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5Porsche 956

ContentsAuthor

Serge Vanbockryck started his career as a journalist and photographer in the late 1980s, covering the fascinating world of endurance racing for newspapers and magazines in The Netherlands, France, Germany and the UK, while also working for radio and television in Belgium, France and the UK. He was a photographic contributor to many of the ACO Le Mans yearbooks, to Dr János Wimpffen’s

sportscar tetralogy that accompanied his epic book Time And Two Seats, and to Jean-Marc Teissèdre’s biography of Bob Wollek. He still is a regular contributor to British monthly Racecar Engineering and German monthly Sport Auto, as well as being the co-author of the official Porsche Rennsport Reunion programmes.

Since the late 1980s he has been documenting and gathering all possible racing and test data on the 200+ Porsche 956s and 962s (and their derivatives) built by Porsche, its sub-contractors and many private constructors on both sides of the Atlantic, and raced in period competition from 1982 to 1999. All of this, which has made him one of the world’s foremost historians on the subject, was undertaken with the clear purpose that one day he would write the ultimate books of reference on these most iconic of race cars.

Professionally, he left journalism for public relations and marketing in the mid-1990s, working in F1 and the World Rally Championship with Marlboro and Lucky Strike, and Le Mans and the WRC when Toyota returned to the global motorsports scene with the Corolla WRC and André de Cortanze’s epic GT-One. Since 2000 he has been involved with the international motorsport activities of General Motors as European PR coordinator for the Cadillac LMP, Corvette GT and Chevrolet WTCC programmes.

10 One, two, three 23011 Battle of the Ardennes 25412 Big in Japan 26413 For a fistful of seconds 27314 With a little luck 28215 Suid-Afrikaanse Vakansie 292

Part 4 The 1984 eason 302

16 Customer satisfaction 30417 Marlboro beats Rothmans 31818 Bellof, Stefan Bellof 33019 The Last Ringmeisters 34020 Nine out of ten 35021 The usual suspects 37622 The sun rises in the east 38423 Same players win again 39624 Bob’s title 40625 Porsche fest 416

Index 424

Foreword 6 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9

Part 1 Porsche’s raging heritage 10

1 The early years 122 Winds of change 363 Conquering the world 624 The turbo era arrives 98

Part 2 Birth of the 956 134

5 Dawn of Group C 1366 Same chefs,

nouvelle cuisine 1587 Centre of excellence 200

Part 3 The 1982 Season 210

8 Saved by a 911 2129 Arrival of the 956 220

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On 22 June 1981, just a week after scoring a sixth overall win at Le Mans, the Board of Directors at Porsche AG gave the green light for the development and construction of the Porsche 956, a new race car that would continue

Porsche’s long tradition in sportscar racing. It was a logical decision, as apart from the odd foray in single-seaters, motorsport for Porsche had always been first and foremost a product-driven exercise, and most of the time this had been done on the world’s most famous race tracks and road courses. By 1981, there was not a single classic sportscar event or endurance race in the world a Porsche vehicle had not won. At Porsche, the manufacturer’s interests came before the driver’s and durability was at least as important as outright speed.

But the production of the first Porsche road and race cars had actually started with the commissioned design of a single-seater, immediately after the Second World War, when Professor Doctor Ferdinand Porsche1 and his son, Ferry, were still in prison in Dijon, France. The Porsches, together with Anton Piëch2 — Ferdinand Porsche’s son-in-law — had been arrested by the French authorities in December 1945, although it has never been exactly clear why. In his autobiography, Ferry Porsche explains that immediately after the war, the French Minister of Industry, Marcel Paul, a communist, had intended to dismantle the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg and

Chapter 1

The early yearsHumble beginnings

‘We had a big handling problem’PAUL FRÈRE

■ In 1953, two years after Porsche’s first Le Mans attempt, the company entered the 1.5-litre class with two examples of a proper race car, the Typ 550, and was rewarded with a 1–2 victory, Paul Frère and Richard von Frankenberg (no. 45) finishing 15th overall, one place ahead of their team-mates Hans Herrmann and Helmut Glöckler (no. 44).Porsche Historisches Archiv

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The early years

resurrect it in France, something for which he needed the help of the Porsches. As such, both Ferdinand and Ferry were asked to come to Baden-Baden for negotiations. However, the French manufacturer Peugeot Automobiles — and especially its CEO, Jean-Pierre Peugeot — was planning to use the Volkswagen concept for its own profit and hoped to get its hands on the dismantled factory. Thinking it would help his case, Jean-Pierre Peugeot went so far as to accuse Ferdinand Porsche of war crimes allegedly committed under his supervision in the Peugeot plant of Montbéliard,3 where during the war parts for the Volkswagen were made, as well as parts for the Focke-Wulf Ta 154 and the Junkers Ju 188 aircraft.4

Via Baden-Baden, the Porsches arrived in the Dijon prison. Soon after Ferry Porsche’s release from jail, in July 1946, a group of pre-war motorsport enthusiasts, including Grand Prix star Tazio Nuvolari, designer Carlo Abarth5 and engineer Rodolfo Hruska, agreed that Porsche might be the company to produce a new Italian Grand Prix car for Nuvolari. Ferdinand Porsche, of course, had been the designer of the successful Auto Union P-Wagen Grand Prix cars of the 1930s, when German motorsport involvement became a Nazi-sponsored propaganda tool that saw the Silberpfeile (Silver Arrows) created by Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union fight fierce battles on race tracks around the world, to promote German technical superiority and also to vie for Nazi approval and the large military orders that usually followed.

Italian industrialist Piero Dusio was thought to be the man who could bankroll this Italian Grand Prix car. Immediately after the war, Dusio had already created a 1.1-litre single-seater car that had given quite a few drivers the opportunity to resume racing. Dusio contacted the Porsche design office and soon after offered a contract to design various vehicles and technical parts: the Typ 285 water turbine, the Typ 323 agricultural tractor, the Typ 370 sportscar and, most famously, the Typ 360 ‘Cisitalia’ Grand Prix car.6 Dusio agreed to pay the Porsche company one million French Francs that Ferry in turn used to post bail with

■ Prof. Dr. Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche was one of the most influential automotive engineers of the 20th century and founding father of the eponymous car manufacturer.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ Jean-Pierre Peugeot was keen to secure the Volkswagen concept for his own company and is thought to have been instrumental in the arrest of Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche and Anton Piëch when they visited French politicians and industrialists for negotiations in Baden-Baden, in the French-occupied zone of West Germany, in 1946.Getty Images/Keystone-France

■ Austrian Anton Piëch was Ferdinand Porsche’s son-in-law, the husband of Porsche’s daughter Louise. Piëch was a lawyer by profession and together with Porsche and Adolf Rosenberger co-founded Porsche GmbH in 1931. During the Second World War, Piëch was the manager of the Wolfsburg Volkswagen plant, which exclusively produced parts and weapon systems for the German war effort. After the war, he was arrested by the French authorities together with Porsche father and son. Piëch’s son, Ferdinand, would later lead the company to its global motorsport successes.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ Ferdinand Porsche’s daughter, Louise, married his lawyer and right-hand man, Anton Piëch. She would later head the Austrian branch of the family company and briefly enjoy her moment of motorsport glory when in 1970 ‘her’ car was the first Porsche to win Le Mans overall. Here she is seen at the 1969 Targa Florio.Porsche Historisches Archiv

the French authorities to have Ferdinand Porsche and Anton Piëch released from prison, after which they were put under house arrest in Kitzbühel in Austria. Despite the allegations made by the French, the case against the Porsches and Piëch never came to trial.

Once released from house arrest, the Porsches proceeded to revive ‘Porsche Konstruktionen’ in Gmünd, in the British-occupied sector of Austria, where their design office had been relocated in 1944, when the Allied bombing of the Stuttgart area intensified. Ferdinand Porsche was allowed to register his company as an Austrian one, with his daughter, Louise Piëch (née Porsche) appointed as director, owing to Mrs Piëch having Austrian nationality by marriage. Bohemia-born Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche, however, had become ‘naturalised’ Czechs after this part of Austria was handed to Czechoslovakia under the terms of the Versailles Treaty of 1919. As such, the Porsches were still Czechs when they were ‘advised’ by Adolf Hitler (himself an Austrian from Bohemia) to change to German nationality in 1934, soon after Porsche had been awarded the design and prototype build of the Nazi’s Volkswagen project in July of that year.7 In December 1934, the Reichssportführer, Hans von Tschammer und Osten, wrote to Porsche to inform him that ‘the Führer wishes that Germany’s greatest automobile constructor acquire German citizenship. I herewith summon you to use this letter as a supporting document for naturalisation application.’8

The Gmünd coupé: the first Le Mans successesSo it was that in Gmünd, Austria, in 1948, the Porsches designed their last non-Porsche race car, the Grand Prix Cisitalia.9 That same year, also in Gmünd, the first proper Porsche was built, and also, some time later, the car that would eventually make Porsche’s competition début in 1951.10 In 1950, after Porsche had relocated to Zuffenhausen, a suburb of Stuttgart, via Salzburg, production began in earnest of the first car

■ The predecessor to the Porsche 356 had already been designed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1939, based, like the later 356, on the Volkswagen platform. It had been developed to compete in the Liège–Rome–Liège rally, but the start of the Second World War meant the event was cancelled. Ferdinand Porsche used this car throughout the war to drive from his home and office in Stuttgart to his several plants or to meetings with the Nazi decision makers.Porsche Historisches Archiv

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and those of Solar Productions, his movie company, did not quite see it that way, and refused to allow McQueen to take part in the race. The entry was subsequently withdrawn, and McQueen’s claim to motorsport fame would have to rest on the second place he had achieved in the Sebring 12 Hours earlier in the year. Solar Productions, however, did enter McQueen’s personal 908/02, equipped with three cameras to shoot real-life action for the movie and driven by Jonathan Williams and Herbert Linge, who retired after this race. As usual, the JWAE cars were well prepared for the specific requirements of a 24-hour race, with back-up alternators and batteries, and a larger starter motor.

The Porsche Konstruktionen KG Salzburg team entered its usual two 917 Ks (with 4.5-litre engines) for Herrmann/Attwood (no. 23, 917 023) and Steinemann/Spoerry (no. 24, 917 020), plus a 4.9-litre 917 L (no. 25, 917 042) provided by Ferdinand Piëch for the team’s number one crew, Elford and Ahrens. The Steinemann/Spoerry 917 K was most likely entered as a fall-back car in case of problems with the 917 L and was certainly never used by either of its nominated drivers: Steinemann was otherwise occupied as Porsche’s motorsport boss while Spoerry was also entered in a Martini team 908/02 that he crashed in Thursday’s qualifying session. Since JWAE had politely refused the Lang after the April test, Piëch went even further in using his contractual freedom by placing a second 917 L (917 043, with a 4.5-litre engine) with Hans-Dieter Dechent’s International Martini Racing Team for Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen. Both long-tails also received a fuel-saving five-speed gearbox and a complement of factory engineers and mechanics, so Wyer had every reason to be concerned. Unsurprisingly, the Salzburg cars and the Martini 917 L were serviced from the Garage Provost in Teloché, where the Porsche factory team first set up camp in 1951 and would

continue to do so each year until 1981. Dechent later remembered: ‘I actually had entered three 908

spyders for Le Mans. Then Ferdinand Piëch one day surprised me with a phone call: “Why do you not leave an eight-cylinder at home. In return you get a 917 from us. A long-tail.” I remember saying: “Mr Lapine should then at least give it a colourful livery.” To which Piëch said: “Listen, Mr Dechent, a race car from us is supposed to be white. But… ah, well.” And that’s how it started.’29 The Martini 917 L certainly was not white, as Porsche styling chief Anatole ‘Tony’ Lapine decided that a purple-and-green ‘flower-power’ design was the best way to stand out from the other cars. By the time the livery was completed at the track between practice and the race — courtesy of a huge number of spray cans — the ‘Hippy Car’ was born. Some people believe that Lapine’s psychedelic 917 was the precursor of the ‘art cars’ that BMW and others would regularly enter at Le Mans from 1975 onwards, and that therefore it was the first real ‘art car’.

