Between 1967 and 1989, the Brands Hatch race circuit, located in the south-eastern county of Kent, hosted an annual round of the World Championship of Makes. Sponsored by the British Overseas Airways Corporation, the first five-hundred mile endurance races were titled ‘BOAC International 500’ prior to a change in 1970 to ‘BOAC 1000km’ in deference to a rule change that saw the race run over the course of six hours.
Outright victory was contested between the large capacity prototypes from Ford and Ferrari but at a circuit such as Brands Hatch, the smaller-capacity entries from teams such as Porsche were never far behind. Porsche was becoming increasingly competitive in sports car racing and in 1967, it unveiled its latest flat-six, 2-litre sports prototype, the 907. Although designed to run a full season in 1968, the car made its public debut at Le Mans in 1967 where it finished in fifth place after 24 hours. Since the BOAC 500 was held just a few weeks later, a single 907 was entered, driven by Jochen Neerpasch and Hans Hermann; the new car continued to impress by finishing fourth against strong opposition. The photograph shows the insect-splattered 907 in the Brands Hatch pitlane at the end of the race.
In 1968, the Porsche 907 took part in a full season of World Championship races and made the establishment take notice when, in the first round at Daytona, the 907 recorded an historic 1 – 2 – 3 win, the first victory in an international 24-hour race for the Porsche factory. This was followed by outright victory at the next race at Sebring and, later in the season, the 2.0-litre 907 won the gruelling Targa Florio before being replaced by the 3-litre 908 the following year.
From the book ‘Moments in Motorsport’ by Trevor Legate
