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Le Mans 24 Hours, 31 May-1 June 1986: Start of the race – Porsches dominate the lead group In Part 1, Stories from Le Mans – with a Porsche flavour, our intrepid scribbler who hails from that beautiful part of South Africa, the Western Cape, shares with us some hilarious...
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Le Mans 24 Hours, 14-15 June 1969: On the final lap, the No. 64 Porsche 908 LH of Hans Herrmann/Gérard Larrousse swapped places with the No. 6 Ford GT40 of Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver as many as five times. The two cars were so evenly matched that what the Ford lacked...
Derek Bell initially made a name for himself, racing in open-wheeled cars including Formula 2 and Formula 1. However, it is long-distance sports car racing, particularly in Porsches, where Bell forged his legacy as a champion with five overall victories at Le Mans, three victories in the 24 Hours of...
A great many of Derek Bell’s racing achievements were achieved while behind the wheel of a Porsche racing car and for this reason, it was perhaps inevitable that Derek Bell – All my Porsche races, would one day be committed to print, highlighting his extraordinarily successful career. Contrary to what...
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(from L-R): 1982 Porsche 956 C and 2017 Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Just before the Nürburgring 24-hour race will be green flagged on May 12, Porsche will present a dream team at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for the benefit of the expected 200,000 spectators. There, Timo Bernhard and Hans-Joachim Stuck will...
Rennsport Collective, Donington Hall, 20 July 2019: Porsche 996 GT1 Evo 1997 on display with numerous other Porsche classics They were all there, from a Pre-A 356 to the latest 991.2 GT3 Clubsport, by way of the most mouth-watering collection of 911s, 956 and 962s, including the indomitable 917. The...
After 40 years, the most successful Porsche race car – the Porsche 956 – ever was reunited with its drivers in Leipzig. Now 81 years old, British Derek Bell is still the elegant gentleman he was decades ago. 40 years after the fact, Bell finally admits that he and the...
Le Mans 24 Hours, 10-11 June 1989: Just after the start of the race, the #15 Richard Lloyd Racing Porsche 962 GTi of Steven Andskar, David Hobbs and Damon Hill passes the pits When you were last with Richard Wiley, we were hurtling around a damp La Sarthe in 1988...
Norbert Singer, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1996 Norbert Singer must rank as one of the most successful race engineers in Porsche’s long and glittering motorsport history. Porsche Road & Race spoke to him about his four-decade career with Porsche, the race cars he helped develop and the 24 Hours...
John Fitzpatrick Group C Porsches – The Definitive History, Mark Cole. © Porter Press There seem to be a number of books entering the market right now on Porsche’s motor racing history. This is not a bad thing, because there is so much to explore about these fantastic and iconic...
Peter Falk sits on the sill of the famous #23 Porsche 917 KH Coupé, winner of the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours. On this occasion it is located in the Porsche Museum Workshop on 28 June 2010 In a 34-year career at Porsche, the influence of Peter Falk – Porsche’s...
Porsche – It’s My World by Stéphane Coradi © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale Porsche – It’s My World: what is this book all about? Well, for starters, you won’t learn anything about Porsche’s cars, it doesn’t contain any technical specifications, and it has no narrative. So, you may well ask, what...
Porsche 956 Pictures...
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The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. In 1983, driven by Stefan Bellof, this car established a record that would stand for 35 years, lapping the famed 20.832 km (12.93 mi) Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:11.13 during qualifying for the 1000 km Sports Car race.
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Porsche 956-106 (1984) The Canon-liveried 1984 Brands Hatch 1,000 km winner. Sold to Walter Brun in 1985 & won the Team World Championship title in 1986, ahead of the Rothmans Porsche and Silk Cut Jaguar factory teams. One of the seven early customer 956s built, sold new to Richard Lloyd...
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Porsche 956-110 (1983) One of just two privateer 956’s to beat the Works Rothmans 956, 956-110 is a super original, highly successful car and the second 956 bought by John Fitzpatrick Racing in 1983. Sponsored by J David it made its Group C debut at the 1983 Le Mans, running...
