C11

C11, C.XI, C-11 or C.11 may refer to:

Transport

Science and technology

Mercedes-Benz C11

The Mercedes-Benz C11 was a Group C prototype race car introduced for the 1990 World Sports-Prototype Championship. Built by Sauber as a successor to the Sauber C9, the C11 used the same Mercedes-Benz M119 5.0L Biturbocharged V8. It was the first time that Mercedes-Benz chose to put their name on the car, instead of simply using Sauber.

Debuting at the first race of the 1990 World Sports-Prototype Championship, the car did not actually race, choosing instead to run only in practice while the team used the reliable C9 from the previous year. However, for the 2nd race the C11 did race, and was able to successfully come home with first and second. Throughout the rest of the season, the C11 won all but one race and easily took the team's championship for the year.

Although Sauber-Mercedes had been successful in winning the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team choose not to defend the title in 1990 due to the race not being part of the 1990 World Sports-Prototype Championship schedule. The team chose instead to concentrate on winning the championship.

Group C

Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs.

It was designed to replace both Group 5 Special Production Cars (closed top touring prototypes like Porsche 935) and Group 6 Two Seater Racing Cars (open-top sportscar prototypes like Porsche 936). Group C was used in the FIA's World Endurance Championship (1982–1985), World Sports-Prototype Championship (1986–1990), World Sportscar Championship (1991–1992) and in the European Endurance Championship (1983 only). It was also used for other sports car racing series around the globe. The final year for the class came in 1993. Broadly similar rules were used in the North American IMSA Grand Touring Prototype series GTP.

History

The roots of the Group C category lie in both FIA Group 6 and particularly in the GTP category introduced by the ACO at Le Mans in the mid-1970s. GTP was a class for roofed prototypes with certain dimensional restrictions, but instead of the more usual limits on engine capacity, it placed limits on fuel consumption. The FIA applied the same concept in its Group C rules. It limited cars to a minimum weight of 800 kg and a maximum fuel capacity of 100 litres. With competitors restricted to five refueling stops within a 1000 kilometer distance, the cars were effectively allowed 600 litres per 1000 kilometers. The FIA hoped this would prevent manufacturers from concentrating solely on engine development; in the late 1970s, a few manufacturers (especially Porsche and Lancia) had dominated sports car racing by simply increasing turbocharger boost pressure, especially in qualifying trim — the 3.2 L Porsche 935 was capable of more than 800 hp. Engines had to be from a recognized manufacturer which had cars homologated in the FIA's Group A Touring Car or Group B GT Car categories.

Sauber

Sauber Motorsport AG, trading as Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sports Prototype Championship to reach Formula One in 1993.

Having not won a Grand Prix as an independent, the team was sold to BMW in 2005, and competed as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2009, scoring one victory. At the end of the 2009 season, however, BMW pulled out of Formula One and the team's future remained uncertain for several months, until it was sold back to Peter Sauber and granted a 2010 entry. However, due to issues with the Concorde Agreement, the team remained as "BMW Sauber" for the 2010 season. In March 2010, Peter Sauber announced plans to change the team name during the season, but the FIA announced that they would have to wait until the end of the season to change their name. From the beginning of the 2011 Formula One season the team dropped BMW from their name.

Peter Sauber currently owns a controlling 66.6% stake in the team, with the remainder belonging to CEO Monisha Kaltenborn, who has been a leading figure in the team since BMW's withdrawal.