While Piëch had been developing the 917 L, Wyer had been working on the 917 K’s aerodynamics. Although he estimated the net gain of the Lang on the Hunaudières straight at two seconds, he was also convinced that more time would be lost in the twistier parts of the track, especially in the event of rain, when the Lang could be expected to be a bit of a handful, as evidenced by two write-offs while testing in the wet. Nevertheless, Wyer and Horsman continued their own development programme and spent lots of time in the wind tunnel of the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) at Nuneaton, England. The net result was visible at Le Mans, when the Gulf 917 Ks sported their usual ‘JWAE tails’ but now with a small adjustable wing placed between the high wheel arches. This allowed higher speeds on the straights as well as less drag.

In qualifying, Elford set the fastest time on a dry track, just ahead of the Vaccarella/Giunti Ferrari 512S and Siffert in the first of the Gulf Porsches. At the start of the race, Elford immediately pulled away from Siffert, visibly extending his advantage on the Hunaudières straight and equally visibly losing it again in the twistier portion. While the Porsches put up a good show, Ferrari’s race started falling apart almost immediately as Giunti retired with a broken engine after just five laps. Then a couple of hours later came a terrible spell for Ferrari: within the space of two laps the Merzario/Regazzoni factory car collided with both Scuderia Filipinetti 512Ss and the Bell/Peterson Ferrari retired with a dead engine. Even before the rainstorm that would set in over Le Mans for the next few hours, Ferrari’s hopes rested on the sole surviving factory 512S Coda Lunga of Jacky Ickx and Peter Schetty.

But despite the Ferrari running second at midnight, Porsches led every lap of the race. While the Elford/Ahrens 917 L sat comfortably in front in the dry, it was a different story altogether when the rain came: at the height of the monsoon-like conditions the white Salzburg car’s five-minute laps were an astonishing 90 seconds slower. Once the rain stopped, all sorts of minor problems struck the Lang (windscreen misting up, broken headlights, punctures) but each time the drivers valiantly climbed back up the order. When the rain again intensified during the night, the fuel injection started to play up and the car now lapsed to six-minute laps. Its agony finally ended when a valve broke on Sunday morning.

After the retirement of the last factory Ferrari at 2am on Sunday left the Siffert/Attwood Gulf 917 leading the Salzburg long-tail, Wyer asked Ferry Porsche to instruct the other 917 teams to hold position, and this was agreed. One can understand Wyer’s request, as he had already lost his two other cars due to an engine problem (Rodríguez/Kinnunen) and an

accident (Hobbs/Hailwood), while the Salzburg and Martini 917s were all still running. JWAE’s third consecutive Le Mans victory seemed to be set — until Siffert missed a gear shift right in front of the pits and ‘buzzed’ the engine.

Instead of becoming part of history by winning Le Mans three times in a row and scoring Porsche’s first overall Le Mans victory, Wyer’s team had to start packing early. But now Piëch’s three ‘customer’ cars were neatly running first, second and third, the Salzburg 917 K leading from the Martini 917 L and the Salzburg 917 L. The Salzburg long-tail would soon disappear, while the Martini example suffered persistent ignition problems due to water creeping into the engine bay, so Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood were left with a comfortable five-lap lead and duly scored Porsche’s first overall Le Mans victory. Herrmann had promised his wife that he would retire should he win Le Mans, and this he promptly announced, much to the annoyance of Piëch.

The win was important as well as emotional. First of all, it proved that Ferdinand Piëch’s way of going about motorsport had been right all along, and also demonstrated the wisdom of his decision to set up a structure parallel to JWAE. On top of that, this first Le Mans win had come when Ferry Porsche

■ Porsche was the first to discover that a longer tail increased speed and reduced drag on the long Hunaudières straight at Le Mans, and it would become a feature of all works Porsches at Le Mans until the famous straight was punctuated by two chicanes. This particular long-tail 917, which finished second in 1970 in the hands of Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen, featured one of Anatole Lapine’s weird liveries in green and purple, the car later becoming known as the ‘Hippy car’ or ‘psychedelic 917’.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ Using a shorter fifth gear in qualifying at Le Mans in 1970, Vic Elford set pole position in a new record time of 3m 19.8s, at an average speed of over 242kph (150mph). In the race, he and Kurt Ahrens battled for the lead with the Gulf 917 K of Brian Redman and Jo Siffert, but when heavy rain set in on Saturday evening the long-tail 917 was less at ease on the slippery surface than the short-tail Gulf versions. The car retired from second place at 8.30am on Sunday when the engine expired. After the race, it was repaired to star in Steve McQueen’s Le Mans movie.McKlein

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All the Gulf cars were sent back to Weissach over the winter, as John Horsman recalls: ‘During the off-season Porsche requested that we strip and return all seven 917 chassis we had at Slough for them to test the tubular structures using compressed air inserted through a tire valve at the rear of the frame. Falling pressure would indicate the presence of a crack or faulty weld. This was done, and the frames checked for straightness, but when returned to us all the chassis numbers had been changed to later serial numbers.’33 34

The 1971 International Championship for Makes began particularly early in the year as the teams were required to gather for the Buenos Aires 1,000Kms in January, even before the traditional season opener at Daytona. As such, the JWAE and Martini 917s were virtually identical to the cars that had run in the last races of the previous season. In total, seven 917s were flown to Argentina: there were two for JWAE’s Rodríguez/Oliver (917 029) and Bell/Siffert (917 035); the Martini team brought another two for Elford/Larrousse (917 023) and Marko/van Lennep (917 019); Bolivian millionaire Ortiz Patino’s Racing Team Zitro (the team name came from the owner’s first name spelled backwards) entered 917 025 for his son-in-law Dominique Martin and Pablo Bréa; Reinhold Joest, Willi Kauhsen and Angel Monguzzi had the ex-Steve McQueen 917 022 of Le Mans movie fame entered by Team Auto Usdau; and Spaniard Alex Soler-Roig entered 917 018 under Escuderia

Nacional for South American ‘comingmen’ Carlos Reutemann and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Porsche’s competition came from Italy, with both SpA Ferrari SEFAC (Societa Per Azioni Esercizio Fabriche Automobili e Corse, the Ferrari factory team’s official name) and Autodelta (Alfa Romeo’s competitions arm) entering 3-litre Group 6 cars. Alfa Romeo had continued the development of its V8-engined T33/3, while Ferrari’s nimble new F1-engined 312PB was built with the help of the Italian company’s vast F1 experience, and it showed. Just for good measure, four 512s were entered as well, by the Italian Scuderia Filipinetti (a 512M for Michael Parkes/Jo Bonnier), the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps (a 512S for Hugues de Fierlant/Gustave Gosselin), the Spanish Escuderia Montjuich (a 512S for José Juncadella/Carlos Pairetti) and Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (a 512S for Sam Posey/Nestor Garcia-Veiga/Luis Ruben di Palma).

While Rodríguez qualified his 917 K on pole, as expected, Ignazio Giunti put the singleton 312PB alongside, just 0.04 second off the Mexican’s time. If JWAE and Porsche had initially thought they would have it easy with the 512s now being run by privateers, they now knew that the smaller factory-run 312PB would be a fearsome rival once properly developed.

Giunti proved the point by leaping ahead at the start, but after a few corners Rodríguez restored order. Thereafter it was Porsche’s race, although victory was joyless. On lap 38, Giunti was close behind Ahrens in the Martini 917 K when the pair came upon a Matra MS660 being pushed along by its driver, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, after running out of fuel just before the pits. Ahrens just managed to avoid colliding with the Matra, but Giunti, unsighted, crashed into the stricken car with horrendous force, both the Ferrari and the Matra bursting into

flames; Beltoise escaped unharmed but Giunti had no chance and the talented 29-year-old Italian driver died later in hospital.

The JWAE Gulf Porsches won the race, Siffert/Bell finishing one lap ahead of Rodríguez/Oliver. But right behind came the two factory Alfa Romeo T33/3s, just two and four laps behind the winners, Rolf Stommelen/Nanni Galli from Andrea de Adamich/Henri Pescarolo, indicating that 1971 could become a season-long fight between classes and philosophies as well as between manufacturers. The Martini team was less successful, one car retiring after just two laps with a dead engine (it had been ailing in qualifying but the team had brought no spare), the other disqualified for outside assistance. Of the other 917 Ks, only the Zitro entry finished, a distant 10th behind a McLaren M8C and the four Ferrari 512s.

Three weeks later the contenders moved north to Daytona Beach in Florida for the 24 Hours, considered by many to be the real start of the season after the Argentine appetiser. Unlike in Buenos Aires, only four 917 Ks made it to Daytona, while Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Matra — all running the more fragile 3-litre prototypes — elected to return to Europe for a variety of reasons. The Martini Racing Team entered the same cars as in Buenos Aires with 4,494cc Typ 912/00 engines and factory-specification engine covers for Marko/Lins (917 019) and Elford/van Lennep (917 023). John Wyer’s team had the honour of débuting two rebuilds: 917 017 was born out of the remnants of factory test hack 917 004 and driven by Siffert and Bell, while 917 034, piloted by Rodríguez and Oliver, was built up with parts from 917 013, which had been literally cut in half in David Piper’s gruesome accident during filming for the Le Mans movie a year earlier.35 As in Argentina, both Gulf cars were equipped with new 4,907cc Typ 912/10 engines and

the JWAE-developed tail with the small rear wing in the valley, and for this 24-hour race they also had two alternators and two batteries, as at Le Mans the previous year.

But some potentially tough competition nevertheless awaited the two Porsche teams. Over winter, Roger Penske’s crack team had acquired a Ferrari 512M and, with Mark Donohue and David Hobbs as drivers, the Sunoco-backed dark blue and yellow car was certainly a threat, especially after Donohue set a pole position time over a second faster than Rodríguez in the Gulf 917. Just behind Rodríguez on the grid sat another 512M, this one entered by another of Ferrari’s privileged customers, Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART), with Sam Posey, Peter Revson and NASCAR star Chuck Parsons on driving duties. Chinetti also brought a second 512M for Masten Gregory and Gregg Young and a 512S for Ronnie Bucknum and Tony Adamowicz.

Both Donohue and Rodríguez were hell-bent on leading the race from the word go and circulated in close convoy for the first stint, the Porsche never more than a few metres behind the Ferrari. However, at the first pitstops, the Penske team showed why it was so successful in American racing by refuelling more rapidly, thanks to an Indy-style tower that dispensed fuel at greater speed and pressure, allowing the Ferrari to gain eight seconds over the rival Porsche. But the Ferrari’s advantage disappeared when its alternator broke, leaving the familiar powder blue 917s in command and the Penske drivers with a task on their hands as they tried to regain lost ground. But the Gulf team was not infallible either as the Siffert/Bell car soon went out with engine failure, a connecting rod having broken.

During the night the Penske Ferrari fell victim to a freak accident. Elford was leading in his Martini 917 when a tyre

■ As at Le Mans in 1970, the Sebring 12 Hours in March 1971 brought victory for Ferdinand Piëch’s B-team, this time Martini Racing, its 917 K driven by Vic Elford and Gérard Larrousse.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ As agreed with John Wyer, development work was carried out by Porsche itself, using the Martini team run by Hans-Dieter Dechent to do so — under Ferdinand Piëch’s guidance. Here Vic Elford is seen testing so-called ‘schnorkel’ air boxes at Hockenheim, with the aim of increasing the pressure of the air going into the engine. McKlein

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one way. Not only could Porsche develop its existing RSR in a cost-effective way, but turbocharging would also be helpful for the future, the CSI having announced its intention to scrap the purpose-built open-top 3-litre prototypes and run the World Championship for Makes for a new kind of Group 5 car called ‘silhouette’. While based on production sports cars, the new rules gave considerable aerodynamic freedom and also allowed turbocharged engines, a first for production-based race cars. Since Porsche was planning a turbocharged road car, the Typ 930, it was entirely logical to use this as the basis for the company’s new Group 5 racer. So it was that a stop-gap Carrera RSR Turbo was created solely for the 1974 season, combining the existing RSR with the turbo knowledge amassed in CanAm to give the team a build-up year prior to the arrival of the car’s successor. Porsche’s many customers in the meantime were sold an improved Group 4 version of the RSR, now equipped with the 2,994cc Typ 911/75 engine, which produced 330bhp. A purpose-built clutch from Sachs, air intakes and outlets in the front and rear fenders, thinner body panels and a longer glass fibre rear wing were just some of the changes introduced to help the customer teams stay in front in the GT classes.