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Porsche 956 & 962 Owners’ Workshop Manual by Nick Garton – © Haynes Publishing It is a well-known fact that the Porsche 956 & 962 derivatives were together the most successful sports prototypes that have ever turned a wheel. So totally dominant were these cars during the Group C era...
Porsche 956 Wallpaper Collection ...
In the winter of 1981, Porsche began work on the Typ 956. In the first stage, several 1/12 scale models were made for wind tunnel testing. Chief designer – Norbert Singer Body design – Eugen Kolb Chassis – Horst Reitter First version without tail unit. The final model is being...
Porsche 956-001 Works (1982) Built as the first Rothmans Team Car, it ran for the first time at Weissach on March 27th 1982, with Jurgen Barth at the wheel. It was then tested extensively by Barth, Jacky Ickx, Roland Kussmaul and Derek Bell. According to “Excellence Was Expected” it covered 4244...
Porsche 956-008 Works (1983) A Rothmans factory 956 newly built for the 1983 Le Mans. Driven by the stellar German pairing of Stefan Bellof and Jochen Mass, the race was story of what-ifs as it qualified third, led the race for the first four hours before a catalogue of issues...
Porsche 956-009 Works (1984) Sometimes, a car’s history is so good that it is never lost track of. Such a vehicle’s every move is recorded, documented, and laid out for the world to see. It is never crashed, it has only a small number of owners, and its provenance is...
Le Mans 24 Hours, 18-19 June 1983: By midnight, the #3 Rothmans 956 of Vern Schuppan/Al Holbert/Hurley Haywood was leading the field by a lap after a seventh place start on the grid. With just an hour to go and with Holbert behind the wheel, the lead looked secure until...
Lined up for the photo shoot following scrutineering for the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours are the three works Group C Porsche 956s – they would finish the race in the order of their racing numbers: the #1 finished first, the #2 was second and the #3 third In the...
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The ‘white, red and blue’ 956 LHs line up at Weissach ready for their onslaught at the Le Mans 24-Hour 1982 The decline of Group 6 and the growth of Group C saw the emergence of what is today widely regarded as the most entertaining and successful era in modern...
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In 1984 Porsche offered a full works-specification car known as the 956B. This provided the New-Man Joest Racing team with a winning formula and they dominated the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans with a resounding victory. One of the main differences between the customer 956 and the 956B was the Bosch Motronic engine management. This allowed more precise ignition and injection which in turn provided better economy and more power.
Porsche 956-110 (1983) A rare bird, even by 956 standards, this is one of just four chassis built for the world championship to what is now known as 956B specification. Of these just three survive, chassis 956/116 being completely destroyed in the crash at Spa in 1985 which tragically claimed...
Porsche 956B-115 (1984) Mechanically the same as 956/114 it was bought and run by Porsche Kremer. It’s big claim to fame was leading Le Mans convincingly in 1984 as the Kenwood car for many hours, eventually finishing sixth and in fifth place the following year but mainly by winning the...
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Few race cars are as universally acclaimed as the Porsche 956. The car is a brilliantly engineered aesthetic wonder, born of another round of FISA changes that ultimately resulted in the emergence of several marque innovations. Before the debut of the Porsche 956, there were the 935 and 936 prototypes...
Words by: Glen Smale Images by: Corporate Archives Porsche AG The Porsche 956, and its later sibling the 962, became the most successful sports prototype in racing history during its domination of Group C between 1982 and 1992. Once the Porsche factory released the race car to private teams from...
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Type 964 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 retained much of its original 1963 styling (1989MY) Last month we looked at some of Porsche’s milestones around the time of the company’s 50th anniversary in 1998. This month we track back a further ten years to 1988, and we look back 30 years...
There are many legendary Porsche racing cars that command respect for their legacy, their series of wins in a season, or their pure technological advancement. The Porsche 917LH and the Porsche 917K come immediately to mind, as well as the 935/78 “Moby Dick” (for having one of the craziest whale...
