Tag Archives: Sullivan

Monterey Porsches – Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

On our fourth visit to this years Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion I’ll be looking at some of the Porsches and Porsche powered cars present.

Porsche 1500 Super Continental, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

First up the 1955 Porsche 1500 Super Continental owned and driven by Clinton deWitt, US Porsche importer Max Hoffman had the 1500 Continental supersede the 1500 America in 1955 with the less powerful ‘normal’ motors because he thought they would give his customers better low engine speed performance than the more powerful “Super” motors, the inverse of what a race car needs. The Continental name did not last long because objections from Ford who used the Continental name at that time for a stand alone brand.

Porsche 550A, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Porsche 550’s have a long tradition of being raced on the East and West coast of North America the 1955 34 F Modified 550 A belongs to Tom Tarbue a regular visitor to the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

Denzel Roadster, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Strictly speaking the 1958 Denzel 1300 Roadster owned and driven to Terry Sullivan does not belong in this blog since Wolfgang Denzel came up with his Roadster completely independently of Porsche and like Porsche developed his own range of performance parts for use in motors sourced from contemporary Volkswagen Beetles, but I included it just for the benefit of disambiguation.

PAM Platypus Porsche, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Scooter Patrick, Hans Adam, and Don Mitchell are credited with building the Porsche powered 1964 PAM Platypus out of P.A.M. Foreign Cars of Hermosa Beach, California for NO FEAR pilot Miles Gupton who raced the car with a number of different Porsche motors finishing 1964 as runner-up West Coast Champion, second only to Frank Monise’s Lotus 23B. The car was latter fitted an Oldsmobile V8 but as since been restored with a 2 litre Porsche 901 motor and is currently run by owner driver Arthur Conner.

Porsche 935J, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

From 1977 the story of the Porsche 935 became increasingly confusing with the works offering 10 ’76 935 spec customer cars known as 935/77A’s while proceeding with their own development plan on the works 935/77 that featured improved aerodynamics that necessitated a more inclined second rear screen which covered the mandated original. The works 935/77 also adopted a twin turbo motor to stay ahead of the expected competition from a turbocharged BMW CSL. Meanwhile the Kremer brothers had been developing it’s own K series of 935’s which were the class of the field at Le Mans in 1979 when a K3 took overall honours, to keep up Joest Racing, better known these days for their exploits at Le Mans with Audi, developed there own version of the 935 known as the 935J above is the 935 J 000 00012 one of two cars that appeared in 1980 for the Momo sponsored Electrodyne racing. This car, now owned by William Chip E Connor, only recorded the one race win at Daytona in July 1981 when Mauricio de Narvaez and Hurley Haywood drove the now DeNarvaez entered car to victory lane in the Paul Revere 250 at Daytona.

Porsche 962C, Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,

Finally we have the 962C chassis #962-170 being offered for sale by Canepa said to be an unraced spare, one of the last four 962’s built in 1991. While I do not doubt it was never raced I wonder if as well as being sent to Team Trust in Japan sans engine it was also sent sans factory body work since to the best of my knowledge no factory supplied 962 was ever supplied with a central pillar mounted rear wing or a nose with single head lamps on either side, where as the likes of Britten Lloyd Racing, from whom Trust also bought a 962 chassis, Kremer and Joest all built a variety of body variants for the 962 with unusual headlight arrangements and centrally mounted rear wings.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton and Karl Krause for organising and taking today’s photographs respectively.

Thanks for joining me on this “Monterey Porsches” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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THINK ! W.H.M. ? – Ford Galaxie 500

Fred Lorenzen’s won his debut event, to see who would be the first to turn over a 1937 Plymouth, in Elmhurst, Illinois aged 15 in 1949.

He graduated to NASCAR by 1956, but it was not until after he had won the 1958 and 1959 USAC Championships in a Talarico Bros. built Chevrolet and run 10 races as an owner driver in the 1960 NASCAR series that he got an offer from Ralph Moody to join the Holman Moody team for the 1961 season.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The new partnership made fifteen starts during the 1961 season and Fred won three of them at Martinsville, Darlington and Atlanta.