Turbocharging had been used decades before Porsche decided to adopt it in racing. The concept was to use the wasted energy of the exhaust to drive a compressor that in turn forced more air into the engine. The rules stipulated that a 1.4 multiplication coefficient had to be applied to a turbocharged engine’s swept volume in order to calculate the equivalent normally aspirated capacity. As normally aspirated engines could not exceed 3,000cc, the Carrera’s turbocharged engine capacity was therefore limited to 2,142cc (2,142cc x 1.4 = 2,998.8cc). The

Typ 911/76 engine consisted of a standard 2-litre production magnesium crankcase combined with Nikasil-coated cylinders with an 83mm bore and 66mm stroke. The cylinder heads were borrowed from the Typ 901/20 of the Porsche 906. The valves were sodium-filled for better cooling; the exhaust valves were taken from the 917 and the inlet valves were the same size as those of the 906. The KKK turbocharger and cockpit-adjustable Garrett wastegate allowed the engine, despite its relatively small capacity, to produce some 450bhp at 8,000rpm with a compression ratio of just 6.5:1, using flat-top pistons.31 32

While the engineers calculated that they would need some 480bhp to be on par with the competition’s purpose-built prototypes, they also soon discovered that their engine was unlikely to produce much more than 430bhp. So they decided to cool the air forced into the engine, since cool air is more dense than hot air, and a cooler fuel/air mixture gives more power.

Since Fuhrmann was adamant that any Porsche race car should resemble as much as possible the cars in the streets, the motorsport guys had to start from a classic 911 body shell, rather than start with a spaceframe as they might quietly have hoped for. But even so, running the car in the prototype class allowed them enough freedom to come up with some interesting solutions, if only they could keep the weight down. The suspension’s geometry was changed in an attempt to eliminate ‘squat’ under acceleration and ‘dive’ under braking. Integral coil spring/shock absorber units were used all round with standard MacPherson struts at the front, and welded struts and steel and aluminium semi-trailing arms at the rear. The ride height was reduced by raising the front spindles. While the brakes were of the same 917 kind as on the normally aspirated

RSRs, the wheels and tyres grew considerably in width, to 17in at the rear.

The engineers also installed an aluminium roll cage that was designed to take most of the stresses the body shell would have to endure. This allowed them to replace most steel body panels with glass-fibre parts, thus reducing weight.33 The front bumper was now a proper aerodynamically shaped air dam, incorporating a large oil cooler. At the rear, the engine cover was raised to house the massive intercooler, which received air via a huge NACA duct on the cover. Over the engine cover, but in reality hanging behind the car, sat a massive wing, almost as wide as the car itself and mounted on two struts attached to the engine bay’s spaceframe. After initial tests at Paul Ricard, engineers Horst Reitter and Eugen Kolb were given the task of relocating the fuel tank from the front of the car to the rear seat area, for more consistent weight distribution throughout a race stint, from full to empty. The battery and fuel pumps were also relocated.

When Fuhrmann was first shown the car, he was unimpressed by the size of its rear wing, allegedly remarking to his engineers that Porsche was in the business of selling cars rather than aircraft, and he ordered a rethink before the car was revealed publicly. Certainly the car was no beauty, with its oversized air scoops on the engine cover and the huge wing on top, and it would become even less aesthetic after Fuhrmann’s insistence on the use of an intercooler, which could only be located on top of the engine.34 ‘When our engines die, they die of heat,’ Fuhrmann said. ‘I require an intercooler, something like the one in the Me109,’ he continued, referring to the use of intercoolers on the Messerschmitt Me109, Germany’s most

famous fighter plane of the Second World War.35 While the engineers set about the task, house stylist Anatole

‘Tony’ Lapine attempted to improve the appearance of the wing in order to please Fuhrmann. He restyled the whole of the rear by further raising the engine cover as well as the roof section containing the rear window. Air was now fed to the intercooler through a series of NACA ducts sunk in the raised engine cover. The wing supports were integrated in the fences running either side of the raised roof line, so that the wing sat higher, almost level with the roof. To further reduce the visual importance of the rear wing, it was painted matt black whereas the rest of the car was painted silver with a red-and-blue Martini striping. The sleek rear roof section did indeed seem to reduce the apparent bulk of the rear wing — and Singer would later revisit the trick with the raised rear window with the 935.

The new Carrera RSR Turbo made its public début in March at the Le Mans test day, where two cars were entered, one a new chassis (R936) for the team’s regular pairing of Müller and van Lennep, the other an updated existing RSR (R5) for Koinigg and Schurti. Both cars were equipped with the Typ 911/76 engine with the vertical cooling fan and long manifold, the

■ The Typ 911/78 Stufe 3 turbocharged engine of the 1974 Porsche Carrera RSR. Courtesy of a KKK turbocharger and a cockpit-adjustable Garrett wastegate, this relatively small 2.1-litre engine produced 450bhp at 8,000rpm. The first two Stufe (steps) of the Typ 911/76 used in the early part of the season featured a vertical cooling fan, but by Le Mans this was moved to its horizontal position, hence the new Typ 911/78 designation.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ The first rendition of the Porsche Carrera RSR Turbo, Porsche’s second turbocharged race car after the CanAm 917s, seen testing at Paul Ricard in southern France. Porsche CEO Ernst Fuhrmann was not at all happy with the appearance of the rear wing design, so the house stylists were called in to alter it without diminishing its effectiveness.Porsche Historisches Archiv

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119The turbo era arrives118

The turbo era arrives

Works Porsche 956

to the Jolly Club 935 of Carlo Facetti, Martino Finotto and Romeo Camathias, who finished second overall behind the Ecurie Escargot Carrera RSR. And at Mosport, Porsche gathered more points when Ludwig Heimrath and Paul Miller scored the overall win in the former’s 934/5, but exceptionally the Group 5 points at this race went to the Faltz BMW 320i Turbo of Eddie Cheever and a certain Gilles Villeneuve.

Long before the start of the 1977 season, the CSI had agreed to some technical leniency towards Ford and BMW, at the specific request of the latter. At a meeting at the end of 1976, the CSI technical sub-committee (which included technical journalists Paul Frère and Curt Schild) and the manufacturers’ representatives agreed to allow holes to be cut in the side panels under the doors of the cars. BMW, and also Ford, felt they were disadvantaged by the fact that they ran front-engined cars, and when turbocharging their engines they had to run more ride height to allow space for the exhaust, silencer and heat shields. As such, they were indeed disadvantaged compared with the Porsche, which could be run as low as the rules permitted since the engine sat in the back.

Porsche gallantly agreed to this new rule for the better of the championship, a gesture that pleased the CSI as well as Ford and BMW. However, these rivals did not realise that they had just let in a Trojan horse by the name of Norbert Singer. Clearly in a league of his own when it came to forward thinking, Singer had his own use for the new rule. ‘Everyone agreed that, although the original side panels had to be retained, holes could be cut in them,’ Singer said. ‘The approved wording of the regulation was not specific to the exhaust and it gave us the opportunity to cut the side panels of the 935 and lower

the whole car. We made a new floor with an aluminium frame and glass-fibre sandwich and lowered the 911 chassis height by 60mm (2.3in) to 1,110mm (43.7in).’51

The height of the new 935/78, however, was the only aspect that decreased, as every other measurement was dramatically increased, earning the car the nickname ‘Moby Dick’. The front track grew by 128mm (5in) to 1,630mm (64.2in), while at the rear the increase was 17mm (0.7in) to 1,575mm (62in). Entirely built for speed on the Hunaudières straight, the car also received a tail 210mm (8.3in) longer than that of the previous model, with a low rear wing sitting across the entire width of the car. The front of the car was extended as well, to suit aerodynamic needs, as the ‘silhouette’ rules did not limit overhangs. The front fenders were given a concave, downforce-creating shape ahead of the wheel arches in order to eliminate understeer, but this idea ultimately did not make it beyond 1/1 scale wind tunnel testing. The doors were now completely covered with a widening second skin, effectively linking the outer edges of the front fenders with those of the rear fenders, a king-size NACA duct feeding fresh air to the side-mounted radiators. For better weight distribution the driver sat on the right side of the car, while power was supplied by a fully water-cooled, specially designed 3,211cc engine with welded cylinder heads, good for some 750bhp at 8,200rpm with 1.5-bar boost. Porsche — and Singer in particular — had just created a car nobody had ever envisioned when Group 5 had been established just two years earlier.

‘After lowering everything we could on the car, we had to turn the gearbox upside down so that the driveshafts would not be inclined at an impossible angle,’ Singer said. ‘Spaceframes

carried the front and rear suspensions and the stiffness of the chassis was increased by more than 40 per cent compared with the 935/76. We had to keep the original doors, but there was nothing to say that we could not cover them, so we did. When FIA delegates Paul Frère and Curt Schild saw the car for the first time, in February 1978, they were completely shocked. The wording of the regulations did not prevent our modifications, so they had no choice but to sign the 935/78’s ‘passport’. Even so, the technical sub-committee objected to the doors being covered, so we cut the rear part of the panel away and realised that it made only a small aerodynamic difference. By April, we got permission from the FIA president to put the original cover back on, but we did not bother.’52

The first race for ‘Moby Dick’ was the Silverstone Six Hours, the traditional life-size test for any team serious about Le Mans. Jochen Mass duly parked the white whale (935 006)53 on pole position in a new record time, and he and Jacky Ickx disappeared into the distance once the lights went green and won by seven laps.

Le Mans, the race for which ‘Moby Dick’ had been built, proved to be a disappointment. High fuel consumption meant the car would have to refuel every 10 or 11 laps, and any advantage gained by its top speed — it was fastest through the speed trap at 366kph (227mph) — was immediately annulled by the frequent refuelling stops. A quick calculation taught Singer that his car would have to make some 35 stops over the course of the 24 hours, so he knew before the start of the race that it was impossible to win. In the race the car was in any case plagued by all sorts of minor problems, such as the throttle not closing fast enough on overrun, a water radiator leaking,

■ The most successful of all Porsche 935s was the Kremer brothers’ 1979 935 K3. With a sleek, Ekkehard Zimmermann-designed body and over 100 detail changes when compared to the standard customer 935, the K3 broke all records. In the hands of Klaus Ludwig it won 11 out of 12 rounds of the German championship, as well as the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours as pictured. Such was the impact of this car that privateer teams from all over the world came knocking for complete cars or conversion kits for their existing 935s. In total, 17 935 K3s were built and sold.Porsche Historisches Archiv

the windscreen coming loose, ignition distributor problems, a misfire, an accident and finally an oil leak, leaving Stommelen and Schurti to finish eighth overall, 43 laps down on the winning Alpine-Renault.

After Le Mans, Porsche decided that the challenge from other manufacturers in the WCM was so limited that it could leave the rest of the campaign to its customers. The 935/78 appeared only twice more, at the famous non-championship Norisring race around the old Nazi grandstands in Nürnberg, where Jacky Ickx retired, and at Vallelunga, the final round of the championship. After some initial set-up problems at the Italian track, Ickx qualified on pole by over two seconds, and he and Schurti comfortably led the race until 10 minutes from the end the injector pump belt drive was severed by a stone. It was an abrupt end to a great success story, for soon afterwards Martini & Rossi announced it was taking a sabbatical from motorsport sponsorship.

