"). I too was enthralled by John's signature style of storytelling to the point of leaning and following his hand movements. Incredible! #FicarraClassics❗
The man can tell a story.
Yep, yep, Yep! My FUH CARRA is pausing on the photos. R/R 3/4 Was a bit O' pause.
Best to you Scott 🏁
@@theanomalous1401 Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
get a life.
Let us all sit at the feet of John and let him tell stories.. no better way to pass a day
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
@@alunesh12345 So long as he talks about GT40s and Ferraris racing each other I'm good with that otherwise , Nah
@@colinritchie17572 years late but I’m assuming you’ve seen John’s video on how God loves Ferraris so good 😂
Porsche and its utter destructive dominance over prototype sports car racing is one of my favorite stories in the motorsport world
I know this story well, but have never heard it recounted in such grand & glorious style.
Danke, John!
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
Can we just do story time with John every Friday?
I could EASILY live with that!!
Ficarra Fridays? 🤔
@@Torquenbeans I love this idea so much!
@@Torquenbeans YUP!!!👍🏻👍🏻
Here, here!
headlights, taillights and a prayer, words to live by
My dad drove to Daytona from Washington state to see this. He told me Ferrari was frantic just prior to the race whilst Porsche Gulf Wyer team were just chillin ready to race.
John, you make me see things as you narrate them.
hats off.
I love the story about how the 917 was an absolute terror to drive in the beginning. Then they noticed during high speed testing that the rear adjustable spoilers/wings had no insects squashed all over them, whereas the windscreen did. Even though things were set up for max download at the rear. The conclusion was obvious: There was pretty much zero airflow over what was supposed to keep the rear end grounded at speed. Some aerodynamic tweaks, and things rather improved.
You know it's going to be a wonderful story when John Ficarra appears!
You know it's going to be a wonderful DAY when John Ficarra appears!
@@maufuentes Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
Oh SWEET JESUS! Another video from John! Time to go watch it on the big screen instead of my phone.
❤️ the way this man spins a yarn.
If you love the automotive world, you gotta hold this guy in high regard. 👍👏
One of the ONLY channels you can comment your excitement on the video BEFORE you even watch because you're guaranteed great content!!
❤️
Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
I feel like I have been blessed with this man telling us this story. It's like a reward for working the grind all week - get home, and here is your late Friday reward!
I have to be honest, if I'd opened this and it wasn't John Ficarra I would have been disappointed. Great story as always John.
Saw the 512s and 917s at the BOAC 1000 race in 1969. I still think it was the best and most exciting race I’ve seen. Not to mention the sound………!!!!
I know racing is way way way safer today. But it was so much more interesting back in those days. Because literally anything of size and shape could show up on race day. No two cars looked the same, drove the same, and drivers from types showed up.
And it wasn’t as clinical either. The idea today of engineers using duct tap and self tapping screws to keep the cars going is just insane.
That’s why everyone should truly watch and be apart of Lemons rally’s and events. Thats as close as you will get to those times.
The rally guys getting out and "fixing" somehting with duct tape, interesting French words and a hammer seems like it could happen today, but that might just be me.
Great way to start a Friday. Story time with John!
I photographed that race with a 200mm telephoto lens as a teen. In the turn that the cars came out of the infield onto the tri-oval, I could get most of the drivers to lift a hand and wave. Not the 917 drivers. That had to keep both hands on the steering wheel of that beast!
JOHN FICCARA is an absolute artist. He paint’s a beautiful picture. I appreciate how John makes me feel like I’m there.
Thanks ED for the GREAT Content!!!
I loved this!!!! I had a chance to see the 917 at a Can-Am race at Laguna Seca in early 70's. I recall Mark Donahue coming up behind an Alfa 12-cyl car (which, by the way, was incredibly loud!). He followed it for a bit, then coming out of turn 3 (the one that led toward the bridge) he just moved left, you heard a whoosh! and he passed that Alfa like it was running on 8 cylinders. What an amazing car, and an amazing driver. Thanks for this cool re-cap!
Ficarra is an amazing storyteller. Thanks for a great video!
I know the 917 from Cam Am. Usually at Mosport. Gulf livery there too. Dominated.
cant WAIT to watch this when i get home!!!! Always something interesting from John!!