Prior to the Darlington win Ralph, a well respected former driver, coached Fred on how to beat one of the favourites Curtis Turner in the event of a showdown between the two of them.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Sure enough as the laps wound down Fred found himself fighting Chris for the lead but could find no way past having forgotten Ralph’s instructions before the start of the race.

During a late pit stop a furious Ralph asked Fred in no uncertain terms “Think Boy ! What The Heck Is The Matter ?” Fred followed Ralph’s instruction’s to the letter going into the last lap and sold Chris a dummy to the outside which allowed his to go low and take the lead for the win in his open Ford Sunliner while Chris was busy acquiring a Darlington Stripe.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

During the second year of their partnership Fred crossed the line first twice more from 19 starts to finish a career best 3rd in points.

Fred crossed the line first 6 times from 29 starts in 1963 to become the first driver to win over $100,000 in a single season.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

In 1964 the partnership made only 16 starts from a possible 62, but astonishingly won 8 of them.

At the 1965 Daytona 500 Fred started 4th and came through to take the win in a vehicle similar to the one featured today and finished the season with 4 wins from 17 starts.

Ford Galaxie 500, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Fred made a total of 15 more starts for Holman Moody in the 1966 and 1967 seasons winning three more races, he also made one start in Junior Johnson’s famous cut down yellow Galaxie known as the Yellow Banana, but crashed it after leading 24 laps.

Taking a break from the sport during the 1968 and 1969 seasons Fred came back for three more partial seasons with a variety of owners from 1970 to 1972 scoring 11 top five finishes from 29 starts leaving his career record at 28 wins from just 158 starts with 32 pole positions.

Last month Fred was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of fame, the car featured today is believed to be one of several replica’s of Fred’s 1965 Holman Moody Galaxy 500 originally built by Jack Sullivan with fellow wrenches Herb Nab and Freddy McCall.

Thanks for joining me on this “THINK ! W.H.M ? edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Le Mans to Hollywood – Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione Drogo #2445GT

Today’s Ferrari started life as a 250 GT SWB (Short Wheel Base) Competizione chassis #2445GT in 1961, it was supplied to Garages Francorchamps in Belgium.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

Jacques van den Haute drove the car competitively at least three times between May and June 1961 with two 3rds in hillclimbs being his best results.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

From July 1961 to May 1962 Robert Crevits drove the car competitively in at least 14 events mostly hillclimbs and is known to have won eight of them.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

Gustave Gosselin shared the car with Robert in the 1962 1000km Paris, Montlhery where they finished 11th and drove the car alone to a second place finish in an event run at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

Georges Berger and Robert Darville shared the driving of 2445GT in its last in period race the 1962 Le Mans 24 hours where the car was heavily damaged at the sharp right hand corner Arnage and retired.

Ferrari 250 GT Drogo, Goodwood Revival

The #2445GT was subsequently repaired by Piero Drogo who fitted the body that is seen on the car in these photo’s, the car was renumbered 1965GT for ‘customs reasons’ during the early 1960’s and for a while in 1964 it was one of several Ferrari’s owned by Nebraskan garage owners son James Coburn.

In the late ’70’s #2445GT returned to Europe and is currently owned by Dutchman Hans Hugenholtz who entered the #14 in the 2011 Goodwood Revival meeting for David Hart and Maserati GT racer Micheal Bartels. Last year Hugenholtz shared the driving at Goodwood with one of former New York taxi driver and Indy champion Danny Sullivan.

Thanks for joining me on this “Le Mans to Hollywood edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Motors TV Live Race Day – Castle Combe

Last Bank Holiday Monday I popped over to Castle Combe for the Motors TV Live Race Day where the 750 motor club brought along the Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Locost series which was joined by the MSA British Superkart Championship, Aero Racing Morgan Challenge, Lancaster Insurance and three Castle Combe Championships for a busy 13 race schedule.