Vallelunga was therefore the last-ever race for a factory 935, but Porsche’s clients would successfully continue to run and develop the 935 for many years. In the six years Group 5 lasted as the main class for the WCM, 935s won 34 rounds. The car won Le Mans overall in 1979 (the only time in history a true rear-engined car has won the French classic) and scored six overall wins in both the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours. Apart from the overall wins, 935s also scored 55 class victories in either Group 5 or IMSA GTX in the world championship between 1976 and 1982. In the IMSA championship 935s scored 62 overall victories between 1977 and 1984. In the then prominent German DRM championship they took 44 overall wins between 1977 and 1981, and in the

■ For 1980, Porsche briefly planned a comeback with an ultimate development of the 935/78. With ground effects and extreme aerodynamics, the ‘super-935’ was conceived as a rival to an expected BMW campaign with two works M1s, but the BMW programme never happened and Porsche abandoned the project at the stage when this wind tunnel model was being evaluated.Porsche Historisches Archiv

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Birth of the 956Part 2

■ The Porsche 956 owed its classic and elegant, yet deadly effective, shape to the hundreds of hours Norbert Singer spent in the wind tunnel developing aerodynamic perfection. Many ideas, such as this one, did not go beyond the test stage.Porsche Historisches Archiv

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166 167Works Porsche 956 Same chefs, nouvelle cuisine

Same chefs, nouvelle cuisine

the first time the term was used. Just three years later, in the German Empire, Hugo Junkers built the Junkers J-1, the first all-metal aircraft using the same monocoque concept. Although Lancia produced the first monocoque road car, the Lambda, in 1922, it was not until 1954 that the concept was introduced into sportscar racing with the Jaguar D-type, although this design was really a ‘semi-monocoque’. Eight years later, in 1962, Colin Chapman, inspired by aeronautical practice, designed the Lotus 25, the first F1 car with a monocoque; this was not the first and certainly not the last time F1 would learn a lesson from sportscar racing.

Since Porsche had never built a monocoque, a fact-finding mission was necessary before Singer and Reitter could put pencil to paper. ‘I went to Dornier in Ludwigshafen and asked them for the basics, because an aeronautic company is the best you can ask,’ Singer explained. ‘In those days you had a kind of aluminium which we wanted to use for the monocoque but which you couldn’t weld. And at Porsche we always looked for a kind of material which you could weld, even magnesium. But since you needed a certain stiffness, we had to ask [Dornier]. Of course, you always had suppliers who said, “My products are the best.” But we just wanted to have an overview, on whom we could ask and where we could get the right answers. And this was done in half a day. And we started [learning to build our first monocoques], because you had to learn how to do it, how to glue and rivet these parts together, how you treat the materials and so on. And this we learned in four weeks. We did some measurements on parts, bending them to check torsion and stiffness, comparing materials, thickness, which kind of rivets and so on. And if you see, we actually never changed the chassis. We had to adapt to the longer wheelbase [of the 962], but in principle it was always the same.’10

In the early 1980s chassis-building was at a crossroads, with exotic new composite materials such as carbon fibre being

■ In 1912, Belgian engineer Armand Deperdussin developed the concept of the monocoque and applied it to the world’s first aeroplane featuring this technique: the Deperdussin Monocoque. It was also the first time the term ‘monocoque’ was used. Getty Images/Ullstein Bild

■ Three years later, Hugo Junkers developed the first all-metal airplane featuring a steel sheet monocoque. The unique ground-breaking plane flew only four times and was eventually destroyed in the allied bombing raids on Munich in 1944.Getty Images/Hulton Archive

■ The first car to feature a chassis using the monocoque technique was the 1922 Lancia Lambda.Getty Images/De Agostini

■ The Jaguar D-type was the first sportscar to feature a monocoque chassis, albeit of ‘semi-monocoque’ configuration as it occupied only the central cockpit section of the car. Here the prototype D-type is being tested at Britain’s Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) proving ground by Jaguar chief test driver Norman Dewis prior to the model’s début at Le Mans in 1954.Philip Porter archive

■ In 1962, design guru Colin Chapman applied the monocoque concept to his Lotus 25 F1 car. Later, with his Lotus 78 and 79 models, Chapman successfully developed the concept of ground effects, which the Porsche 956 adopted.Motorsport Images/Rainer Schlegelmilch

■ Norbert Singer oversees the build of the original monocoque. Note the 1/1 scale technical drawings against the wall on the right and the rather tight confines in which the car was conceived.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ Mechanics working on the first monocoque: how to bond and rivet the aluminium sheet was a learning process the engineers at Porsche mastered in just a few weeks. This original monocoque was used for strength and torsion tests, then destroyed some years later in a crash test.Porsche Historisches Archiv

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176 177Works Porsche 956 Same chefs, nouvelle cuisine

Same chefs, nouvelle cuisine

knew the direction in which to advance. Exactly one month later he set up camp again in the wind tunnel for a further three days of development. The 1/5 scale model, now coded CB, was remodelled considerably with the nose section starting to look like that of the real car. The high-downforce rear wing sat between prominent endplates slightly behind a shortened tail section. Air intakes for the radiators and intercoolers still sat in the sides of the bottle-shaped sidepods, but were now shaped as NACA ducts rather than F1-inspired vertical openings, with the air feeding the radiators still coming from beneath the car and from the wheel arches. Horizontal splitters were installed on the sidepods from the throat of the undertray to where they reached the car’s maximum width to help separate the airflow directed at the radiators from the airflow going underneath the car to the venturi. Two smaller NACA ducts were cut in the sides of the engine deck near where the door window would sit.

The purpose of this second major test was to further define the shape of the car’s undertray, which was still designed to take the air from the front of the car, and to better understand the airflows involved. Four louvres were cut in the top of each

■ The underside of model CB04 clearly shows that initially the air for the venturi at the rear came entirely from the front of the car. The sidepods sit lower than the central part of the floor underneath the monocoque and engine/gearbox assembly to the point that the exhaust manifolds have to protrude into the venturi. Note the ‘bump’ and ‘dent’ under the nose section and front axle respectively, creating a wave-like downforce generator.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ From model CB15 the car’s floor changed dramatically, with the monocoque/reference plate area now at ride-height level and the sidepods opened up to act as forward extensions of the venturi.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ The problem of how to extract hot air from the engine bay without too much adverse effect on the downforce generated by the venturi was a persistent concern for Norbert Singer. Even shrouded air outlets were tested, but the idea was not pursued.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ Test CB38 featured distinctive bottle-shaped openings under the sidepods to feed the venturi. Engine cooling slots and exhaust manifolds have been omitted from this configuration.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ CB49 featured shortened venturi, starting with a much narrower entry aft of the monocoque.Porsche Historisches Archiv

wheel arch to extract hot air from the brakes and consequently reduce air pressure and thus lift. This time 84 configurations were tried, starting with a baseline L/D of 2.68:1 for CB00 with the rear wing set at a seven-degree angle. L/D improved with almost every new configuration, even as some drag-inducing detail was added to the model, in the form of rear suspension and exposed exhaust manifolds within the venturi. Closing and opening the cooling vents in the undertray confirmed what had been expected, namely that open vents adversely affected the efficiency.

From CB15 onwards the undertray was drastically changed, with the monocoque lowered to ride-height level and the sidepods opened up to act as forward venturi extensions with the air now entering from the opened front wheel arches rather than from the nose section. Some test iterations had the exhaust manifolds oddly exiting the engine bay, out into the airflow of the underfloor tunnels and then re-entering the car, thus straight-lining the distance to the turbochargers and final exhausts, a consequence of Singer wanting to look at ways to

■ By the end of the second series of wind tunnel tests, model CB83 featured a shorter front overhang and wing-shaped extension of the engine deck, designed to work with the venturi. Many of the ideas Singer tried in the early aerodynamic development of the 956 were set aside initially but later found their way onto the 962 and 962C models.Porsche Historisches Archiv

shorten the exhaust and simplify engine installation. This was a first step to the discovery that for the venturi to work most effectively they should be optimised for air flowing in from the side of the car, rather than from the front.

From the 38th configuration onwards the sidepods were opened up even further. When viewed from underneath, these extended venturi were shaped like a coke bottle: nearest the centre of the car they followed the contours of the monocoque and shrouded engine-gearbox assembly, while nearest the bodywork edges they curved outwards before dramatically curving inwards again around the rear wheels. This did not yield the expected improvement: 1412.38kg of downforce and 443.44kg of drag gave an L/D of 3.19:1 with 29 per cent front aero balance. This was substantially less than the figures of CB21, which, with the same venturi configuration as CB15 but with the rear wing set at 14 degrees, gave a 3.81:1 L/D.

For the second part of this series of tests, model CB was again equipped with the ‘classic’ venturi from earlier on and Singer worked on defining the right size and position for the

■ At the start of the third series of wind tunnel measurements, Norbert Singer concentrated on further defining the shape of the front floor. Here model CC still features the bottle-shaped sidepods. Note the entrance of the venturi right at the edge of the sidepods and the small skirts on the edges of the ‘Singer dent’ to prevent air spillage.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ The shape of things to come: in this view of model CC38 the shape of the Porsche 956 as it would later look is already very recognisable even if the air intakes for the radiators are still missing.Porsche Historisches Archiv

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238 239Works Porsche 956 One, two, three

One, two, three

which discovered that the Cosworth engine on the Pescarolo/Ragnotti M382 was still running as badly as ever and decided to change it. The new session was less fortunate for the Dome-Cosworth as a tyre blow-out caused rear suspension damage.

Before the race even started, it lost one of its main attractions. Less than an hour before the start of the 50th Le Mans 24 Hours, a gaggle of stewards walked up the pre-grid and straight to the GTC Mirage M12. They told the team members that the car was excluded on the basis of having its oil coolers in an illegal position behind the gearbox. While

this was indeed the case, the ACO had accepted the Mirage in this guise at scrutineering four days earlier, and made no subsequent objection. Needless to say, Harley Cluxton, team manager John Horsman and the Andrettis vehemently protested, but to no avail. At 4.10pm (ten minutes after the official start of the race) the team was notified in writing that the car had been excluded on safety grounds at 3.40pm. Meanwhile, the GTC team had immediately proceeded to alter the oil cooler location. But the ACO remained adamant, started to empty the team’s pit, and informed the GTI Engineering

■ This is 956001, which was on Le Mans duty as the team’s T-car. Unlike T-cars in all subsequent years, this one was not used at all during proceedings.John S. Allen

team that its Porsche 924 GTR was suddenly in the race.Mario Andretti, one of the stars of the race, if not the star

of it, was furious: ‘Why did they wait until I was seated in the car to announce [their decision]? It’s a swindle, nothing more, nothing less,’ he said. ‘[…] I would never have thought people could be so irresponsible in their job.’3 The real reasons behind the whole affair will probably never be known, but it was painfully obvious that some accounts were settled that sunny Saturday afternoon in France. The consequence, however, was that no American Group C car was ever built and no American

■ Porsche technical director Norbert Singer (behind door) accompanies 956003 as it is pushed to the so-called pre-grid.Archives Jean-Marc Teissèdre

■ Martini & Rossi, Porsche’s sponsor for most of its racing programmes a decade earlier, supplied grid girls to display panels indicating the various new classes of cars entered as they were lined up against the pit wall. Suitably, the ‘Group C girl’ took up position in front of the pole-sitting Ickx/Bell 956.Archives Jean-Marc Teissèdre

■ Less than half an hour before the start, Norbert Singer watches as Jacky Ickx is strapped into the no. 1 Rothmans Porsche, while behind Jochen Mass gets ready to climb aboard no. 2 as co-driver Vern Schuppan stands next to him. Archives Jean-Marc Teissèdre

■ Next spread A full grid and packed grandstands: the Group C era is about to start its first 24-hour race. Although not officially qualified, the Richard Lloyd-entered Canon Porsche 924 GTR waiting in the pitlane was allowed to start after the Mirage-Cosworth Group C car of the Andrettis was excluded, leaving an empty spot on the fifth row of the grid.Cahier Archive

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266 267Works Porsche 956 Big in Japan

Big in Japan

manufacturer. Masao Ono, who had already been responsible for the Group 6 Domes and the Group C RC82 derivative, had penned a rather conservative design that bore a close resemblance to the Toyota Celica road car. As such, it looked more like a Group 5 or IMSA GTX contender than a Group C one, indicating Toyota’s marketing objectives for its motorsport participation. The Toyota Celica C, as it was called, featured a state-of-the-art monocoque and a 2.0-litre single-turbo Toyota 18RG engine producing 400bhp and mated to a Hewland

■ Cars belonging to European and American teams were shipped or flown to Japan and then transported to the Fuji Speedway on local flatbed trucks. San-Ei Publishing

■ Before the start, Porsche’s Derek Bell and Rondeau’s Henri Pescarolo and Thierry Boutsen have a leisurely chat standing between Porsche 956004 and the no. 51 Lancia LC1. In front of the Lancia are Teo Fabi and Riccardo Patrese while Vern Schuppan, Bell’s team-mate, is talking to a journalist on the right. San-Ei Publishing

DG300 gearbox. While Dome had designed the car, it had been built by TOM’S, Toyota’s most senior motorsport partner.1 It was light, right on the minimum weight, and had been thoroughly tested at Fuji by Kaoru Hoshino, Nobuhide Tachi (the T of TOM’S) and F3 driver Aguri Suzuki.