You comment and don’t watch when you comment ?
@@charlie1832 Believe in JESUS today, confess and repent of your sins. No one goes to heaven for doing good but by believing in JESUS who died for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)🥳❤️😋
John is the ultimate storyteller and historical racing seer
John’s stories always make me smile, and I really needed one today. Thanks Ed
John Ficarra brings racing to life! The perfect mix between man and machine in his storytelling. It is like watching the race with all the excitement in fast forward with details that you would only get from someone loves it.
Keep them comming!
Thanks John. Another great story.
Ficara is the best storyteller. My fav on VinWiki by far. Id like to see him try his hand at other peoples scripts maybe. See him tell stories he isnt so familiar with to expand the potential of what he can share. Content!
John's racing stories are wonderful! Thank you!
I like when Johns on, the stories are always longer than just about anyone else’s
John is the man.. I absolutely love listening to this man just talk. And he knows his racing history. Great guy in my book
I would love to see John explain the story of how Steve McQueen came 2nd overall at Sebring with a broken leg.
John is such a great race storyteller.
John, could you maybe talk about the 84 Hours of Nürburgring race of 1969? It was such a brutal race, I mean first off its Nürburgring, and we all know just what type of circuit that is. Second, its about 3 and a half times longer than Le Mans, which is brutal on the cars. Of the 64 cars that started the race, only 19 finished.
Great idea! The Marathon de la Route was a force of nature!
I guess you are from argentina as me and the IKA torinos are what it makes it intresting as well
@@FicarraClassicDO IT!!!!
917 and Ficarra: the best of the best.
One of the best story tellers ever.
Can John be given the funding to write a couple of movies. These stories are amazing and need to be more famous.
I love this ! He should teach car racing history. What I learned today is racing used be served extra raw like a steak. No lights. No safety. No nonsense
What a story and what a great story teller.....terrific video to start the weekend.
Aspects I learned about the Ferrari 512 from the Mark Donohue book, "The Unfair Advantage" was when Kirk F. White contracted with the Penske team to field a Ferrari 512M for the 1971 Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans, and Watkins Glen endurance races.
To hear it from Donohue, the Ferrari 512 was lacking in design, build, and quality components. The Penske team redid the electricals and fueling system; had new bodywork separately fabricated, by an aftermarket vendor, that were lighter and fitted better than the factory originals; and Donohue said if they had the luxury of time, they would have rebuilt the 512 from the ground-up.
The Ferrari factory race team logistics, according to Donohue, was extremely peculiar. At Le Mans in 1971, the Ferrari team asked the Penske team if they could borrow a spare 512 engine for the race. Seems mighty odd that the Ferrari factory team was short on spare engines; where they went to a privateer (Penske) for an engine.
So it was the opposite to working with Porsche?
@@23GreyFox Well . . . Mark Donohue and the Penske team had issues dealing with Porsche in the early days; as the staff at Porsche were suspect on the depth of the Penske team engineering savvy when it came to race car preparations . . . it was sort of an 'old-world' versus 'new-world' cultural clashes. But, it didn't take long for Porsche's engineering staff to become impressed with Mark Donohue and Roger Penske when, after Donohue did shakedown drives with the 917 Can-Am car, Donohue came up with suggestions how to resolve some of the early teething problems with the 917.
@@bloqk16 That is true, but to this day there are Penske Porsche, like the new 963, and so far i know no Penske Ferrari after the 512.
John is one of our lifetimes great automotive minds. His love and passion for the workd of cars is unrivaled. In my family cars are special and yeah, I talk to my car and treat her special and he make me feel not crazy. He puts emotion and personification to these cars' stories in a way nobody else can.
John always brings his A game! Thank you John. Great content as always and brilliantly executed.
You can't beat John's racing stories! THANK YOU!
I grew up in Daytona and that 24 hour race was always my favorite event every year... That whole town is literally motorsportsville USA
Love Ficarra and the classics
Wow. When he said 45 laps. Mic dropped.
I’m always up for old racing stories! Good stuff!👌👍
The final episode of Car Trek 7 will release later today on Tavarish's channel!
