RE: Chris Harris video: Porsche 962
Discussion
Ahonen said:
LotusOmega375D said:
I hate that Porsche 962.
My brother and I and tens of thousands of other Brits descended on Le Mans to see the Silk Cut Jaguars finally wrench the 24 Heures off Porsche. Let's not beat about the bush: the 956/962 dominance of Group C racing and LM in particular up until that point was just plain boring. That 962 made it 7 wins in a row for Porsche. We had to wait another year for Jaguar to win. That's when it got more interesting for me and other manufacturers seriously joined in (Mercedes, Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Toyota etc.), rather than it being just the might of Porsche versus the masses of underfunded Privateer teams.
I'm delighted you were there to witness this car's LM victory though. In '87 the other manufacturers were racing at LM: Sauber Mercedes withdrew after qualifying, the Mazdas raced in their own class (as ever), Toyota had a pair of factory 87Cs, Nissan had a trio of March-built works cars and Jaguar were getting beaten again. The only one missing from your list was Peugeot. My brother and I and tens of thousands of other Brits descended on Le Mans to see the Silk Cut Jaguars finally wrench the 24 Heures off Porsche. Let's not beat about the bush: the 956/962 dominance of Group C racing and LM in particular up until that point was just plain boring. That 962 made it 7 wins in a row for Porsche. We had to wait another year for Jaguar to win. That's when it got more interesting for me and other manufacturers seriously joined in (Mercedes, Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Toyota etc.), rather than it being just the might of Porsche versus the masses of underfunded Privateer teams.
Look at the Group C1 finishers: only 6 were even classified, of which the top 3 were 962s, the 4th was a Porsche-engined Cougar followed by a lone Jaguar and a Rondeau as distant last (95 laps behind the winner!). That doesn't sound like the results of a truly mixed grid of full factory-backed efforts to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_24_Hours_of_Le_M...
Thanks, thoroughly enjoyed watching that. I was particularly fascinated by the description of the spool diff and astonished that it worked so well. I know the Le Mans track layout has changed somewhat since '87, and is mostly open and flowing, but there are still some slower, tighter corners such as Mulsanne and Arnage to contend with. Was it just an accepted compromise that the tyres would get scrubbed in exchange for better traction? Would the drivers have to adopt a point and squirt style? Interesting stuff.
One of my all-time favourite cars. And Herr Singer sounds like he would be a great bloke to chat cars with over a beer or two.Fantastic video, well done Chris. Awesome car also. Norbert Singer aside from all of the brilliant things he will be remembered for in relation to motorsport for some reason he comes into my head as the man who used to test the spoilers on the Porsche road cars by sitting on them (Carrera GT for instance) or am I thinking of the wrong man completely and sullying a fantastic reputation.
DonkeyApple said:
Digga said:
Weren't most TVRs designed around a Marlbro packet? 
I certainly heard that the Chim was designed around some fags. 
Nothing wrong with catering for a culturally diverse customer base. Actually though, I was thinking more about Mr Wheelers insistance that there was somewhere to stash a packet of 20 and that the cigar lighter was near to hand.Anyway, when does Monkey meet Typhon?
There's something seriously likeable about Porsche when it comes to their historic fleet.
The videos of the museum collection and behind the scenes work showed the passion of the employees to preserve all of their great creations and stuff like this only enhances that feeling.
Singer is a wonderful man as well.
Great, informative stuff Mr. Harris, looking forward to the next one.
The videos of the museum collection and behind the scenes work showed the passion of the employees to preserve all of their great creations and stuff like this only enhances that feeling.
Singer is a wonderful man as well.
Great, informative stuff Mr. Harris, looking forward to the next one.
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