Prototypes in the Spotlight

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Eventual winner Justin Law gets
heat in the tires of the ’88 Jaguar
XJR-9 on the warm-up lap.
Prototypes in
the Spotlight
The wild tic-tac liveried
’89 Porsche 962 was
raced by Henrik Lindberg.
Group C cars from the 1980s and ’90s
prove they are still a favorite among
endurance racing enthusiasts.
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY
BY RICHARD PRINCE.
A
fter organizing 10 vintage races to run in conjunction with the
24 Hours of Le Mans, Motor Racing Legends’ events are now an
established part of the world’s most famous endurance classic each
June. Historically significant Le Mans competitors from a specific era
take to the 8.5-mile circuit on Saturday morning for a 45-minute (or
10 laps, whichever occurred first) Le Mans Legend race several
hours before the main event. The 2010 vintage race featured cars
from the Group C era of the 1980s and ’90s. This was the third
occasion that Group C cars have been featured at the Le Mans
historic race and that reflects just how popular this era in sports car
racing remains. For this year’s event Motor Racing Legends
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VINTAGE MOTORSPORT Sep/Oct 2010
Duncan McKay zips along in
his ’88 Spice SE88C.
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Peter Harburg’s pretty
’88 Porsche 962C ran well.
partnered with another company called Group C/GTP Racing and
together they put on a fantastic show that thrilled huge throngs of
spectators all around the circuit.
The 20 cars entered, which were broken down into three groups,
represented eight different nameplates including Porsche, Jaguar,
Nissan, Spice, Cheetah, Mercedes-Benz, Gebhardt and Tiga. Not
surprisingly, Class 1 competitor Justin Law topped the chart in
qualifying at the wheel of his Jaguar XJR-9. Law is no stranger to
historic racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe, having won the last Group
C meeting there in 2008 in a Jaguar XJR-12.
Law’s experience helped him find the courage to lay down his
Jaguar’s power in spite of horrific rain that blanketed the circuit during
qualifying. His time of 4:41.541 was nearly three seconds better than
Alex Buncombe in another XJR-9 and almost five-and-a-half seconds
faster than third sitting Gary Pearson in a Jag XJR-11. Nathan Kinch,
piloting a Spice Chevrolet SP92, was the only other driver in the field
to turn in a sub-five minute qualifying time in the wet.
The massive downpour during qualifying was but a distant
memory when race day dawned with a light cloud cover but no sign
of rain. The field got off a rolling start with three beautifully turned
out Jaguars, all wearing highly evocative Silk Cut livery, leading the
pack. A Porsche 962 that spun exiting the Ford Chicane, prior to
taking the start, managed to get going again with no damage beyond
a bruised ego for the driver who probably didn’t appreciate how
slick his still-cold tires were.
Relatively cold tires also bit Bob Berridge, who qualified his
Mercedes-Benz C11 in fifth position. He very gracefully spun off
going through the Dunlop Curves and got beached in the gravel as
the entire field whisked by. Once he was set free from the stones,
Berridge—likely fueled by frustration—pushed his lovely Mercedes
to the fastest lap of the race, a very impressive 3:44.299. That was a
full 5.6 seconds faster than the next quickest lap, registered by
David Hart in a Porsche 962.
It’s home again at Le Mans
for the ’89 Porsche 962 CK6
of Claus Bjerglund.
Richard Eyre’s ’91 Jaguar XJR-16
made fast tracks and great noises.
A blast from the past was
Gareth Evans’ ’87 Nissan R88C.
Bob Berridge raced
the beautiful and potent
’89 Mercedes-Benz C11.
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Erich Richenbacher raced the
rare Swiss-built ’91 Cheetah C1.
more importantly, he stayed out of trouble and ran very
consistently for all 10 laps of the race. For this he was rewarded
with a well-earned second place behind race winner Justin Law.
Despite being considerably faster, as evidenced by his best race
lap of 3:52.01, Gary Pearson finished behind Evans in third place.
The top three finishers were all on the same lap but the next five
were all one lap down. Henrik Lindberg earned fourth position in
his Porsche 962, Erich Richenbacher took fifth in a rare Cheetah,
and Richard Bateman finished in sixth driving a Spice SE90.