750MC Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Locost Championship, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

The first of two 750MC Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Locost Championship races took two starts to get underway and even then several competitors from the huge field found it difficult to stay on track on the opening laps above Steven Wells in the #7 Locost is seen having run out of track at the Bobbies Chicane trying to get back on course after passing the marshals post on the wrong side. The maneuver cost Steve who had been fifth twenty places of which he recovered nine for a 16th place finish. Locost race 1 was won by Alistair Garret who started from Pole and led every lap.

Wyatt, Barnard, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Mark Wyatt qualified on pole for the Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship in Association with National Windscreens race and ended up leading every lap after challenges from Tony Hutchings driving an Audi TT and William di Claudio driving his Peugeot 106 GTi faded once Wyatt started lapping cars on lap 5. Wyatt driving the yellow #98 Vauxhall Astra is seen above lapping the #100 Vauxhall VXR Turbo of John Barnard.

O'Reily, Platt, British Superkart Championship, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Not sure how many decades it has been since I have seen any Kart racing but the two races on Monday reawoke my appreciation of these ballistic mostly 2 stroke projectiles that lapped Castle Combe 10 seconds faster than the previous saloon car race. Above James O’Reily who started 4th on the #13 PVP Viper Honda pulls off a brilliant winning last lap, last corner, move going round the outside of Paul Platt aboard the PVP Redspeed Honda going into Camp Corner in the first of two MSA British Superkart Championship races.

Siliconhoses Sports & GT Championship , Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Perry Waddams was a bit too keen to get the Castle Combe Sports & GT Championship supported by Siliconhoses.com race under way in his #77 Chevrolet LS3 powered TVR Tuscan Challenge, Perry is seen above relinquishing the lead, from a ninth place start to eventual winner Craig Flemming who started the race from second on the grid in his #5 Juno TR250 a couple of hundred yards after the start. Note Pole sitter Simon Tilling was swamped in the #23 Radical SR3T which had already fallen to fifth place.

Jones, Plant, Aero Racing Morgan Challenge, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Quarry was the place to be on the opening lap of the Aero Morgan Challenge race above pole sitter William Plant driving the #19 Morgan 4/4 is seen above after being inadvertently punted off by eventual winner Tom Jones driving the #67 Morgan Roadster. Plant made an entertaining recovery from 23rd to 3rd by the end of the 25 minuet race.

Lancaster Insurance MGOC Championship, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Pole sitter Lee Sullivan led the opening 3 laps of the first Lancaster Insurance MGOC Championship races driving the #68 MG ZR from the #77 MGF 160 of Robb Addison and #6 MG ZR 160 of John O’Brien but it was Ben Palmer driving the #12 MG ZR starting from 4th place who won the race starting from 4th on the grid after Sullivan dropped down the field on Lap 4. Above Sullivan leads the race on the opening lap through the Esses.

Startline Formula Ford 1600 Championship, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Race of the day was the Castle Combe Formula Ford 1600 Championship which saw the return of Ben Norton driving the #111 Spectrum 10b which he qualified on pole. Ben and Steven Jensen driving the #22 Spectrum 011b proceeded to romp away from the rest of the field while engaged in a thrilling dice that saw the lead swap many times. Ben eventually made the winning move seen above going into Tower Corner on the last lap, a nice way to mark becoming a father. Ben and Steven were unanimously voted drivers of the day for their thrilling performance.

750MC Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Locost Championship, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

The second 750MC Demon Tweeks / Yokohama Locost Championship was as entertaining as the first with Alistair Garret starting from 4th grabbing the lead which he then swapped with Richard Jenkins on several occasions with novice Tim Neat joining the fun. The race was eventually won by Jenkins who is seen above chasing Garret while being pursued by Neat through Bobbies Chicane.