Only 3 episodes?
Did you mean “Next episode”? I hope thats not the last one already..😳🥲 too soon!
Scripted garbage.
@@joshuagibson2520 it's entertainment
First time I've seen John tell a story and I was hooked on the content. He did an outstanding job making the story of the 917 most interesting. Thanks, John!
John's already the best story teller but when it's a story about the 917 it's the icing on the cake.
I watched this 3 times !!!
I love these car stories of the past from John!
That place, Daytona, was an absolutely wonderful place to go for a weekend of sports car racing back then. The score board, people had to change the numbers on it by hand. You could park or camp where they came outta turn 1. There was an old cafeteria in the paddocks, my dad and I sat next to Rodriguez and Graham Hill in there..2am. I was 16 and loving life, you could do just about anything ya wanted to do or go wherever you felt like. Even sit in a retired 512 in the paddocks at one in the morning, no one was around. There were the sounds of Ferrari, Porsche, Matra, Ford's, and all of the smaller cars, for 24 hours. It was glorious! This guy telling the story, he is able to take me back in time. Well done!
You could put up a video of Ficarra explaining how to make toast....and I would watch it.
I reckon Ficarra could tell you about his morning dump and make it thrilling. The fact he has interesting stories is kind of bonus.
Just hadda see it again.
Really enjoy your look back on automotive history.
Yah yah yah, I only paused it...humh..3 times on some of the photo's.
Best to you Scott 🏁
Very well said. Captured my attention every second of the story.
Yooooo a 917 story!
Love John's stories. Everyone else needs to subscribe to his UA-cam channel. He's as good as Ed at spinning a yarn.👍
Thanks!
@@FicarraClassic No, John, Thank you sir! Now, about those Union guys? #ThisCanBeRed❗
Thank you for this! I was at that race. 8 yrs old. I drew the Porsche 917 many times and drew the track many times after seeing that race. What an impression it made! As a Floridian, I have been to the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 hours of Sebring many, many times. Please, please tell me some stories about Peter Gregg.
I am envious of John Ficarra's and Christopher Michaels' storytelling talent.
I love these stories by John. He makes me think he’s there and I’m there with him. I love these stories as a Brit too as you never hear of them over here!
Thank you for bringing this incredible moment in motor racing history so brilliantly to light, I’m a fan!
Fantastic story told through an amazing story teller. Thank you.
Wow another great story, I was at that race with my father and was able to get into the pits to see these cars. Great memories
Dude, you are an excellent narrator. What a pleasure to listen
The verity of cars is one of the things I loved most about that race and miss the most. Was so very fortunate to live down there and be able to go to Sebring and Daytona those years
The 917 is the greatest car ever made, period…..
Greatest story ever.
You F'ng Rock John Ficara! I'd love to see you in Sac sometime telling car stories, I would buy a ticket to that in a heartbeat!
Story tellers like this made a story way more exciting.
What a great story!
Few days ago I went to the Canepa shop and saw the 917K #2 in the museum, and to be able to set my eyes on this legendary car was just something else. I walked up the steps and my heart just stopped. its absolutely beautiful in photos and videos but its nothing compared to being literally next to it.
Best sorry teller ever!! Somebody give this guy his own channel... Oh wait a minute.
Seriously, these stories should be told on his new channel.
Pedro Rodríguez, this just got interesting!!!!
That guy so smooth and incredibly fast mabe the fastest ever
I was there in 70 and 72 still my favorite race car of all time fastest car ever seen thanks for the story been a long time since I’ve heard anyone talk about the best races ever
LOVE his story...and t-shirt!
Great story which is 100% accurate!! I was there standing at the first turn, Porsche, Porsche, Ferrari. The best time for racing and the unmatchable 917!!
I’m proud to say I got to see a 917 at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart Germany back in 2012. Such an amazing race car!!! 🔥
Another mini-EPIC from Mr. Ficarra!
I couldn't be there in person, so this is next best.
Thank you. 🙏 👀
i want to meet john so i can hear every story he has about 917’s.