In Class 3 Mike Furness took top honors in his Spice SE88CL
while Duncan McKay earned second in another SE88CL. Robin
Ward took third in class piloting a Gebhardt ADA. Despite
completing only four laps, Richard Eyre won top honors in Class 4
with his Jaguar XJR-16 and by default, Spice driver Nathan Kinch
was awarded second in class with only two laps under his belt.
The Jaguars held onto the first three positions going through
Tertre Rouge with David Hart, in the No. 39 Porsche 962, in close
pursuit. Hart had managed to gain three positions from his seventhplace qualifying spot to grab fourth, but Nathan Kinch, at the wheel
of the No. 14 Spice Chevrolet SP92, was clearly eager to take back the
fourth spot. Hart and Kinch battled all the way down the Mulsanne,
with the Chevy-powered Spice having a slight advantage on pure
speed and the 962 getting through the chicanes quicker.
While pole sitter Justin Law gradually
stretched his lead over the field, the fight for
1984 Gebhardt ADA JC843
positions two through five raged on. By lap 2
Kinch’s Spice dropped out as Hart’s 962 closed
German SuperVee champion Günter purchased by engineer Chris Crawford
in on third-placed Gary Pearson’s XJR-11. For
Gebhardt partnered with Bill Harris to and driver Ian Harrower. Crawford and
the next four laps Hart and Pearson fought a
build an aluminum-bodied monocoque Harrower modified JC843 to run at
ferocious, wheel-to-wheel battle that provided
prototype racer in 1983. Their car, Le Mans and Harrower, together with
nearly two hundred thousand trackside
called the JC83, was powered by a 2.0- John Sheldon and Steve Earle, finished
spectators and the TV audience with a vivid
liter Toyota engine and it first raced in second in class and 16th overall there in
reminder of why the Group C era was so
the Norisring 200-miles in Nuremberg. 1985. At the end of 1985 the car won C2
fantastic then and remains beloved to this day.
That car led to the construction of a and finished sixth overall at the
The Hart-Pearson battle came to an end on
series of C2 prototypes by Günter Selangor 800kms. It was driven at this
the seventh lap when Hart attempted to pass
Gebhardt and his brother Fritz after event, held on the Shah Alam circuit in
Berridge’s Mercedes on the right just as they
they set up a production facility at Malaysia, by Harrower, Richard Piper,
were hitting the right-hand kink on the
Silverstone in England. The brothers’ and Evan Clements.
straight that connects Mulsanne Corner to
first car was assembled in 1983 and
The car returned to Le Mans in 1986,
Indianapolis. The two cars made light side-bytheir second, propelled by a 2.0-liter where Harrower, Clements, and Tom
side contact that put the 962’s two right
BMW engine, came in 1984. That car, Dodd-Noble won C2 and finished eighth
wheels onto the curbing, where something cut
called the JC842, was quickly followed overall. JC843 was the only nonHart’s right front tire.
by a JC843, also built in 1984 but Porsche in the top-10 that year. The ADA
By the time Hart dropped out Gareth
powered by a 3.0-liter Cosworth-Ford team went into the final race of 1986, at
Evans, at the helm of a Nissan R88C had
DFV V8. The JC843 finished sixth in Fuji in Japan, leading C2 in the World
clawed his way toward the front despite a less
the 1984 Group C World Championship Championship. Hampered by a fuel
than ideal 15th starting position. Evans
of Makes.
problem, they ended up third behind
managed a best race lap of only 4:10.475 but
In 1985 a British company called Spice and Ecosse. After that ADA went
ADA Engineering bought JC843. ADA
was so-called because it was started by
the Anglo-Dutch-American partnership
of Leon Smith, Gerard Sauer, and
Woody Harris. Prior to ADA acquiring
JC843 the company had been
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VINTAGE MOTORSPORT Sep/Oct 2010
on to build new cars and JC843 went
into retirement. Following more than a
decade of rest it was restored to raceworthiness and has been an active
participant on the vintage race scene in
recent years.
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