TOM’S also entered a March-Toyota 75S, one of many submitted by local teams. Other interesting Japanese participants were two examples of the Mazda 254i from Mazdaspeed. A few cars were flown in from the IMSA

■ Derek Bell in the Motronic-equipped 956004 led the first hour of the race, with Michele Alboreto’s Lancia putting on pressure, but come the first pitstop the Porsche lost four laps while a ruptured oil line within the cockpit was repaired.Motorsport Images/LAT

■ It was as unexpected as it was ultimately inevitable: the Fuji race marked the first retirement for a Porsche 956. With Vern Schuppan at the wheel, a left-rear blow-out pitched the no. 2 car into the barriers just after the halfway point of the race, and although the Australian managed to limp back to the pits the damage was too extensive for immediate repair.Motorsport Images/LAT

championship: the Cooke Racing 935 K3 for team boss Ralph Kent-Cooke and Jim Adams, Preston Henn’s Ferrari 512BB for Henn himself and his daughter Bonnie, an Electramotive Nissan 280Z for Don Devendorf and Tony Adamowicz, a Ford Mustang for veteran driver Milt Minter and Tom Klausler; and Chuck Kendall’s BMW M1 shared with Jim Cook. The rest of the field was made up of a motley crew of local GT teams, mainly running Mazda RX-7s, although a Japanese-entered Group 5 BMW M1 and some Group 2 VW

Golfs and Toyota Starlets also occupied the grid. Apart from its high speeds, the Fuji International Speedway

was notable for its contrary weather, which was usually rainy. When the cars lined up at the pit exit for the first Saturday qualifying session, there was definitely a chance of rain forecast for later in the day, so everybody went out to set a time while it was still dry. The battle for pole position, as expected, was between Lancia and Porsche, with Alboreto seizing it by just 0.06 second from Ickx, while the second row mirrored the first,

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295Suid-Afrikaanse Vakansie294 Works Porsche 956

Suid-Afrikaanse Vakansie

Joest; this was Joest’s first podium finish at Kyalami, but he would come back for more, both as a driver and as a team owner. The 1978 race was a lean one, with very little European participation, but the promoters were back on song in 1979 when BMW M1s steamrollered the opposition, Helmut Kelleners and local man Eddie Keizan beating BMW stalwarts Hans-Joachim Stuck and Manfred Winkelhock.

At the beginning of 1980, the financially troubled Kyalami track was sold by the South African Motor Racing Club to F1 supremos Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, who were keen to keep it on the F1 calendar. Most F1 teams spent the European winter testing there and liked the high-altitude track that usually attracted large crowds. But Ecclestone and Mosley made it clear that a sponsor had to be found to run the event without losses, and when this did not happen the track was put up for sale again, at the end of 1980, and bought by Bobby Hartslief ’s Kyalami Entertaining Enterprises.1

For the Castrol-sponsored race in 1981, Joest Racing entered just about everything in its workshops. South African Porsche importer Lindsay Saker sponsored the team’s lead car, the 936-replica 908/80 that Joest ran for himself and Jochen Mass. Joest’s faithful 908/03 Turbo was driven by Jürgen Barth, Siggi Brunn and Jean-Michel Martin (with PG Glass sponsorship), and Derek Bell, Mauricio de Narvaez and Gianpiero Moretti had a 935J in Kreepy Krauly colours. Lancia sent one factory Group 5 Beta Monte Carlo for Michele Alboreto and Emanuele Pirro, with a back-up car entered by the German GS Tuning team for its DRM drivers, Hans Heyer and Sigi Müller Jr, with help from Walter Nussbaumer. This car, too, profited from local sponsorship, the usual Fruit Of The Loom colours making

way for those of Radio 5 and Bray Loader. The GS Tuning team also entered its normally aspirated Group 5 BMW M1 for Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Brun, while Italian duo Carlo Facetti and Martino Finotto shipped over their awesome Group 5 Ferrari 308 Turbo. The rest of the grid was made up by lesser European outfits and many enthusiastic locals in small Group 1 touring cars. The race itself, watched by some 35,000 spectators, was a breeze for the Joest brigade as Mass and Joest himself led every single lap to take a dominant win, followed home by the team’s 908/03 Turbo and 935J. The Joest cars sported racing numbers 1, 2 and 3, so with Joest’s pedigree that might have been a give-away as to the destiny of this race.

Nissan tests the waterWith Castrol again the main sponsor, the organisers were keen to put on a good show for the 1982 race, the last edition to be run to the traditional nine-hour format, as the event was earmarked to become the finale of the 1983 World Endurance Championship and that meant becoming a 1,000Kms contest. The importance of South Africa as a marketplace was not lost on the FIA and certainly not on the car manufacturers. And maybe a world sportscar fixture might be another opportunity to bring the blight of Apartheid to the attention of the world media.

So it was that in 1982 Group C cars encountered the Kyalami track for the first time. Leading the entry was the Joest team, the winners of the two previous years having the honour of running racing numbers 1 and 2. No. 1 was the team’s 936, crewed by lead driver Bob Wollek and Italian sportscar ace Giorgio Francia, and sporting its now customary Lindsay Saker sponsorship; Michele Alboreto, Italy’s latest F1 star, had

■ This telex sent by Peter Falk to Kyalami organiser Reinhard Schulz in early September 1982 confirmed Porsche’s intention to participate in the race. Of note is Falk’s question about whether the promoter could assist with shipping costs.Porsche Historisches Archiv

been scheduled to drive with Wollek, but his normal sportscar employer, Lancia, would not allow it. No. 2, carrying the same colours, was the team’s Group C-specification 936C, entered here for Joest customers Dieter Schornstein and Volkert Merl along with DRM regular Hans Heyer. Siggi Brunn’s 908/03 Turbo was entered for Briton Alain de Cadenet, local driver Tony Martin and Italian Giorgio Pianta, running PG Glass livery. Two 935s were also entered, both the 935/81 ‘Moby Dick’ replicas built by Joest a year earlier: the JFR example was driven by John Fitzpatrick and local lady Desiré Wilson under Carwil sponsorship, while Gianpiero Moretti entered his Momo team’s version — a ‘Momoby’ Dick perhaps — for himself, compatriot Mauro Baldi and South African ace Sarel van der Merwe.

But the icing on the Porsche cake for the race promoters was without doubt the presence of the factory team with two of its World Endurance Championship-winning 956s, courtesy, of course, of their South African sponsor, Rothmans International. Chassis 956003 (no. 3), winner of three WEC events so far, was handled by new champion Jacky Ickx and regular team-mate Jochen Mass, while 956004 (no. 4), which so far had not won a race, was piloted by Derek Bell and Vern Schuppan, and ran a Motronic MP1.2 engine as it had done since the Spa WEC race in September. Customer motorsport boss Jürgen Barth was named as relief driver for both cars.

Both works 956s used the so-called ‘Kyalami Set’, which comprised various technical changes designed to suit running at higher altitude in a ‘thinner’ atmosphere, the circuit being around 1,800 metres above sea level. Larger water radiators compensated for the less dense air, restoring lost cooling

efficiency and also allowing the vents in the underbody to be closed and thus enhancing the effectiveness of the venturi. The Kyalami specification also included larger K27 turbochargers: with less oxygen in the atmosphere, the turbines in the regular K26 turbochargers would have had to operate at excessive rotation speeds to achieve the amount of boost normally run on the cars. Into the 1983 season, it turned out, the works Porsches would always be equipped with the ‘Kyalami Set’.

Dunlop’s new Denloc tyre and rim system was used for the first time, but only for 956003. Dispensing with the bolts that normally held the tyre in place on the rim in the event of sudden deflation, as happened in 1979 on 936s at Silverstone and Le Mans, Denloc featured a bead-locking system whereby a rubber rib attached to one bead was anchored in a recess in the wheel rim. The Kyalami evaluation of Denloc tyres proved to be successful and henceforth works Porsches were always equipped with them.

■ At the 1982 Kyalami Nine Hours Porsche’s catalogue of contemporary sportscar machinery was represented in its entirety. Leading are the two factory 956s driven by Jochen Mass and Derek Bell, followed by no fewer than four Joest-built cars: the 936 replica for Wollek and Francia; the ex-Belga 936C for Merl, Schornstein and Heyer; and the two ‘Moby Dick’ replicas for Fitzpatrick/Wilson and Moretti/Baldi/van der Merwe. The seventh Porsche on the grid is Siggi Brunn’s 908/03 Turbo for Martin, de Cadenet and Pianta; behind the JFR 935/81 can be seen the first of the Brun-owned Sauber SHS-C6s; further back is Nissan’s first attempt at Group C.Motoprint/Stuart Falconer

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312 313Works Porsche 956 Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction

the secondary wing 10mm above the engine deck, so that air could pass above and below, yielded similar results. Further measurements featured deep outboard venturi fences running down to the level of the reference plane, and horizontal splitters running along the sidepods; these variations were again assessed over 15 tests in late March.

Meanwhile, Porsche’s 1983-specification 956 was ready, with no major aerodynamic changes. It first ran in February, when Singer’s troupe travelled to their favourite winter test circuit in the south of France with 956 005 for a week-long visit — the only major pre-season test planned by the team. Porsche had been using Paul Ricard for off-season testing for some years as the weather near the Mediterranean was normally favourable, whereas most of Europe was in the thick of winter. And, just as importantly, no other track had a straight as long as Ricard’s Mistral, which, with a length of 1.8kms (1.2 miles), provided a reasonable representation of the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières at Le Mans. Unfortunately, when the test personnel arrived at the circuit, the track was as white as the unmarked 956 they had brought. Unexpected snow had fallen, and it was not until the next day that Jacky Ickx could put the first laps on the new car.

Chassis 956 005 had been scheduled for build before the Kyalami Nine Hours in 1982, but lack of time and staff meant that it was only finished on 11 February 1983, just a few days before the team’s pre-booked week at Paul Ricard.5 Unlike the 1982 cars, 956 005 featured a lighter monocoque made of thinner (1.0mm) aluminium sheets and with large holes cut in the floor cross member to further reduce weight; during

1982 not a single crack had appeared in any of the four works monocoques so it was clear that some weight could be saved. The front part of the chassis now also allowed for a deeper ‘Singer dent’ in order to increase downforce with the aim of eliminating as much of the characteristic understeer as possible. To this end, the nose section of the bodywork had also been further refined, with a steeper front ending in a thinner leading edge between the double headlights; at Le Mans, however, the car would still run with the ‘blunt’ 1982 nose section and with the ‘Singer dent’ covered. Further lightening was achieved by having the bodywork and underbody now made mainly of carbon fibre and Kevlar, giving a total weight reduction of 45kg, enough to put the car close to the 800kg weight limit. On the outside windscreen frame, the fire extinguisher switch was relocated further forward, ahead of the kill switch, rather than the other way round as on the 1982 cars.