Platt, PVP Redspeed Honda, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Toby Davis driving the #3 Anderson Viper Honda made a brilliant start from 5th on the grid to lead the opening 3 laps of the second of the MSA British Superkart Championship races before surrendering it to Race 1 winner James O’Reilly #13 PVP who then spent the next ten laps swapping the lead with Paul Platt driving the #1 PVP, the final result saw O’Reilly snatch the lead on the last lap of the last corner again to become the days first two time winner. Above Platt leads O’Reilly and Davis onto Westfield.

Martin Chivers, Rover MG ZR, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Once Tony Dolley retired from the lead of the non championship Saloon Car race Martin Chivers driving the #65 MG ZR pulled away from the remaining field to take his first victory at Castle Combe by over 8 seconds. Martin is seen above at Tower.

Plant, Parsons, Aero Racing Morgan Challenge, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

The second Aero Racing Morgan Challenge race saw William Plant making no mistakes starting from third on the grid William took the lead and was never headed eventually winning the race by over 4 seconds. William is seen above lapping the #45 Morgan 4/4 Sport of Tim Parsons.

Sullivan, Addison, Lancaster Insurance MGOC Championship, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

Like wise Lee Sullivan made no mistakes in the second Lancaster Insurance MGOC Championship race winning by 1.2 seconds from pole, Lee’s #68 MG ZR is seen above being chased through tower by the #77 MG F 160 of Robb Addison who retired after 5 laps were completed.

Craig Flemming, Juno TR250, Sports & GT, Motors TV Live Race Day, Castle Combe

The final, non championship, race of the day was for Sports and GT cars which Craig Flemming starting from pole won by 5 seconds from the Mallock driven by Adrian Hamilton. Craig is seen driving the #5 Juno TR250 above along the Hammerdown straight.

After a glorious day in the sun I went home with my appetite for motor racing satiated for one day at least. Full results of the day can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “Motors TV Live Race Day” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Americana Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Earlier this week I was invited to write a for Motorsports Unplugged and you can read my first piece Fortune Favours Fernando and Ferrari on this link.

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Four Pot Revisited – Ferrari 860 Monza #0604M

A couple of years ago Steve Arnaudin sent me a photo of todays featured 1956 Ferrari 860 Monza, chassis #0604, purchased by his father from the Californian photographer and racing driver Carlyle Blackwell. I wrote a blog which summarised the 1956 World Sports Car Championship which is linked here.

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

Today’s blog will focus on the story of this particular chassis which is seen above with Lord March at the wheel in the Juan Manuel Fangio Celebration parade at the Goodwood Revival in 2011. The car is seen above carrying the same #17 as when Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti drove it to a debut victory in the Sebring 12 Hours Race in March 1956.

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

#0604M was subsequently sold to Californian John von Neuman and the following month he entered it for Phil Hill to drive at Pebble Beech where he finished second overall and first in class behind Carrol Shelby who was driving 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza #0510M.

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

John Von Neuman took over the driving duties in #0604M for the rest of the 1956 season and through 1957 until he put Ritchie Ginther in the car at Laguna Secca at the end of 1957 and at Riverside at the beginning of 1958. Ginther scored a class win and 5th overall first time out and 2nd overall at Riverside. Up to that point von Neumans best results had been a couple of 2nd place finishes in ’56

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

Jerry Barker bought the car for the 1959 season and on every occasion it finished it was either 1st or 2nd driven by Lew Florence, Barker took the wheel at the Maryhill Lops Hillclimb and also won setting a new record.

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

Charles Caverns was the owner of 0604M in 1960 and he also recorded a win in the Novice Race at Shelton in April 1960 which is the car last recorded contemporary race appearance.

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

Amongst the owners of #0604M since 1960 was Jean Sage former Sporting Director of the Renault Formula One team from it’s inception in 1977 and eventual, temporary closure, in 1987. Not long before the top photo was taken #0604M was bought by the current owner a DJ by the name of Chris Evans.

Ferrari 860 Monza. Goodwood Revival

At last years Goodwood Revival meeting Danny Sullivan became the fifth Grand Prix driver to sit at the wheel, after Fangio, Castellotti Hill and Ginther, and only Indy 500 winner to race the car powered by a Lampredi designed 4 cylinder motor. He qualified 15th for the Sussex Trophy Race but did not finish.

