Richard Attwood - A lifetime racing to victory

It defines the beauty and the beast of sports car racing and has taken Wolverhampton-born Richard Attwood on the high-speed journey of a lifetime.

The sleek 240 mph Porsche 917 is one of the most iconic sports racing cars of all time and he drove it to what many regard as its most important victory. The win at Le Mans in 1970 put the marque on the map and Mr Attwood in the driving seat for the ride of his life.

And the grandad racer, now aged 70 and living in Pattingham, is still enjoying the jaunt 40 years after taking the chequered flag.

Within weeks of the historic victory he was behind the wheel of another 917 filming the movie Le Mans with Hollywood legend Steve McQueen.

Then Mr Attwood bought the Porsche the pair drove on the big screen as his "pension" and made a fortune 22 years later selling it to a US motor trader. It is now owned by American comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

He said: "The filming of Le Mans started just a few weeks after my win there. I knew that I was retiring from the sport the next year so I could spend more time on the film than any other driver.

"I spent a lot of time with Steve McQueen during the filming. He was the director as well as the star and was a very affable guy. He was great to be with and a real man's man - although he was a pretty successful ladies man too! He was meticulous in his work and determined to make the film work."

Last month Mr Attwood roared down the world famous Mulsanne Straight at more than 200 mph in a Porsche 917 again in the Le Mans Classic 24-hour race.

Next week he jets off to Switzerland to launch a limited edition £4,000 commemorative Porsche watch celebrating the 40th anniversary of his victory.

Only 917 of the timepieces will be made and Mr Attwood and Hans Herrmann - his co-driver in the triumphant car - will each receive one.

And next month Mr Attwood will be guest of honour at the inaugural Chelsea AutoLegends event in London featuring Le Mans sports cars and a screening of the McQueen-directed film.

The father of three who recently celebrated the birth of his second grandchild, confessed at his Pattingham home today: "Winning Le Mans in 1970 was just another race for me. The significance came later.

Landmark

"It did not have the same cache in 1970 as it does now. There are more significant races for drivers but it is tremendously important for manufacturers and 1970 was a landmark win for Porsche because it was their first.

"I was lucky. We had only qualified 15th fastest and the other drivers lost rather than I won. But I deserved a bit of good fortune. I had been leading by six laps with three and a half hours to go when the gear box broke in the race the previous year."

Mr Attwood, who still gets weekly fan mail from throughout the world despite retiring as a professional racing driver in 1971 after a 13-year career that included Formula 1, said: "Winning Le Mans unquestionably helped me in later life."

"The hero worship of sports stars has now reached stratospheric levels and the significance of that victory seems to grow stronger with the passing of time. I intend to enjoy the ride for as long as I can."

His wife Veronica - the couple married the year before his epic victory - added: "We have a lot to thank the Porsche 917 for. That triumph gave us a good life. It could have been very different.

"I was in the crowd that day but did not return to the circuit when Richard drove there again last month. It was the first time I had ever been really concerned about him racing. He was always a very conservative driver who did not take unnecessary risks but I was not happy with him driving at over 200 mph at the age of 70."

Harrow-educated Mr Attwood, whose late father Harry owned a chain of garages in an around Wolverhampton until his death in 1981, said: "I was apprehensive about returning at Le Mans but the owner wanted me to drive and paid me to do it but the circuit had totally changed since I was last there in 1984 and it was hard work."

Mr Attwood started as an apprentice at sports car manufacturer Jaguar and began racing in 1960 at the wheel of a Triumph TR3.

He joined the Midlands Racing Partnership in 1961 to drive for them in Formula Junior (FJ) events at club level and stayed with the team when they later expanded into international racing.

Mr Attwood hit the headlines when he took the chequered flag at the FJ support race to the Monaco Grand Prix in 1963. That performance helped him win the inaugural Grovewood Award for future star drivers voted for by a Guild of Motoring Writers panel.

He moved up to Formula 2 the following season. He won in Vienna and came second in three races including the Pau Grand Prix where he was pipped to the post by Jim Clark, who is the man he rates as the best driver he competed against and was World Champion at the time.

During the Formula 1 career of Mr Attwood he raced for BRM, Lotus and the Reg Parnell Cooper racing teams between 1964 and 1969.

The winding streets of Monaco proved to be his most successful Grand Prix with him setting fastest lap while claiming second place behind Graham Hill in 1968. He also drove sports cars and competed at Le Mans annually from 1963 to 1971 and also raced there in 1984.

His wife confessed: "During our first years of marriage I went to more funerals than weddings."

Among the host of stars to lose their life on the track were sports car stars like Jo Siffert and Pedro Rodriguez along with Formula 1 legends like Jim Clark. Mr Attwood's final Formula 1 start was in 1969 when he was bought in to drive the Lotus 49B at Monaco for the injured Jochen Rindt, who was himself later to die in a horrific crash.

Mr Attwood worked for the family garage business after retiring from top level race driving until it was bought by British Car Auctions and has worked for Porsche for the past 15 years. He is currently based at Silverstone.

Glitzy

Despite a lifetime spent at the wheel of hugely expensive cars the former race ace remains unimpressed by glitzy motors away from the track.

Mr Attwood, who has never paid more than £20 for a watch, explained: "I am not interested in paying a lot of money for cars." To prove the point he drives a 10-year-old second hand Audi A8 with156,000 miles on the clock and a Peugeot that has covered more than twice that distance.

Chelsea Autolegends will be held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on September 5 from 10 am to 4 pm. Adult entrance is £13 in advance with accompanied under 16s admitted free. More information about the event that is in aid of the Royal Hospital is available via the website. The ticket hotline is: 0844 581 0760.