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Hans Herrmann, Le Mans Winner Who Delivered Porsche’s First Overall Victory, Dies at 97

Industry tributes cast the Le Mans winner as a defining figure of both brands’ postwar racing eras.

Overview

  • Porsche announced his death on January 9 citing his family, and Mercedes issued its own remembrance.
  • He and Richard Attwood won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 917 K, securing Porsche’s first overall triumph at the race.
  • Herrmann amassed more than 80 overall and class victories, most of them with Porsche across endurance and sports-car events.
  • Nicknamed “Hans im Glück” after surviving major crashes at Monaco in 1955 and Berlin’s AVUS in 1959, he retired following the 1970 Le Mans win at age 42.
  • He remained active at historic events and with the Porsche Museum, and he is survived by his wife Magdalena, two sons and a grandson.