Saturday 25th April 2020

Homolorated! | GT1 sportscars

The nineties were a real purple patch for GT sportscar racing. Behold the icons

---

With the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship set to debut in 2021, fans can once again look forward to the top level of GT racing being derived from road cars. The very wildest road cars the world has ever seen, limited to only the world's very wealthiest, yes, but road cars nonetheless. While LMP1 cars achieved remarkable things for endurance and efficiency, it's probably not unreasonable to suggest they didn't quite connect with fans in the way that racers with street legal roots often do. See how popular the current GT3 and GTE classes are, for example.

With all motorsport postponed for the moment, there seemed no better time to look back on some GT racing greats. And, for many, 1990s GT1 is a real high point, so that's where we'll start. Specifically, it's going to be (mostly) the early cars, heavily modified but with at least some link to the production vehicle, before we get into the world of purpose-built racers then homologated to try and manipulate the rules. We're looking at you Mercedes, Toyota and Nissan... Anyway, without further ado, here's our top six GT1 sports cars.

---

6. Porsche 911 GT1

What was that about avoiding the purpose-built cars? Still, as the sportscar racing gamechanger of the 1990s, as the first to do it (and do it so well) the Porsche deserves a spot.

It's said that the McLaren F1 inspired the 911 GT1. With the McLaren having made the Dauer 962s look like the very old racing cars they were at Le Mans in 1995 (despite a victory for them as late as '94), Porsche set about a new factory sports car for the 1990s. It helped that the BPR Global GT Series, the preeminent series for sportscars back then, was growing in popularity, too. For 1996 an engineering team led by Norbert Singer grafted some 993 front onto a 962 rear (that's simplifying it massively), taking a Le Mans class one-two and mullering the BPR field when it arrived at Brands Hatch for round eight.

In 1997 came the GT1-Evo, then the GT1-98 the year after. By then, the opposition had cottoned on, and Mercedes crushed Porsche in the '97 and '98 FIA GT Championship (as the BPR became) with the CLK GTR and CLK LM respectively, but Porsche took its Le Mans victory with GT1 in 1998. Mercedes' dominance was such that everyone else pulled out for '99, and the GT1 class was cancelled - FIA GT would only be contested by GT2 cars from that year.

As for homologation, there was of course the 911 GT1 Street Version. Derived from the 1997 racer (and only just road usable), it's thought that 25 roadgoing GT1s were made. Three were built with the 993-style headlights, the rest like a 996. In 2012, number five of them sold for $1.2m...

5. Lotus Elise GT1

Because we all like a silly one, right? And the proper, road car-derived GT1s are coming, honest. Lotus had in fact been represented in the BPR Global GT Series since its '94 inauguration with the Esprit GT1, though without much success. Much like Porsche, it wanted a more serious competitor as the series gained traction.

For the 1997 FIA GT Championship, the Elise GT1 was entered. It was obviously a newer design than the Esprit, and with an engine borrowed from the Corvette ZR1 that Lotus helped develop (then twin-turbocharged), it made for a 615hp racer. It wouldn't make for the most successful Lotus ever (and that's being polite), but what a wonderfully barmy idea. That's what qualifies the Elise.

Three GT1s were entered in the 1997 FIA GT Championship, though they could only muster up a best finish of 5th all season - it simply wasn't competitive enough, however good it looked. It's believed that seven GT1 chassis were built (with two becoming the V10-engined Bitter GT1s) including one road car. With a completely different engine and gearbox to the race car. Good old Lotus...

4. Venturi 600LM/SLM

Why the Venturi? Why not! While just a single 600LM was built, Venturi had been involved with sportscar racing before then, the 400 GTR being homologated for Le Mans.

The 600LM, moreover, achieved some success. Having debuted in 1993, the year after the 600 took BPR victories at Spa, Dijon and Montlhery, the twin-turbo V6 proving too much for the F40s and 911s also competing that year. 600LMs became updated SLMs for 1995, and one finished 21st at Le Mans.

The 600LM is notable, in addition, for sort of being the end of conventional Venturi motorsport. There was a sole entrant in the 1997 FIA GT Championship, but no more after that, and 1995 was the final appearance of a Venturi at Le Mans. Sadly, and somewhat unfairly, the 400s and 600s were largely forgotten; given the EV focus the brand has taken on in the 21st century, they're unlikely to be remembered anytime soon either. Shame.

3. Jaguar XJ220-C

While the XJ220 did compete as a GT1 car in 1995 BPR GT, its greatest achievement came in 1993: there was a Martini-liveried, slightly modified road car entered in Italian GT. And it looked awesome. Oh yes, and the actual XJ220C racing car won its class at Le Mans, driven by David Brabham, John Nielsen and David Coulthard. Then was disqualified. Now their car is for sale on PH. Quite the year '93 was...