As most drivers had complained about heavy steering, the front suspension pick-up points were altered to provide more favourable geometry, with caster angle increased from +2 degrees to +4, and the number of teeth on the steering rack reduced from 10 to 8. Rear tyres grew in diameter from 650mm to 680mm, while there was a plan to introduce at some point during the season front wheels of 13in width rather than 12in. Dunlop had further developed its Denloc ‘safety’ tyre, as first raced at Kyalami in 1982, to the point where the factory team would use it exclusively in 1983.

Although Bosch’s Motronic MP1.2 electronic fuel injection remained occasionally troublesome, all works 956-83s would now use it. Together with new pistons with higher crowns, this

■ To save weight, the monocoque on 1983-specification works 956s was made of thinner-gauge aluminium and holes were pierced in the cross member. The following year’s customer-specification 956s did not have these cross-member apertures, although the cars otherwise were technically identical to the 956-83. Trevor Crisp

■ A major improvement on the 956-83 was altered front suspension geometry for improved turn-in, with caster increasing from two degrees (upper) to four (lower). This change was not applied to customer cars until the following year. Trevor Crisp

Sample Spreads


329

Marlboro beats Rothmans

328 Works Porsche 956

Marlboro beats Rothmans

have allowed them another two laps before having to pit. But the three regulars switched on the reserve pump immediately the light came on, pitting a lap short of the preferred pattern. And with the number of pitstops fixed by the rules, there could never be any way to reclaim each lost lap (two laps in the case of the Ickx/Mass car) other than by going slowly near the end of the subsequent stints. A lesson was learned the hard way.6

Sadly, it was the last time most of the European sportscar regulars — team owners, drivers and media alike — would encounter the popular Rolf Stommelen. Two weeks later he was killed in a horrific accident driving a 935 for John Fitzpatrick Racing in an IMSA race at Riverside, California.

■ Al Holbert waits to get into the no. 2 works 956-83 while the mechanics refuel and change the front brake pads. Project manager Norbert Singer and race engineer Klaus Bischof (in the green headsets on the left side of the car) supervise proceedings. The slender leading edge of the new 1983-specification nose section shows well in this view.Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ It was bound to happen at some point, but few expected a privateer 956 to win a WEC round first time out — and therefore become the subject of an official Porsche victory poster.Porsche Historisches Archiv

Back in the wind tunnel

Back home at Weissach, Norbert Singer immediately went to work in the wind tunnel again for two days and a further 41 tests. The base model, CR00, looked as dramatic as a 956 would ever look. The rear wing

mainplane, set at 11 degrees, was again complemented by a second wing-shaped device below it on the engine deck. This was narrower than the previous test wing, now measuring 240mm wide, but with the same 60mm chord. The narrower width was the exact distance between the rear wheel arches, which received prominent endplates extending vertically from the engine deck, with the wing in between and actually extending the ceiling of the venturi upwards. The trailing edge of the ‘deck wing’ sat 40mm in front of the leading edge of the rear wing mainplane above it. The venturi again received impressive fences, extending down to the reference plane and as far back as the bodywork went. With a 10mm front splitter, the base figures set by CR00 were impressive and unlike anything seen yet: 1,909.31kg of downforce for 470.27kg of drag, resulting in a 4.06:1 lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) and a 43.05 per cent front aero balance.

Further tests on the first day featured redesigned sidepods, which curved inboard 15mm at the bottom over a height of 40mm, creating horizontal side splitters along most of the length of the car’s wheelbase that were intended to manage airflow down the side of the car. Test CR12 produced 1791.94kg downforce for 479.19kg of drag and 40.06 per cent front balance. By the end of the day the baseline configuration (CR00) had been developed to configuration CR32 and was showing 1959.34kg of downforce, 470.1kg drag and 43.07 per cent front balance, while L/D had ticked over to 4.12:1.

On the second day, Singer tried something that a year later all privateer 956 owners would run: the add-on front wing. Test CR35 featured a 240mm-wide front wing with an impressive 95mm chord attached to two narrow endplates set between the headlights. With the rear wing set at 14 degrees, eight louvres added to the front wheel arches, cooling slots in the sidepods closed, and the height of the engine deck trailing edge set at 114mm, this test generated 1,930.86kg of downforce for 472.11kg of drag, equivalent to a 4.10:1 L/D and 42.86 per cent front aero balance. Decreasing the front wing angle (test CR37) further lowered downforce, to 1921.95kg, and reduced front balance to 42.64 per cent.

Although this configuration was expected to produce quite a dramatic outcome, the test model showed less downforce than the developed baseline model tested without a front wing, and for slightly less front balance. The only conclusion Singer could draw was that by popping the front wing onto a developed car (CR32), the loss of balance and total downforce must result from the front wing robbing the rear wing of downforce, thereby being a detriment to further front balance and total downforce development.

■ After the Monza race, Norbert Singer continued research into the rear aerodynamics of the 956. Here the wing-shaped engine deck extension has been reduced in width and is mounted between endplates. This way it would help extract air from the venturi and direct air from the top of the car to the rear wing. Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ The idea of horizontal side splitters on the sidepods was further pursued, with the sidepods now curving inboard at the bottom so that the splitters would not exceed the maximum permitted width. Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ A front wing was also tested but changed little in terms of aerodynamic figures and balance. A year later, however, the front wing ‘invented’ by the Richard Lloyd team started a craze with other customer teams after the car won at Brands Hatch, but the fashion soon fizzled out. The works team never ran with a front wing.Porsche Historisches Archiv

1000 Km. di MonzaChampionships: FIA World Endurance Championship of Makes & Drivers, Round 1FIA European Endurance Championship, Round 1Pole position: Piercarlo Ghinzani (I) (Lancia LC2-83), 1m 35.86s, 217.818kph/135.346mphWinners: Thierry Boutsen (B)/Bob Wollek (F) (Porsche 956), 173 laps, 1,003.400kms/623.510 miles, 5h 12m 6.9s, 192.890kph/119.860mphMargin of victory: 1m 12.9sFastest race lap: John Fitzpatrick (GB) (Porsche 956), 1m 40.4s, 207.968kph/129.226mph

Position Number Entrant (team) Drivers (nationality) Chassis Qualifying Status

2nd 1 Rothmans Porsche (Porsche AG) Jacky Ickx (B), Jochen Mass (D) 956 005 3rd –1m 12.9s

7th 2 Rothmans Porsche (Porsche AG) Derek Bell (GB), Al Holbert (USA) 956 007 4rd –12 laps

First-named driver took start; driver in bold set qualifying time

1 Wyss: Motorsport Aktuell, 13 April 1983, Der Kunde ist König, p. 10.2 Needell: Autosport (GB), 31 March 1983, Canon fire, p. 29.3 Wyss: op. cit., p. 10.4 Teissèdre: Autohebdo, 21 April 1983, Petites explications d’une grande journée, p. 37.5 Teissèdre: Autohebdo, 14 April 1983, Absteinach 1–Stuttgart 0, p. 66.6 Schmitt: Sport Auto (D), May 1983, Höhere Mathematik, p. 81.

Endnotes

Sample Spreads


448 449The new Emperor

The new Emperor

Works Porsche 956

only the 956s of Obermaier and Schornstein — the gentlemen’s club — remained to 1983 specification.

The Porsche works team fielded an unchanged driver line-up for 1984. While the continued involvement of Jacky Ickx, Jochen Mass and Derek Bell was a mere formality, getting Stefan Bellof to sign his contract was a long process that was only concluded in January. Over winter Bellof took his first steps towards F1, his ultimate goal, testing with both McLaren and Arrows. While the McLaren test amounted to a courtesy towards Porsche through the engine connection, the other test was instigated by BMW, who, as forthcoming engine supplier to Arrows, wanted a young German star in the team. A contract was offered but eventually Bellof turned down the Arrows opportunity.

According to Willi Maurer, Bellof ’s manager, there were three reasons. First, there was the duration of the deal, three years, which Maurer considered too long. ‘Absolutely out of

the question,’ he said. ‘Nobody can be bound for three years. If after two years Stefan wants to go to Brabham or McLaren, he can’t.’12 The second reason was that BMW insisted that the contract was with them rather than with the Arrows team. ‘If Stefan gets an offer from McLaren after a year or two, he can’t go because they run a Porsche engine.’13 And the third concerned the state of readiness of the new Arrows-BMW A7. ‘I wanted to have a guarantee that the Arrows-BMW would be ready [at the start of the season],’ Maurer said. ‘BMW could not and would not give such a guarantee. [Jackie] Oliver said that this would be possible at the sixth or seventh race of the season at the earliest, and then only one car for [Marc] Surer or [Thierry] Boutsen. Bellof would have one at the earliest at Hockenheim, and until that time he would have to run at the back of the field with a Cosworth engine.’14 Maurer additionally said he believed that Niki Lauda and Alain Prost would fall out at McLaren at some point, freeing up a seat for Bellof.15

■ In early 1984 Norbert Singer spent more time developing ideas for the low-downforce Le Mans version of the 956. On test LMB10, the sidepods were equipped with a wing-like shape that blended rearwards from the front fender well and towards the venturi. This ‘wing profile’ was very reminiscent of that on the pioneering Lotus 78 F1 car seven years earlier. Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ In the pursuit of speed and aerodynamic efficiency, and therefore fuel economy, rear wheel covers were also tested. Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ A lot of wind tunnel time was spent investigating ways to extract as much hot air as possible from the wheel arches, hence these cut-outs in the sidepods ahead of the doors. Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ One of the later tests, LMB32, included rearward-extending rear wheel arches, with the trailing edge venturi fences extending down to the reference plane. Note the absence of a rear wing. Porsche Historisches Archiv

■ This is a similar variant but with a trumpet-like gearbox shroud designed to draw air out of the engine bay. Hot air from the rear wheel arches was extracted through the openings between the fences. Porsche Historisches ArchivSample Spreads


506 507Works Porsche 956 Porsche Doppel-Kupplung

Porsche Doppel-Kupplung

■ Technical drawing and cutaway of the innovative Porsche Doppel-Kupplung (PDK) gearbox. It was not until 2008 that the system found its way into Porsche’s road models. Porsche Historisches Archiv

in anger. The car was present under the watchful eyes of Peter Falk, Norbert Singer and PDK project leader Rainer Wüst, who patiently explained the system to the press. With the WEC title already secured, there was no pressure on Porsche to do anything else but test, hence the unusual driver pairing of old hand Ickx and new recruit Watson.

As far as Lancia was concerned, the presence of a factory Porsche added a potential sweetener. Should Lancia win, it would be a first victory against the works Porsche team, and no matter that the competition was only a test hack. The chances of Lancia success looked good in the first qualifying session, not just because one of the team’s F1 hotshoes set some spectacular lap times but also because the PDK transmission exploded on Ickx’s very first out-lap. When he shifted from second to third gear approaching the Agraria chicane, one of the clutches disintegrated and launched the disc through the rear bodywork. And this was not the first instance as another PDK unit had broken in one of the previous day’s free practice sessions

This was a very poor show indeed, especially as the car had managed thousands of kilometres in testing without any setbacks other than the usual teething problems. What was more, pieces of the disintegrating clutch also damaged the rear suspension and the undertray and took chunks out of the rear bodywork, as if a grenade had detonated. Fortunately, the car could be repaired in time for the second qualifying session in the afternoon and Norbert Singer wisely decided to have a regular clutch fitted. Experimenting with innovations was one thing, but potentially failing to qualify was quite another, and certainly not acceptable.

