2022 Le Mans Classic - Group C Racing

 

The sixth placed 1987 Jaguar XJR8 of Richard Meins leading the seventh placed 1990 Porsche 962C of Lars Erik Nielsen through the Esses.

Group C covered the period between 1982 and 1993.  For many of the fans, the race and the paddock covering this period at the Le Mans Classic is the highlight of their weekend.  Loud, fast and covering a period many of us remember.  What particularly made this year's race special was it being the 40th anniversary of the start of Group C racing and having seven Group C Jaguars present.  All of the Group C cars that raced at the 2022 Le Mans Classic are pictured in this blogpost:

The winning 1988 Jaguar XJR9 of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen at Tertre Rouge.

The  second placed 1991 Jaguar XJR-14 of Christophe d'Ansembourg.

The third placed 1990 Jaguar XJR-12 of Olivier Galant.

In fourth place was this 1990 Porsche 962C of Ivan Vercoutere and Ralf Kelleners.

Fifth place went to Erik Maris in this 1992 Peugeot 905 Evo 1 bis.

Eighth place went to Nicolas D'Ieteren in this 1990 Porsche 962C.

Shawn Lynn was ninth in this 1987 Jaguar XJR-9

This 1990 Spice SE89C driven by Eric De Seynes and Eric Van de Poele was tenth.

This 1988 Jaguar XJR-9 finished eleventh driven by James Thorpe and Claudio Cappelli.

One of my favourite Group C cars is this 1989 Aston Martin AMR1 which was driven by Alexandre Leroy into 12th position.

In thirteenth place was this 1989 Porsche 962C driven by Lukas Halusa.

This 1988 GKW 862-C2 came fourteenth driven by Massimo and Marco Guerra.

The 1988 Argo JM19 C of Marco Famagalli and Stephano Zerbi came fifteenth.

The unusual looking 1985 Gebhardt JC853 finished sixteenth driven by Stanley Dickens.

Seventeenth was the 1985 Toyota Tom's 85C driven by Masanori Sekiya and Kasuki Nakajima. Kasuki's father Satoru drove one of these at Le Mans in 1985.

Eighteenth was the 1988 Tiga GC288 of Vincent Neurrisse.

This 1987 Jaguar XJR-8 of Henry Pearman finished nineteenth.

Rounding out the top 20 was Max Von Braunmühl in this 1990 Porsche 962.

21st - 1991 Porsche 962C - Hans-Jörg Hübner and Nick Salewsky.

22nd - 1984 Sthemo SMC2 - Romain Belleteste and Christophe Gadais.

23rd - 1985 March 85G - Romain Rocher.

24th - 1988 Olmas GLT 200 - Bertrand Rouchaud and Benjamin Monnay.

25th - 1986 Tiga GT286 - Jack Fabby and Tim Macrow.

NC - 1990 Spice SE90C - Pierre-Loup Boch.

NC - 1993 Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis - David Hart.

NC - 1985 EMKA C84 - Douglas Titford and Trevor Reeves

NC - 1990 Spice SE90C - Tony Sinclair.

NC - 1983 Porsche 956 - Rainer Becker and Mike Wilds.

NC - 1990 Spice SE90P - Cal Meeker.

NC - 1990 Spice SE90C - Patrick D'Aubreby.

NC - 1989 Spice SE89C - Mike and Matthew Wrigley.

NC - 1990 Cheetah G606 - Eric Rickenbacher.

DNS - 1985 Ecosse C285 - Lionel Roch.

DNS - 1991 Gebhardt C91 -  Michael Lyons

One of the seven Jaguars races past as I look back from Tertre Rouge towards the Dunlop Bridge.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing and hearing the 1991 Le Mans winning Mazda 787B give a demonstration lap just before the Group C race.

A pair of Nissans in the paddock.  The 1990 Nissan RC90CP is about to be restored for historic racing having been acquired by Ascott Collection from the Nissan Heritage Collection. The RC90CK has similarly been acquired from Nissan by Ascott.  Hope to see them race again in the future.

Le Mans Classic 2018 - Group C Racing

Katsu Kubota in the impressively fast 1990 Nissan R90CK at the Esses on the first lap.  He led for three laps.

A grid of nearly forty cars meant that we were on for a good Group C race at Le Mans this year. Jensen Button’s entry in a Jaguar had unfortunately been scratched but we still had the treat of seeing five Jaguars present.  These Group C cars represent that classic period of Sports car racing from 1982 to 1993.  The top drivers in the race were lapping at an average speed of over 200kph or over 125mph.  Top speed in the speed trap was over 330 kph or 200 mph for Kubotas Nissan! 

A 1985 Porsche 956 battling it out with a 1989 Porsche 962.

This Classic Group C Racing is mainly for Group C and IMSA cars but other cars such as Japanese series cars are permitted and certain other cars by invitation. The grid was split into 6 classes based on age of car, specification and the original category it ran in.  The faster cars are those of the 1991 to 1993 era when these sports cars were powered by 3.5 litre Formula One engines.

Lots of variety with a Peugeot leading two Jaguars, a Porsche and a Tiga.

Lots of variety on the grid with something like fifteen different marques represented.  It was disappointing not to have a Mercedes-Benz on the grid, but overall a great field with the afore mentioned Jaguars plus the obligatory Porsches and a French feel with the Rondeau and the Peugeots. 

The 1985 Toyota 85C.  It didn't finish.

Especially, great to see one of the early 1985 Toyotas racing given that they finally scored a Le Mans victory three weeks ago.  The race at 43 minutes long was rather too long for some of these cars as about a third dropped out along the way but this added to the endurance feel of the event.  A number of changes of lead as cars began to hit reliability issues and another after the race as cars were penalised for incidents and slow zone infringements.  This was the second time that the Group C cars had been at the Le Mans Classic, long may it continue.  Most of them may only be gentleman drivers but they do a good job in these beautiful and fast cars. 

This 1987 Porsche 962 was first on the road but penalised a lap by the stewards.

Here are my photos of the race on Saturday 7^th July 2018 around noon, taken from the public areas at the outside of the Esses and from the inside of Tertre Rouge.  I didn’t get to the Group C paddock despite walking 20 kilometres over the weekend; there is always so much to see at the Le Mans Classic.  The conditions were sunny and hot throughout.  For those interested I was using a Canon 7D MkII with a Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 is usm lens.  

The eventual winner was Michael Lyons in the 1991 Gebhardt C91.

Shaun Lynn won the C1A class in this 1987 Jaguar XJR9 and came in second overall.

Mr John of B and Soheil Ayari  in the 1982 Rondeau M382 won class C1B.

The sole runner in class C2B was this 1984 Sthemo SM

Winner of class C2A was Xavier Galant in this 1988 Tiga GC288

This 1988 GKW 862 C2 won class C3B in the hands of the Guerras.

This 1989 Jaguar XJR12 led from pole position until the Nissan got past.

The Ralf Kelleners/Ivan Vercoutier Jaguar XJR11 was third overall.

The 1985 EMKA C84/1-Aston Martin had trouble on the warm up lap but got going again with the help of the marshals.

Leader at half distance was the 1992 Spice SE92 GTP of Campagne and Kalff.

This 1990 Porsche 962 was very competitive but didn't finish.  Here it is chased by a Spice and the eventual winner.

Another to lead the race was this 1990 Porsche 962C of Hubner and Werner.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

Always a pleasure to see and hear the 1993 Peugeot 905 Ev1 bis.  This one finished second in class.