PORSCHE 962 C - 1986

Cette collection est une adaptation de Porsche Racing collection - Éditeur : Centauria Editore s.r.l.

The 956's direct descendant made its European debut in 1985 and confirmed its status as absolute champion by triumphing at Le Mans.

In 1984, the IMSA association, organiser of the GT championship in the United States, issued new technical regulations intended to improve driver safety by increasing leg protection in the event of an accident. Porsche, already planning to replace the 935s that competed in GTP with the more competitive 956s that dominated the FIA World Endurance Championship, introduced a modified version, renamed the 962 with a revised front end. The car, which also appeared in Europe in 1985 as the 962 C, was adapted for racing in FIA Group C, and for two years it won victories on the Old Continent and in the United States, culminating in its triumph at Le Mans.

Although the 962 entered in the 1984 IMSA GT championship achieved a series of victories and good placings right from the start, it only reached the top in 1985, while the 962 C didn't even give its rivals a year of transition. At the start of the 1985 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the two official teams clashed: the Rothmans Porsche team with Jochen Mass and Jacky Ickx won two of the first three events, the 1000 km of Mugello and Silverstone, while Manfred Winkelhock and Marc Surer of the Kremer Porsche team won at Monza, a race which awarded no points to the team, only to the drivers. The season continued in a similar pattern, with the Rothmans team being crowned champions, while the Drivers' title went to the other two top drivers of the team, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Derek Bell, who triumphed in the second half of the season at Hockenheim, Mosport (Canada) and Brands Hatch. Prior to these victories, the two drivers finished third at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the ‘old’ 956 and 956 B of the private teams Joest and Lloyd dominated.

Refuelling at the pits of the Rothmans Porsche team at the 1986 Le Mans 24 Hours: in the foreground, the event-winning No. 1 962 C of Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Al Holbert. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

ONE YEAR FOR REVENGE

Despite the almost absolute dominance of the car and the team, which finished the WEC with 107 points (almost double the number scored by the Lancia Martini team), perhaps the only regret of the season was the lack of success at Le Mans. Achieving victory on the Sarthe circuit was therefore the team's main objective for the following season, which, from the outset, seemed to be repeating the 1985 scenario. The championship, meanwhile renamed World Championship for Sport-Prototypes, started in Monza with the victory of Stuck and Bell, after an epic battle with the Lancia LC2 Martini of Andrea De Cesaris and Alessandro Nannini. However, in the second act, the emerging team Silk Cut won with the Jaguar XJR-6 driven by Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick, successfully holding off the reigning champions by two laps. A third encounter took place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Rothmans team entered no fewer than three 962 Cs for the event and the leading team, which was still made up of Stuck and Bell, was reinforced by the addition of American Al Holbert, who had already set his sights on a second consecutive IMSA GT championship with the 962 ‘GTP’.

[ AT THE 1986 LE MANS EVENT, PORSCHE DOMINATED THE TOP 7 POSITIONS WITH FOUR CARS].

Porsche had almost complete control of the race, for better or worse. On the morning of June 2, a 962C was involved in a fatal accident that resulted in the death of Jo Gartner, the Austrian driver of the Kremer team, which then decided to withdraw its second crew still in the race. In the overall classification, the Stuttgart cars took the top seven positions with six Group C cars (962 C, 956 and 936) followed by the meteoric 961. The victory was comfortably secured by Bell, Stuck and Holbert ahead of another 962 C from the Swiss Brun team, who were to become champions at the end of the season (the Drivers' title again going to Derek Bell). Bell, Stuck and Holbert repeated their success at Le Mans in 1987, a season which nevertheless marked the decline of the Porsche teams who were forced to give in under pressure from Jaguar, Peugeot and Sauber-Mercedes. The 962 C continued to race until the early 1990s, when Group C was definitively abolished.

On 14 June 1987, a year after their first outright success, Stuck, Bell and Holbert did it again at Le Mans. The only thing changed was the race number: 17 instead of 1.© IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés.

HANS-JOACHIM STUCK, DEREK BELL AND AL HOLBERT

All the winning drivers of the 1986 and 1987 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans have a notable record acquired in the Sarthe. Germany's Hans-Joachim Stuck had some twenty participations, of which eight in a Porsche 962 (the last with Dauer) and six with Derek Bell. The following year, the duo, together with Klaus Ludwig, achieved another second place. Stuck was part of the 911 GT1 team in 1996, which finished in second place in distance and first in its class. For Englishman Derek Bell, a genuine ‘veteran’ of the event with 26 participations, this pairing brought him five personal successes, in addition to his 1981 and 1982 victories in the 936 and 956, plus that of 1975 in the Mirage GR8, as part of a team with Jacky Ickx. American Al Holbert won 3 of his 7 races, the first being in 1983 in a Porsche 956 with Vern Schuppan and Hurley Haywood. Stuck, Bell and Holbert (left to right) celebrate their victory in 1986.

DATASHEET - PORSCHE 356 SL

ENGINE 6 cylinders, boxer, rear
CYLINDER capacity 2,649 cm 3
POWER 640 bhp at 8,200 rpm
TORQUE inc.
DISTRIBUTION 2 OHV per bank, 4 valves per cylinder
POWER Bosch electronic fuel injection
OVERFUELING 2 turbochargers
GEARBOX 5 gears
MAXIMUM SPEED over 350 km/h
ACCELERATION 0-100 approx. 3"4
CHASSIS Aluminium monocoque
FRONT SUSPENSIONS transverse quadrilaterals, Bilstein springs and dampers
REAR SUSPENSIONS transverse quadrilaterals, Bilstein springs and shock absorbers
BRAKES 330 mm ventilated discs
FRONT / REAR WHEELS 12‘ / 16’
BODYWORK fibreglass, resin and Kevlar
LENGTH 4800 mm
WIDTH 2000 mm
HEIGHT 1080 mm
WHEELBASE 2770 mm
TRACKS 1 634 / 1 548 mm
WEIGHT (EMPTY) approx. 900 kg