Midday rain showers were a most unwelcome surprise for

the works Porsche team and potentially an obstacle to the need to set a decent time. Although the rain stopped just before qualifying began, the task for Ickx was nevertheless daunting. However, he simply flew in the overweight, under-developed old warhorse, setting the sixth fastest time of the session, good enough for an unusual 24th position on the starting grid, sandwiched between a Porsche 935 and a Ferrari 512BB from a bygone era. He would have a charge from behind on his hands in the race.

Unfortunately, it never came. On the very first lap of the race, with the PDK transmission installed once again, Ickx found himself with only first and second gears. The crew fiddled with the gearbox for some 15 minutes and sent the Belgian out again, but another lap later he was back for good. The PDK’s very first competitive outing had lasted only two laps. Watson tried the PDK clutch again the following weekend in a DRM race at the Nürburgring, but similar setbacks meant that he could not even start the race.

What of the rest of the proceedings at Imola? Although Patrese started his Lancia from pole, everything soon turned sour for the three-car Italian team. On only his second lap

■ At Imola, the Porsche works team made a rare appearance at a Drivers-only WEC round, with Jacky Ickx and John Watson given the task of débuting Porsche’s PDK transmission in race conditions. But after lots of difficulties in practice and qualifying, the WEC début of the PDK, installed in old warhorse 956003, lasted a grand total of two laps. Malcolm Bryan

Sample Spreads


544 545Encore

Encore

Works Porsche 956

his Lancia team-mate, and Palmer soon got the Canon Porsche past Wollek as well and took aim at the leader, hitting the front on lap 9. It was an inspired effort by the Englishman and he remained in command until the first pitstops on lap 38.

The first Porsche to encounter trouble, on lap 14, was Boutsen’s. Under braking at the end of Hangar Straight, the Brun 962C’s front left stub axle broke and the wheel parted company. Fortunately, the Belgian managed to keep his three-wheeler on the track and got back to the pits, but repairs cost nine laps. Just one lap later, Gartner also lost a front wheel on his JFR 956/84, but without damage to the car. A misfire forced Ludwig’s Joest 956 into the pits on lap 27 but no cause could be found and the car stuttered its way through the rest of the race. Fouché was struggling in the Kremer 956/84 as it had lost third gear on the opening lap and he took his first pitstop early, on lap 33.

The Rothmans trio pitted in sequence, Schuppan in the camera car on lap 34, Bell on lap 35 and Mass on lap 36. The fuel consumption of the ‘proper’ works cars fell well within the parameters: the ‘BEST’ car took on 86 litres, giving 53.612L/100kms (5.269mpg), while the ‘MIX’ car’s 87 litres

equated to 52.686L/100kms (5.362mpg). Peter Falk was a happy man. But at Lancia, Cesare Fiorio was even happier when both his LC2-85s pitted on lap 37: the Patrese car’s 91 litres worked out at 52.129L/100kms (5.419mpg) and Wollek’s figures were 89 litres and 50.984L/100kms (5.541mpg). Despite Palmer’s pace at the front, he was a late visitor, on lap 38, and his car’s consumption was encouraging too, with 92 litres giving 51.315L/100kms (5.505mpg). Both Falk and Fiorio knew they were in for a tough fight if the RLR car could maintain this speed and fuel efficiency, but other Porsche privateers with hopes of victory were acutely aware that there was already little chance. For one of them it really was over: López accelerated out of the pitlane in JFR’s 956 102, on cold tyres, and lost control just before rejoining, the car spinning right across the track and slamming into the barriers on the outside of Copse.

When the order settled down, the RLR 956 remained in front with Lammers now at the helm, followed by the Lancias of Nannini and Baldi, the Joest 956 of Ludwig (who had pitted early), Surer’s Kremer 962C, Ickx’s works 962C and Sigala’s Brun 956. Then, a lap behind, came the other two works

cars, Stuck from Weaver, with Regout 10th and Gartner 11th. Lammers was taking things a little easier now, running at 1.1-bar boost and keeping the engine below 6,800rpm with the aim of completing a 41-lap stint in order to stay on the five-stop fuel schedule, but his lead was never threatened.

The second round of pitstops gave an even clearer indication of the Canon Porsche’s superior fuel strategy, Lammers proving to be one of the late arrivals on lap 79, having achieved his 41-lap target. The two main works Porsches were much earlier stoppers, on laps 72 (Stuck) and 73 (Mass), while both Lancias came in on lap 75, as did fourth-placed Surer. The RLR car stopped for a little longer than its rivals, simply because it needed more fuel after Lammers’s long stint, but it remained in front when Palmer rejoined. That situation soon changed: Patrese in the second-placed Lancia stepped up the pace, forcing Palmer to do the same, and within five laps the Italian was in a position to pounce. His opportunity came three laps later, courtesy of a backmarker, but Palmer had no intention of yielding and got the Canon 956 back in front after a further four laps. It was a superb duel and the spectators loved it.

Then disaster struck. On lap 103 the Canon Porsche’s

left front wheel came off in the high-speed curve at Abbey. Palmer, gutted, crawled the short distance to the pits, where the crew took 11 minutes to replace the broken hub. This left the Lancias running 1–2, Patrese with a 35-second cushion over Wollek.

Three laps after the RLR mishap, Bell brought the no. 2 Rothmans Porsche into the pits much earlier than expected. The windscreen had loosened and while the crew thought about a way to fix it, the car was refuelled and sent on its way again with Stuck aboard. Two laps later, Stuck returned to have the windscreen taped and clamped, a makeshift repair that took less than a minute, but it was enough to put the hybrid works car a lap behind. ‘In the corners the windscreen was so far away from the frame I could stuck my fist through the hole,’ Stuck said. ‘We will now lose the race because of it.’2 At about the same time, the Hobbs/Gartner JFR 956/84 retired with broken transmission.

Wollek and Mass began the third round of pitstops on lap 110, then Winkelhock’s Kremer came in on lap 113 and leader Patrese on lap 115, leaving Larrauri in the Brun 956 in front for two laps before he stopped. Once the servicing had been

■ All four works drivers used the 956004 T-car — bearing no. 1T as pictured — during practice and qualifying, mainly for fuel consumption tests.John S. Allen

■ During the race morning warm-up, the engine of the Rothmans camera car expired and with no spare engines available it seemed that there would be no footage of race action. But then Sean Roberts of Rothmans got the works team to release its T-car to Richard Lloyd Racing, which was running the camera car as usual, and so 956004 took part in its very last race as the no. 69 Rothmans 956-83.Motorsport Images/LAT

■ The regular Rothmans camera car made its first cameo appearance of the season at Silverstone, carrying no. 69. Entered, as in 1984, by Richard Lloyd Racing, 956 008 — aka ‘956 007’ — was crewed throughout practice and qualifying by factory driver Vern Schuppan and Porsche débutant James Weaver, but the car was unable to start the race because of its engine failure during the morning warm-up. John S. Allen

■ During one of the free practice sessions, the camera car briefly ran as no. 1 (rather than no. 69) in order to obtain film for a TV commercial. This meant that the real no. 1 962C had to stay in the pits during that time. It has not been recorded who drove ‘956 007’ when it ran as no. 1 but it is likely to have been Vern Schuppan. McKleinSample Spreads


559Norbert Singer558 Works Porsche 956

Chapter 39

Norbert Singer

List the most influential technical directors in sportscar racing in the 20th century, and five would feature at the top: Britons Tony Southgate, Nigel Stroud and Gordon Murray; Frenchman André de Cortanze; and

German Norbert Singer. All five designed cars that achieved the most coveted of all

motorsport victories — the Le Mans 24 Hours.Southgate drew the second-generation Ford C100 before that

programme was unexpectedly cancelled, and took the experience to Tom Walkinshaw Racing to develop the successful Jaguars XJR-6, 8 and 9, which won Le Mans in 1988 and 1990. Stroud redesigned the Porsche 956 for Richard Lloyd Racing and then developed the Mazda that won in 1991. Cortanze directed the technical aspects of all Peugeot’s motorsport programmes, and won them all: the World Rally Championship in 1985–86; the Paris–Dakar rally raid from 1987 to 1990; the famous Pike’s Peak hillclimb in Colorado in 1988–89; and Le Mans with the 905 Evo in 1992–93. Murray penned the McLaren F1 road car and later developed a racing version, the F1 GTR, which won Le Mans at its first attempt in 1995.

Singer stands out from these men. He was involved with every one of Porsche’s 16 Le Mans victories between 1970 and 1998, and was the project leader on the later 936 models, the 956s and 962s, the WSC Spyder, and the 911 GT1-98. While the others, before or after their Le Mans successes, worked with other manufacturers or teams and in other motorsport disciplines, Singer started his career at Porsche and stayed with the manufacturer until his retirement in 2004.

It’s not rocket scienceBorn in the small town of Eger,1 in the Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia, in November 1939, Singer relocated with his family to Würzburg, north of Stuttgart, after the war. Having finished school, where he excelled in physics and mathematics, he enrolled at the University of Munich. After a basic study in mechanical engineering, he opted to specialise in two fields: rocket science and automotive engineering. Inspiring lectures by Hermann Oberth and Wernher von Braun — respectively the architect of the German aerospace programme and the father of the Nazi V2 rocket programme, both then working for NASA in America — convinced Singer that his future lay in space exploration.

By 1969, aged 30, Singer graduated as a certified engineer2 in both fields. He undertook his internship with an expert in vehicle dynamics, Hans-Hermann Braes, who convinced him to forget about aerospace. ‘You have the wrong passport to work in space science,’ Braess told him. ‘You need to be American or French. They invest a lot in space science, but in Germany the government spends very little and, if they stopped it, you would lose your job. You should go for automotive, because we have some fine car companies that can offer you a career — Mercedes, Opel, Porsche, VW, Ford, BMW.’3

Singer had an interest in motor racing and — following a passion for photography — had made trips to F1 Grands Prix at the Nürburgring and also to Monaco on one occasion. Through Braess, Singer secured a job interview early in February 1970 with Porsche’s Peter Falk, then head of the company’s vehicle dynamics department. The interview went well and Falk ended the conversation by saying that Singer, should he get a contract, would have to start on 1 March 1970, just in time for the beginning of the European sportscar racing season.

By the end of February, a contract had not arrived, so Singer was convinced that he had failed to make a lasting impression after all. But on the first Monday of March, after a stroll into town, he came home to find that Porsche had telephoned and needed him to report for duty the following morning. The company had forgotten to send the contract and had only realised when its latest recruit had not turned up for work.

The archiTecT

■ Norbert Singer was crucially involved with each of Porsche’s first 16 Le Mans wins. With the Typs 956 and 962 he designed the ultimate racing machine, the success of which is unlikely ever to be beaten.Malcolm Bryan

Sample Spreads


702 703Chassis histories

956004

Works Porsche 956

5 Sep 1982 1000 km. Spa Trophée Diners Club, Spa-Francorchamps (B) (WECM&D)

2 Rothmans Porsche Team(Porsche AG)

Rothmans Derek Bell (GB)Vern Schuppan (AUS)

935/762,649cc

Porsche air-water 7.5:1 KKKK26-3060 G10.11

Bosch Motronic MP1.2

956/001: 17/342: 18/253: 25/284: 28/255: 30/23

Shell TMO-SRShell S.6909

Bilstein Speedline 12x1615x16

Dunlop 280/600x16350/650x16

PorscheAte/Porsche

RaybestosDS11

800 2nd2m 15.62sBell

2nd+3 laps

Car fitted with fully electronic Bosch Motronic MP1.2 injection system for first time. Also equipped with aluminium undertray instead of steel version. Compression ratio increased to 7.5:1. Top speed of 291.7kph (181.3mph) in FP1. Bell set time on qualifying tyres. Bell took start and dropped to 5th on lap 1, behind Patrese (Lancia), Surer (Ford), Ghinzani (Lancia) and Ickx (works 956), and ahead of Winkelhock (Ford), Boutsen (Rondeau), Heyer (Sauber) and Keegan (Lola). On lap 8, passed by Stommelen (Kremer) for 5th. Passed Surer for 5th on lap 20. Pitted on lap 25 for fuel (97L = 57.938L/100kms) and tyres. Ran 4th after pitstop sequence. By lap 40, had dropped to 6th after misfire when low on fuel. Pitted on lap 48 for driver changes, tyres and fuel (90L = 56.093L/100kms) Schuppan rejoined. Moved up to 4th by lap 60, one lap behind leaders. Schuppan pitted on lap 71 (90L = 56.093L/100kms). Pitted again on lap 96 to hand over to Bell for final two stints (95L = 54.472L/100kms). On lap 100, ran 3rd behind Mass (works 956) and Alboreto (Lancia). Last pitstop on lap 122 (93L = 51.275L/100kms). Took 2nd place on last lap when Lancia ran out of fuel.

