April 6, 1970, Volkswagen test track (Ehra-Lessien).
April 6, 1970 was a test day. Factory test driver Kurt Ahrens was testing various aerodynamic solutions on chassis 006/040. The tests lasted all day, although the weather was unlucky – it was drizzling and the track remained wet. Towards evening, a package was installed on the car without the rear horizontal wing, which connected the two vertical vertical vertical stabilizers. After its removal, the aerodynamic qualities improved, but the directional stability decreased.
The cause of the accident was several factors:
a) less stable behavior of the car at high speeds;
b) wet track;
c) the chassis adjustment device, which was installed in the car extremely poorly. The driver, during the tests, could change the settings, but to do so, he had to be distracted from the road.
The car lost stability at a speed of over 200 km/h. Kurt Ahrens was injured and taken to hospital, but released the next day with only abrasions and bruises. But not all Porsche 917 crashes ended so well.