The more he talks about this car the more you know he loves what he does so much !!! Another FANTASIC story
Say 45 laps without smiling and laughing, I dare ya. Hahahahahahaha
I would go to pub or anywhere with Mr. Ficarra anytime to discuss racing stuff or whatever, as he is one HELL of a story teller !👍😁
What a fantastic story and well told by a guy who understands cars and racing! Thank you for this!
Amazing the 1970 era tires held up on the banking & speeds. Consider the US F1 race at Indy Motor Speedway where most teams couldn't count on their tires to last more than a few laps & withdrew. Then there was the Penske-Mercedes Indy car (another rule bending one-off just to win one 500) where the story goes the car was capable of some insane speed, 250 mph(?). Tire supplier said tires won't last. So Penske just cranked up the down force (and thus drag) and ran near full throttle.
The thing with that F1 race (and many afterwards) is that the tire manufacturers are told to make them to specific specs. They have to make them so they do not last too long, as FIA thinks pit stops add to the spectacle and give teams a chance for strategy and it slows the pace of the cars down making it "less dangerous". no joke.
Otherwise you would have (and have had at that time already) F1 races without refueling and without change of tires.
(I am old enough to remember F1 races without refueling. It was a thing already before they tried to find a way to scramble the field up a bit) The tire manufacturers in F1 often times criticize(d) the rulesetters for making them look bad for the viewer at home.
Like they couldn't make tires that are up to the job. Which they clearly can, if we look at endurance races. (The prototypes there go as fast as F1 cars in top speeds but the tires last 20-30 or more times the distance even though the endurance cars easily weigh 200kg more, so there's more stress to the tires)
It was likely the Porsche engineer, Helmut Flegl, who pointed out that the clutch could be replaced on the second-place Gulf 917, although John Wyer's book credits Ferdinand Piech directly for that suggestion. The second place car, wearing #1, had already encountered a number of other issues and problems before the clutch failed. We could argue the 1971 Daytona race was the greater triumph for the Gulf team mechanics, since they had to rebuild the transmission, in the pitlane, on the leading car after their other car had dropped out with engine failure. The distance record set in the 1970 Daytona 24 Hour lasted until 1982 . #Gulf917
John series of a breakdown of EVERY leman through history. Maybe the ¿2018~ when Toyota ran out of gas next!!?
How about a story on Mark Donohue's 917/30 Can Am car.
One of best stories of the Porsche 917!
These machines are AWESOME !!!
more of John please
I still want to hear John tell the us about the invention of "Scheduled Pit Stops".
Gotta love it when someone builds monsters so powerful that only a rule change crippling the sport can even get the competition near the first place again.
Very good story telling John.
John is easily the best story teller on this channel
The back straight at Daytona before the lights were installed was DARK. In the early 90’s I remember seeing a Dodge Charger spin at the chicane and hit the dirt embankment. All the lights went out. You would never know a car was there. No lights no reflectors. Just darkness. Then a bobbing flashlight from a corner worker, runnin on top of the bank to check it out.
Amazing episode!!!!
Raced motorcycles at Daytona for a number of years. If you went to the Ocean Deck on Daytona Beach during bike week, it was easy to point out all of the racers for that weekend. Yes, the banking at Daytona left all of us with a semi-permanent neck kink, with everyone's head tilted to the left.
What a great story (and story teller!)!
Reff "Driving around Daytona, in the dark, prior to track lighting". As a local, growing up in Daytona, the drone of race cars(at the speedway) around the area was simply another aspect of the soundtrack of our daily lives. The 24 hour event, however, was an EPIC excuse & destination for a BACHANALIA scaled party. Planning and preparation of such that extended DEEP in to the previous season. Someone was assigned to procure the box truck...someone brought the food...alcohol had a funding situation...EVERYONE was expected to collect and bring old furniture to a central loading point(hence, the box truck). Once at the track,at some point, the camp fire was lit, the libations opened, and it was...ON. Furniture was used for it's intended purpose, until the fire needed more fuel...and into the fire it went...then, another chair would come out of the truck to set on...and so it went...deep into the night. I recall waking up at one point to COMPLETE SILENCE. The race had been red flagged due to all the camp fire smoke.
Great story John! I'm looking forward to stories from Gumballers if you got any Ed.
JOHN!!!