Porsche 917K Pedro Rodriguez 1970

Ugo Capeto, Porsche 917K Pedro Rodriguez 1970. Colored pencil on paper, 6"x10.5". ©2012.
Pedro Rodriguez in a Porsche 917K at the 1970 Brands Hatch 1,000 kilometres endurance race. This is an original colored pencil drawing from a photograph in the book "Sports Car Racing, In Camera, 1970-79" by Paul Parker. The artwork is on Stonehenge archival paper.

Pedro Rodriguez was paired with Leo Kinnunen in a John Wyer Porsche 917K at Brands Hatch 1970. The race was run (mostly) in very wet weather. At one point, a flag went up signaling the drivers to slow down and not overtake but Pedro didn't see it and passed several cars. He got black flagged into the pits because of that and he went from an ill-acquired 2nd place to a 12th. Upon returning to the track, Pedro drove like mad in the rain, went up the field of cars ahead of him, and took the lead, which he lost at the driver switch. Eventually, Pedro won the race five laps in front of a Salzburg Porsche 917K.

Prints are available at Porsche 917K Pedro Rodriguez 1970 on fineartamerica.com.

Ferrari 512S Mario Andretti 1970

Ugo Capeto, Ferrari 512S Mario Andretti 1970. Colored pencil on paper, 6"x10". ©2012.
Mario Andretti in a Ferrari 512S at the 1970 "Sebring 12 Hours" endurance race. This is an original colored pencil drawing from a photograph in the book "Sports Car Racing, In Camera, 1970-79" by Paul Parker. The artwork is on Stonehenge archival paper.

Mario Andretti was paired with the Italian Arturo Merzario in that race. They started in pole position, cruised along in first place for quite a while, but suffered a gearbox failure after 10 hours. Everybody thought that was it for Mario, even Mario itself, but no, as Andretti was asked to finish the race in the Ferrari number 21 driven by Nino Vaccarella and Ignazio Guinti when the lead Siffert/Redman Wyer Porsche 917 had to pitstop due to mechanical problems. The only thing between Andretti and the prize was the Steve McQueen/Peter Revson Porsche 908 spider. Thanks to an incredible finish and Peter Revson's probable state of exhaustion (he did most the driving because McQueen had one foot in a cast), Mario overtook the Porsche 908 and won the race.

The Ferrari 512S had an all-alloy V12 engine of almost five liters (550 hp at 8500 rpm). It was built both as a berlinetta (closed top) and a barchetta (open top spider). It took part in the Manufacturers’ World Championship in 1970 and 1971, mostly battling with the mighty Porsche 917s.

Prints are available at Ferrari 512S Mario Andretti 1970 on fineartamerica.com.