By the time of the 1995 entry, the '220 had been outclassed somewhat by a car still to be mentioned on this list, and its fate was sealed. But by gum did a racing XJ220 look good, long and low and mean as hell. That it also spawned the XJ220-S, where TWR made six 'regular' XJ220s as close to the racers as possible for the road, only helped its cause. Racing cars don't need to be successful to be memorable, they just need to grab the attention - the XJ220 did that with aplomb.

2. Bugatti EB110

An incredible story of what might have been. The Bugatti EB110 story of the early 1990s was rife with peculiar decisions and events - boss Artioli investing in Lotus being just the start. The GT1 Le Mans 1994 entry was similar: not only was it the first Bugatti to compete at Le Mans since 1939, it was privately entered. French publishing magnate Michel Hommell (who also went on to make the Hommell sports car) entered the car under his name and sponsored the team, with Alain Cudini, Eric Helary and Jean-Christophe Boullion doing the driving.

That was more than just the track driving, too, with the plan for the EB110 to drive to Le Mans from Modena and then home again - just like the good old days of sportscar racing. It was a one-way journey for the team in '94, though. The factory had worked flat out to get the car ready, stripping out hundreds of kilos and prepping it for motorsport with the help of Synergie Automobile and Meca Systeme, but it wasn't to be. The four-wheel drive meant the EB110 was still a bit heavy, and it was unreliable: all four turbos needed to be replaced during the race. Eventually tyre failure and a crash meant the EB110 wouldn't complete Bugatti's glorious Le Mans return, and it seems unlikely that Bugatti will be back on La Sarthe anytime soon. However, for somehow managing to get a quad-turbo V12 hypercar ready for Le Mans in next to no time, the Michel Hommell Bugatti team deserves recognition. Little did anyone know back then, either, that it would probably be the last run at Le Mans for Bugatti - sad for a marque with so much history there.

(N.B. There was also an EB110 made for IMSA, the silver car. See it in action at the BPR '95 Suzuka round here.)

1. McLaren F1 GTR

It couldn't be anything else really, could it? The F1, as you'll know, was designed from the outset purely as a road car, but achieved incredible success as a racer, forcing the other manufacturers into their GT1 specials. It simply outclassed the old opposition, and in some style.

Of course, we know about the Le Mans in 1995, but look at its championship successes as well. Entered into the BPR Global GT series in '95 through an assortment of teams - Gulf Racing, GRT Jacadi, West Competition, Mach One Racing - the F1 took victory in every race bar two. In 1996 a GTR in one livery or another won the first five in succession; by the time that pesky 911 GT1 arrived, there was only one BPR GT '96 event a McLaren F1 hadn't won, and it still won both drivers' and team's championships. Again. That's some legacy.

But then, just like that, it was done. Team BMW Motorsport entered the new Longtail GTRs in the '97 FIA GT Championship in an attempt to keep up, and took wins, but the CLK GTRs were already proving their dominance - Bernd Schneider won the driver's title, and Mercedes the same for manufacturers. Sportscar racing had changed forever.

A quarter of a century after that legendary Le Mans victory, however, and the F1's star shines as bright as ever. The looks, the history, that sensational V12 and the famous liveries have ensured that. Apparently the road car wasn't bad, either...

---

Read Homolorated! | Group A here

Read Homolorated! | Group B here

 

 

 

[whp1983]

Fabulous little article and some sensational cars and stories.
The LMP 1 and 2 series leave me a little uninspired so very much looking forward to seeing how the new hypercars work out.

[anonymous-user]

Why only six? This was a fantastic era of racing, despite racing against the faster LMP900/675s, the GTs were brilliant races within a race. I loved the breadth of racing but there are a few omissions, and for me, a GT car is the classic front engine rear wheel drive format. The Viper was probably the most iconic of all GTs simply for not being a 911 and for winning it’s class three times in a row at Le Mans.



...the Panoz made the best noise



And the Factory C5Rs are as iconic as the Viper...

[1781cc]

The Oreca team were perennials in the Viper, picking up wins and always present at races, I always used to follow their progress, loved the Viper till I drove one (albeit an RT/10) but in blue or white with the stripes and a huge wing, with bonnet vents, it looked amazing.

As for the EB110, every time I see one of them in pictures, be it racing spec or normal, it just pulls at my heartstrings.

[Turbobanana]

Nice article, made me realise how much I love this era of motorsport as I have most of these in Scalextric form!

Also made me aware of the main omission for me: Marcos LM.

[DoubleD]

I love that F1, simply the best looking endurance car ever.