Sep 1982 Private testWeissach (D)

– Rothmans Porsche (Porsche AG)

Rothmans Roland Kussmaul (D) 935/762,649cc



956/00 Shell TMO-SRShell S.6909


Dunlop 280/600x16350/650x16

PorscheAte/Porsche

RaybestosDS11

800 – – Shake-down for Brands Hatch WEC race.

3 Oct 1982 World Endurance Championship in Japan, Fuji (J) (WECM&D)

2 Rothmans Porsche (Porsche AG)

Rothmans Derek Bell (GB)Vern Schuppan (AUS)Jochen Mass (D)

935/762,649cc





Dunlop 280/600x16350/650x16

PorscheAte/Porsche

RaybestosDS11

800 4th1m 13.13sBell

DNFSuspension (141 laps)

CR increased to 8.0:1. Blown tyre damaged suspension and forced car to retire. Bell took start and ran 2nd behind Ickx (works 956), ahead of Alboreto (Lancia), Patrese (Lancia) and Pescarolo (Rondeau). Took lead on lap 2. Pitted on lap 43 for fuel (97L = 51.751L/100kms) and tyres. Lost 7mins with ruptured oil line. Schuppan rejoined 8th, 4 laps down on leaders. Schuppan pitted again on lap 86 for fuel (52.284L/100kms), oil (4.5L), tyres and driver change. Moved up to 4th after 2 hours. Bell pitted again after 130 laps for fuel, tyres and driver change. Stayed 4th until tyre blew on lap 141, damaging gearbox and suspension. Retired in pits after damage inspection. First DNF of the season for a 956.

Oct 1982 Private testWeissach (D)

– Porsche System (Porsche AG)

Rothmans – 935/76?2,649cc


KugelfisherVIPL 105-12-17



Dunlop 280/600x16350/650x16

PorscheAte/Porsche

Ferodo & Raybestos DS11

800 – – Shake-down for Kyalami NC race.

6 Nov 1982 Castrol 9 Hour, Kyalami (RSA) (NC)

4 Rothmans (Porsche AG)

Rothmans Derek Bell (GB)Vern Schuppan (AUS)Jürgen Barth (D)

935/762,649cc

Porsche air-water 8.0:1 KKK K27.3060 11.11

Kugelfisher VIPL 105-12-17



Dunlop 280/600x16350/650x16

PorscheAte/Porsche

RaybestosDS11

800 2nd1m 13.87sBell

2nd+1 lap

Car fitted with so-called ‘Kyalami Set’ including larger water radiator and bigger K27 turbochargers, this due to high altitude of circuit. After this race, ‘Kyalami Set’ became standard on all 956s, allowing cooling vents in undertray of car to be closed. No Dunlop Denloc tyres for this car due to insufficient supplies. Motronic fuel injection caused engine to misfire in 1st qualifying session. Switched to regular Kugelfischer for second qualifying session and remainder of weekend. Bell took start and ran 2nd behind Mass (works 956), and ahead of Wollek (Joest 936) and Fitzpatrick (JFR 935). Pitted on lap 38 for fuel (95L = 60.916L/100kms), tyres and driver change, Schuppan rejoining 2nd. On lap 54, ran 2nd behind Ickx (works 956), and ahead of Martin (Brunn 908/03 Turbo), Merl (Joest 936C) and Fitzpatrick. Lost 2 laps on leaders by 2nd pitstop sequence. Pitted on lap 77 for fuel (98L = 59.698L/100kms), tyres and driver change. Stayed 2nd overall for remainder of race. Pitted again on lap 117 for fuel (92L = 56.043L/100kms), oil (3L), tyres and driver. Pitted on lap 160 for fuel (91L = 51.566L/100kms), tyres and driver. Pitted on lap 205 for fuel (95.5L = 50.087L/100kms), tyres and driver. Pitted on lap 234 (reason unknown). Pitted on lap 251 for fuel (93L = 49.263L/100kms), tyres and driver. Pitted on lap 294 for fuel (94L = 53.266L/100kms), oil (1L), tyres and driver. Pitted on lap 334 for fuel (88L = 53.606L/100kms) tyres and driver. Finished 2nd, making up 4 laps from 5-lap deficit when sister car suffered misfire during final hour.

Dec 1982 Private testPaul Ricard (F)

3 –(Porsche AG)

Rothmans Jacky Ickx (B)Derek Bell (GB)Jochen Mass (D)Stefan Bellof (D)

935/762,649cc





Dunlop 280/600x16350/650x16

PorscheAte/Porsche

RaybestosDS11

800 – – 4-day test. Ickx, Mass and Bell concentrated on different set-ups, while Bellof had first 956 experience and worked on engine-related issues. Bellof’s best time: 1m 47.8s.

■ Jürgen Barth hurtling down the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières at top speed aboard 956004. Jean-Marc Teissèdre

■ At the end of 1982, leading German automotive monthly Sport Auto wanted to know whether the fuel consumption formula of Group C really did something for engine development and challenged Porsche to demonstrate that the 956 was indeed a fuel-efficient car when driven in everyday circumstances. Probably to the magazine’s surprise, it was! Note the license plate taped to the nose section. Motor Presse Stuttgart

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748 749Chassis histories

956 009

Works Porsche 956

10 Dec 1983 Castrol 1000, Kyalami (RSA) (WECM&D)

2 Porsche/Rothmans (Porsche AG)

Rothmans Derek Bell (GB)Stefan Bellof (D)

935/762,649cc


BoschMotronic MP1.2

956/001: 17/342: 23/303: 26/274: 29/245: 32/22



Dunlop Denloc

305/600-415350/680-415

PorscheAte/Porsche

RaybestosDS11

800 1st1m 10.88sBellof

1st5h 44m 6.50s

Unlike other two 956s did not run high CR (9.0:1) engine in practice. Car equipped with air scoops on doors for cockpit ventilation. Bellof qualified on pole. In night practice, hit two meerkats, requiring new nose section on car. Took lead at start of race, closely followed by Mass (works 956-83) for three laps before pulling away at half a second per lap. Led from Mass, Stuck (Brun 956), Patrese (Lancia), Lammers (GTI 956), Boutsen (JFR 956), Ghinzani (Lancia) and Wollek (Joest 956). Led by 9secs on lap 20. Lost lead on lap 21 when stuck in dense traffic. Led again by 5secs on lap 30, after Mass had been stuck in traffic as well. Pitted on lap 42, 15secs ahead of sister car, for fuel (96L = 55.695L/100kms), tyres and driver change. Bell rejoined 57secs clear of Ickx (works 956-83), after Belgian’s mechanics had problems with air hose and then could not restart engine. Steered clear of troubles when rain hit track and led by one lap after Ickx spun off. Pitted on lap 51 for rain tyres. Rain stopped by lap 70, but Bell stayed out until lap 82 in order to stay on original pitstop schedule. Extra laps on rain tyres on drying track lost lead. Pitted on lap 82 for fuel (83L = 50.560L/100kms), slicks and driver change. Bellof took over for 45-lap stint. Turned down boost, lowered revs from 8,500rpm to 8,000rpm. Pitted on lap 127 for fuel (98.5L = 53.335L/100kms), oil (1L), tyres and driver change. Bell rejoined in lead. Pitted on lap 169 for fuel (92L = 53.374L/100kms), tyres and driver change. Bellof rejoined in lead and pitted on lap 213 for fuel (no data recorded), tyres and driver change. Bell finished race and won by four-lap margin over Lancia.

17 Apr 1984 Private testWeissach (D)


Rothmans Jacky Ickx (B) 935/762,649cc


BoschMotronic MP1.2

956/001: 17/342: 23/313: 26/274: 29/255: 31/22



Dunlop Denloc

300/625-415350/680-415

PorscheAte/Porsche

Raybestos 850 – – Shake-down for Monza WEC race; 13 laps (32.5kms/20.2 miles) completed.

23 Apr 1984 1000 Km. di Monza (I) (WECM&D)


Rothmans Derek Bell (GB)Stefan Bellof (D)Jochen Mass (D)

935/762,649cc


BoschMotronic MP1.2

956/001: 17/342: 23/313: 26/274: 29/255: 31/22



Dunlop Denloc

300/625-415350/680-415

PorscheAte/Porsche

Raybestos 852 1st1m 35.85sBellof

1st5h 6m 15.60s

Car fitted with carbon-fibre undertray. Dunlop-equipped teams (Porsche and Lancia factory teams plus all Porsche privateers bar JFR) agreed not to use qualifying tyres. In total, seven 956 engines failed during free practice and qualifying, probably related to poor organiser-supplied fuel quality. Customer support team ran out of spare engines, only one Motronic engine available and given to JFR for 956 114. Kugelfischer engine located in Weissach and shipped to Italy to replace Joest Motronic unit on 956 104. GTI team (956 106) not affected as it brought own Mobil fuel. Some teams suggested computer fault to blame for engines blowing when turbo pressure adjusted. Bellof set fastest time in Q1. Bellof took start and led from Baldi (Lancia), Palmer (GTI 956), Boutsen (JFR 956/84), Stuck (Brun 956), Patrese (Lancia), Larrauri (Brun 956), Ickx (works 956-83), Ludwig (Joest 956), Keegan (JFR 956), Gabbiani (Lancia), Plankenhorn (Obermaier 956), Merl (Joest 956) and Zorzi (JFR 956). Bellof charged from the start, having a full finish straight lead after just 3 laps. Pitted on lap 27 for fuel (93L = 59.387L/100kms), tyres and driver change, by then lapped everybody except top 6. Bell took over with 40secs lead. Bell pitted on lap 54 for fuel (89L = 56.833L/100kms), tyres and driver change.. Bellof charged hard again, leading Ickx by 45secs on lap 70. Bellof pitted on lap 82 for fuel (95L = 58.497L/100kms), tyres and driver change after 28-lap stint, Bell taking over with 50secs lead. Slow puncture made Bell lose 27secs to Mass (works 956-83). Pitted on lap 108 for fuel (89L = 59.018L/100kms), tyres and driver change to Bellof. From next stint on, max revs set at 8,000rpm for both factory cars in order to save fuel. Pitted on lap 135 for fuel (94.5L = 60.345L/100kms), oil (2L), tyres and driver change to Bell. Boost pressure problem made Bell lose again time to Mass, but stayed in lead to finish. Pitted on lap 162 for fuel (42.5L) only. After the race the car was disqualified for allegedly being 3kg underweight. However, it later turned out the scale used was incorrect and the Porsche was reinstated. Total mileage in practice, qualifying and race: 2,081kms (1,293.1 miles).

■ Although officially relegated to T-car duties, 956 009 made a racing comeback in 1985 when standing in for the Bell/Stuck 962C after it was destroyed by fire during practice at Monza. In order to take part in the Monza race, 956 009 was equipped with the drivetrain of a 962C, and by Silverstone (pictured) it had also acquired 962C front suspension geometry and wheels. After these two races it was run as a T-car for the rest of that year’s WEC season and for the entire 1986 WS-PC season.Motorsport Images/LAT

■ As was customary by now at Le Mans, the Porsche works team entered a T-car with a high-downforce tail, in this case 956 009 backing up the new 962Cs for the 1985 race. Since the computerised timing system could not cope with letters, the ‘1T’ race number was changed into ‘111’. John S. Allen

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