We have published no less than 77 book reviews in the last three years, bringing you news and comments on some of the best Porsche publications to hit the book shops during that time. We know that many of our readers find the Book Review section on our website particularly...
1983 Porsche 956 – Awesome Acceleration & Sound I saw this Porsche 965 group C car in action on track during the 2014 Ayrton Senna Tribute at Imola racetrack. The car (chassis #104) was built in 1983 and bought by Joest Racing which used the car in many races between...
1984 Le Mans Porsche 956 For the 1984 World Sportscar Championship, Richard Lloyd (GTi Engineering) teamed up with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason in the Canon sponsored Porsche 956 Group ‘C’ car. In this clip we ride with Richard In-Car for the opening stages of the 1984 Le Mans 24...
Porsche’s 956 was a revolutionary force in endurance racing. Introduced in the early 1980s to compete in the new Group C category, the 956 represented a leap forward in technology and performance. Its aluminum monocoque chassis and advanced aerodynamics were unparalleled at the time, providing exceptional rigidity and downforce. Powered...
In-Car Porsche 956 with Derek Bell at Nurburgring 1000kms If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to lap ‘old’ Nurburgring in one of the fastest race cars ever built and with a World Champion driver, now’s your chance to find out! In 1983, we put an in-car camera in a...
Jacky Ickx drives the Porsche 936 & 956 at Fuji Speedway For more than 30 years, Jacky Ickx raced over international circuits and demonstrated his convincing skills in a variety of disciplines – Formula 1, rallies and endurance races. He won the overall victory at Le Mans six times, four...
Porsche 919 EVO vs 956 – EXPLAINED Performance + OnBoard Full Lap For 35 years and 31 days Bellof’s 6:11.13 minutes record remained uncontested. The German driver from Gießen, who tragically died at Spa-Francorchamps in 1985, counted as the biggest racing talent of his time. He drove his record on...
Porsche 956 In action at Monza Circuit! The 956 in this video is chassis 956-101 which is a very important Porsche: the first ever customer-delivered Porsche 956 Group C car. It was sold in 1983 to Kremer Racing and fielded in both the 1983 and 1984 World Endurance Championships. It...
Original video footage (45min) of the Porsche Rennsport Reunion III at the Daytona International Speedway, held in November 2007. The event was sponsored by Porsche Cars North America and organised by Brian Redman’s Intercontinental Events, Inc....
With the dawning of the 1982 season, the introduction of the Group C era ushered in a new breed of closed race cars that conformed to an 800kg minimum weight requirement amongst a host of other dimensional and fuel consumption regulations. In many ways, Group C which rand for more...
Raw Porsche 956 Group C Noise Porsche’s Group C titan, the 956, runs flat-out up the Hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2013. This is a sportscar legend that fortified and cemented the Porsche’s Le Mans record and set a record time at the Nurburgring that still stands...
The legendary Porsche 956 In the 1980s the 956 with its aluminum monocoque chassis, ground effect, and air-cooled 2.6 liter turbocharged engine paved the way for Porsche to achieve new racing records. The highlight was in 1983 when the Porsche 956 took the first 8 places at the 24 hours...
Tribute to Stefan Bellof Nürburgring Video On May 28th 1983, a 25 year old German Racing driver named Stefan Bellof drove a Porsche 956 around the Nürburgring Nordschliefe in 6:11.13, a record that stood for a long time. So lets take a look at why that record stood unbeatable for...
1983 Porsche 956 chassis #110 – Matthew Howell © 2018 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s The 1983 Group C World Endurance Championship was arguably one of the most exciting and competitive racing seasons in years. So, why was 1983 a good year in Group C? Well, this was the first year...
Works Porsche 956 – The Definitive History: by Serge Vanbockryck – © Porter Press International I met the author, Serge Vanbockryck, a good number of years back at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and since then I have known him to be the quiet, hardworking PR manager for the Chev...