[Bahnstormer]

An Elise GT-1 would be so much fun on the roads, perhaps a bit wide for B-roads maybe !

[Evilex]

Does the Merc CLK GTR not count? And (at a push) the Nissan R390? Both awesome cars.

[Esceptico]

Whilst living in Zurich a friend recommended a small Porsche specialist where he had bought a 993. I dropped by to look over the place. It was indeed small. Just the owner and maybe one other person. A variety of Porsches he was working on - including a GT1. To say it was surprise to see it there is an understatement. Only one I’ve seen. Although to top that some time later I was looking at buying a Caterham. There is only one dealer in Switzerland (Kumschick - from memory - might be spelt wrong). When I got there to chat about the Caterham I had a look around and he had not one hit three EB110s. He was a bit eccentric. Raced old formula 1 cars. Quite successfully I think.

[giveitfish]

Great article. Didn’t know the story behind thenXJ220, just read the detailed ad and it was fascinating (and typical of the ACO too, to ban a car out of spite)

[jw673]

article said:

a single 600LM was built

A Venturi () "600 LM 1994" currently for sale - "No reserve"

and one of my favourites from YouTube:

Speciale Bugatti Corse - Le uniche due EB110 da competizione (Le Mans & IMSA) - Davide Cironi (SUBS)

I particularly enjoyed, as I do in practice, one of the engineer’s descriptions of attempting to put yourself in the mindset of someone else to try and reverse engineer why they came to the conclusions they did - when the only information you have is the end state. Sometimes it is possible, time is saved, and additional useful information is gleaned from this shortcut process. Other times you have no choice but to start the problem solving from the beginning, only to arrive at exactly the same solution(s) after a considerable amount of time; probably also discovering exactly the same "gotchas" along the way that the original person arrived at.

[BIRMA]

The Lotus GT1 is a nice looking car, I managed to pester the owner of this one at a big Lotus Gathering at Donnington to remove the rear cover so everyone could have a good look. Fabulous piece of kit.
I thought the owner said it was a modified version of the V8 in my late V8 Esprit.

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 25th April 10:14

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 25th April 10:17

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 25th April 10:22

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 25th April 10:23

[MCBrowncoat]

pablo said:

Why only six? This was a fantastic era of racing, despite racing against the faster LMP900/675s, the GTs were brilliant races within a race. I loved the breadth of racing but there are a few omissions, and for me, a GT car is the classic front engine rear wheel drive format. The Viper was probably the most iconic of all GTs simply for not being a 911 and for winning it’s class three times in a row at Le Mans.

I may stand corrected but I don't think the Viper or Corvette were ever GT1 cars were they?

There was also this:

[s m]

Esceptico said:

Whilst living in Zurich a friend recommended a small Porsche specialist where he had bought a 993. I dropped by to look over the place. It was indeed small. Just the owner and maybe one other person. A variety of Porsches he was working on - including a GT1. To say it was surprise to see it there is an understatement. Only one I’ve seen.

Autocar road tested one of the road cars

The inexorable march of progress means you can get similar performance for a lot less now but it looks a real ‘occasion’ to drive

[HM-2]

BIRMA said:

I thought the owner said it was a modified version of the V8 in my late V8 Esprit.

My understanding was also that they initially ran the 3.5 twin turbo V8 from the Esprit (featuring in the one road car) and subsequently this was replaced with the turbocharged GM V8 due to reliability issues.

[BIRMA]

HM-2 said:

My understanding was also that they initially ran the 3.5 twin turbo V8 from the Esprit (featuring in the one road car) and subsequently this was replaced with the turbocharged GM V8 due to reliability issues.

Okay, so the car I took the photos of at Donnington was the only road version then, In the photos you can see Lotus on one of the engine banks plus it had a number plates.

[big_rob_sydney]

I'm not quite sure why, but I've lost the love for F1 that I had for many years. However, I've never lost the love for Group A racing, and anything else that resembles road cars. At least there's a connection to something you can go out and buy.

[Addymk2]

I saw presumably that yellow TWR XJ220 on the A34 near Newbury around 10 years ago now.

I nearly binned my car into the central reservation I was so shocked. Epic presence on the road

[Pericoloso]

I went to LM24 in 1995 and 96 ,so apart from the McLaren win first time out and seeing them again the second year ,I missed

out on most of the GT1 stuff but I did see a BPR race at Brands Hatch later on which definitely had the Porsche present.

[FourWheelDrift]

BPR Global Endurance series 1995 season review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00sajnnokU before the FIA got hold of it and ruined it.

GT1 entrants. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_BPR_Global_GT_S... along with the GT2 and GT3s.

[anonymous-user]

I saw that Lotus near Leeds castle a few years ago, it didn't half sound nice.