Thanks for joining me one this ‘Four Pot Revisited’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Goodwood 2012 – #5 Ferrari Friday

If I heard the commentary on Goodwood Radio correctly then there were over $300 million dollars worth of cars at Goodwood last Friday with 11 Ferrari 250 GTO’s present that would make up the first $120 million very quickly !

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

Among the 250 GTO’s I had not seen before was chassis #4219GT a car which Pedro Rodriguez drove to victory in the second Daytona 3 Hour race held in 1963. This car is reputed to have changed hands for just over $12,000 in 1964 and between $3 and 3.5 million in 1993 !

Ferrari 250 TR 59/60, Goodwood Revival

The role call of drivers of this Ferrari 250 TR #0774TR includes Jean Behra and Dan Gurney who did not finish the 1959 Le Mans 24 hours in it, Phil Hill and Cliff Allison who won the 1960 1000kms at Buenos Aires before it returned to Le Mans where it won the 1960 24 hours with Olivier Gendebien and Paul Frere at the wheel.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB, Goodwood Revival

I am not sure of the chassis number of this 250 GT SWB Berlinetta so I’m not sure wether or not it’s a Competizione model or not, if you know your 250 GT SWB’s and no the identity of this one please chip in with a reference or two below.

Ferrari 275 GTB/C SWB, Goodwood Revival

A class win at Le Mans in 1967 for drivers Dietter Sporey and Rico Steinemann followed by another in the 1000 kms at Spa in 1969 with Jaques Rey and Edgar Berney at the wheel did not do much to help the value of this car in 1969 when it changed ownership for just $6,000. By 1983 the value had leapt to $150,000 two years later it was fire damaged and the wreck changed hands for $46,000.
The restored car then went to Japan for a reputed $800,000 in 1988, since then it has come to reside in the UK via the USA for undisclosed sums.

250 MM PF Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival

My personal pick for Ferrari of the day is this 250 MM Pinifarina Berlinetta with a longer than standard nose. The car has little racing history from it’s heyday and lost 1 million Italian Lira in value, just under 1/3rd, between 1953 and 1955. By all accounts it was used for to chauffeur movie stars in 1954.

Ferrari 250 GTE, Goodwood Revival

If you can’t have the Ferrari 250 of your choice there are plenty of less valuable 250 GTE’s like the 1963 example above that can be acquired and transformed into the Ferrari of your dreams at a fraction of the price of the real thing.

Ferrari 250 GTO, Goodwood Revival

For one reason or another this Ferrari 250 GTO #3757 has come up for discussion on GALPOT numerous times, I make no apology for showing yet another photo of it again because this time former Ferrari Grand Prix driver and would be Indy rookie Jean Alesi can be seen at the wheel.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, Goodwood Revival

Christian Horner is best known as team principle of the multiple championship winning Red Bull racing, he was also a dab hand behind the wheel making it all the way to the second tier Formula 3000 open wheel series before the money ran out and he opted for team management in 1998. Christian is seen here in the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta chassis 1953GT another car that has been mentioned before in connection with the motor from 250 GT SWB Berlinetta #2025 that has been fitted to the #60 seen here.

Ferrari 290 MM, Goodwood Revival

The car above driven by Mike Malone looks like a 1958 Ferrari 250 TR however it actually started life as 1956 290 MM Scaglietti Spyder #0606 with Right Hand Drive. After Maurice Trintignant and Phil Hill won first time out in Sweden car was upgraded to 1959 250 TR specs at the factory and ended up in Brazil where Rio Negri was killed after probably mistaking the central pedal for the brakes when it was actually the accelerator. The remains of the fire damaged car were eventually fitted with a Ford V8. Much later it was discovered and mistaken and built up again as the Left Hand Drive ’59 250 TR 0726. Many years later it came to light that the car was actually #0606. Finding Ferrari’s can be difficult identifying them correctly even more so !

