Richard Attwood joins Wilton Legends speakers: How to tame the 917K

We are delighted to welcome Richard Attwood as a speaker at this year’s Wilton House Wilton Legends. Best known for his victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1970, Attwood occupies a distinctive place in endurance-racing history, having played a central role in securing Porsche’s first overall win at the event.

Born in Wolverhampton in 1940, Attwood did not follow a rigidly prescribed path into top-level motor sport. He began with a Triumph TR3 before moving into single-seaters, where early promise in Formula 3 translated into opportunities in Formula 2 and, by the late 1960s, Formula 1. Drives with teams such as BRM and Lotus offered glimpses of his capability, most notably a second-place finish at Monaco in 1968. However, Attwood had also been pursuing endurance racing, firstly with an ill-fated run in a Ford GT40 in 1964, but he had greater success with David Piper’s Ferrari team. His first victory came at the 1964 Rand Nine Hours race in South Africa, and he would pilot Piper’s green Ferraris – including the 250 LM and 330P3/4 – regularly over the following five years.

He would also find himself the wheel of Alfa Romeos and privateer Porsches, which put him in the prime spot for the next revolution in endurance racing. By the end of the decade, Porsche was developing the 917 – a car that combined exceptional speed with, at least initially, a reputation for instability. Attwood became one of the drivers entrusted with extracting its potential.

The 1970 Le Mans race, shared with Hans Herrmann, unfolded in consistently difficult conditions. Heavy rain affected much of the event, amplifying the already considerable demands of the 917. Attrition was high, and the race increasingly became an exercise in restraint rather than outright pace. Attwood and Herrmann approached it accordingly. Rather than pushing beyond the limits of the car, they focused on maintaining a consistent rhythm and preserving the machinery.

That approach proved decisive. As faster or more aggressive entries encountered problems, the Porsche 917K driven by Attwood and Herrmann moved into a controlling position. The victory itself was historically significant, marking Porsche’s first overall win at Le Mans and establishing the 917 as a defining car of its era. Following this period – and his continued involvement with Porsche into 1971, which netted a second-place finish at Le Mans in a 917K – Attwood chose to step away from front-line professional racing while still relatively young, although he did have a foray back with the privateer Aston Martin Nimrod programme in 1984. The tragedy surrounding that race – both cars crashed into each other, with the resulting accident claiming the life of a marshal – prompted to retire again, but he maintained his connection with Porsche over the years, with many appearances in Historic motor racing circles. However, perhaps one of his greatest non-racing achievements is stewarding his 1989 Peugeot 405 estate to 415,000 miles.

His perspective on a transformative period in motorsport – from Formula 1 to the evolution of the 917 – offers a rare opportunity to hear first-hand insight from the cockpit. We look forward to an engaging and informative discussion at the Wilton Legends, set against the historic backdrop of Wilton House.