Ferrari 860 Monza, Goodwood Revival

Last year I saw 1985 Indy winner Danny Sullivan at my local track Castle Combe, this year I have now seen him race a Ferrari at Goodwood, above he is driving a 1956 Ferrari 850 Monza chassis 0604M, as we saw in a previous post Danny is following in the footsteps of one five time Juan Manuel Fangio and America’s first world champion Phil Hill ! Danny qualified 15th but did not finish the Sussex Trophy Race.

Ferrari 750 Monza, Goodwood Revival

Finally the Freddie March Memorial Trophy race included this 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti Spider S1 chassis #0504M which appears to have been raced by Frenchman Michael Poberejsky under the pseudonym Mike Sparken. Michael won a race in Morocco before sharing the car with Marsten Gregory at Le Mans in 1955 where they failed to finish. R and A Frankel retired with less than half an hour to go in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy too !

Thanks for joining me on this ‘#5 Ferrari Friday’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the Lotus racing cars that were present at Goodwood. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS 12 09 21 Condolences to family and friends of Michael Poberejsky who died this morning at his home in Beaulieu sur Mer.

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F.A.Turbo Express – Joest Porsche 962 C #962-011

Following on from yesterdays Lancia LC2 blog today I am looking at a FATurbo Express sponsored Porsche 962 C that used to be run in Group C races by the Joest Team in the second of a series of three blogs on Group C cars.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

The Porsche 962 was born out of the Porsche 956 programme in 1985, the principle difference between the two models is that the drivers feet are behind the front axle line in the 962 which affords the driver better protection in the event of a frontal accident.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

The 962 was built to compete with twin turbo motors in the World Prototype Sportscar Championship and with single turbo motors in the IMSA GTP series. 962’s are known to have won 82 races of at least 250 races that they competed in. Although the Porsche factory raced the 962 it increasingly left it’s customers to represent the marque from 1987 on, apart from the riveting 1988 Le Mans 24 hour race.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

Former Porsche driver Reinhold Joest’s team continued to receive support from the Porsche factory at Le Mans in 1989 and 1990. Indeed to emphasise the level of backing Joest received from Porsche the last 6, of 16, works built Porsche 962 chassis all went to the Joest Team.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

This chassis is thought to be #962-011 the last of the 956/962 series to win a World Prototype Sports Car championship event at Dijon, France driven by Bob Wollek and Frank Jelinski in May 1989. Chassis #962-011 is thought to have won at least 8 other races the last of which was an open formula Interserie event at Zeltweg, Austria in the hands of Manuel Reuter in October 1993.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

The #962-011 chassis raced with FAT International colours, thought to be a european logisitics company, in the 1993 Daytona 24 hours with Chip Robinson (USA)/Hurley Haywood (USA)/Henri Pescarolo (F)/Danny Sullivan (USA) listed as drivers but running with the #6. At it’s next race the Sebring 12 Hours the car appeared as a back up car for ‘John Winter’ and Manuel Reuter carrying the #7 T.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

This car is not carrying standard Porsche 962 bodywork, as Jaguar and later Mercedes became increasingly competitive in Group C events Porsche customers undertook their own aerodynamic development programme’s to stay competitive.

Joest Porsche 962 C - Goodwood FoS

Joest Racing won the Le Mans 24 hours twice with private Porsche 956 entries in 1984 and 1985 and then twice again with Porsche powered TWR chassis in 1996 and 1997. Today Joest is known as a crack Audi team having clocked up 5 wins at Le Mans running the Audi R8 (3 wins), R10TDI, and this year the R18TDI.

This car has taken part in the Group C race at the Silverstone Classic before, I have not seen an entry list for this years event, but I am hoping Paragon who run the car will be able to bring it along again this year.

My thanks to Thundersport and Porsche expert Mike at The Nostalgia Forum who confirmed the chassis number.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s FAT Turbo Express edition of ‘Gettin’ a little psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look under the skin of a Japanese Group C car built in England. Don’t forget to come back now !

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