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.

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Porsche 962

The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had. The 962 was introduced at the end of 1984, from which it quickly became successful through private owners while having a remarkably long-lived career, with some examples still proving competitive into the mid-1990s.

Development

When the Porsche 956 was developed in late 1981, the intention of Porsche was to run the car in both the World Sportscar Championship and the North American IMSA GTP Championship. However IMSA GTP regulations differed from Group C and subsequently the 956 was banned in the US series on safety grounds as the driver's feet were ahead of the front axle center line.

To make the 956 eligible under the new IMSA regulations, Porsche extended the 956's wheelbase to move the front wheels ahead of the pedal box. A steel roll cage was also integrated into the new aluminium chassis. For an engine, the Porsche 934-derived Type-935 2.8L flat-6 was used with air cooling and a single Kühnle, Kopp und Kausch AG K36 turbocharger instead of the twin K27 turbochargers of the Group C 956, as twin-turbo systems were not allowed in IMSA's GTP class at the time.

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.

Jaguar XJR-14

The Jaguar XJR-14 was a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season. It was designed by Ross Brawn and John Piper, and was built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR).

Design

The 1991 season marked the introduction of the FIA’s new, and controversial, 3.5 Litre Formula which replaced the highly successful Group C category that had been used in the World Sportscar Championship since 1982. However, due to a small number of entries in the new 3.5 litre formula heavily penalised Group C cars were allowed participate in the newly created C2 category for the 1991 season but Jaguar participated in the new formula.

To comply with the new regulations Jaguar produced an all-new car, the XJR-14. It was designed by Ross Brawn and John Piper, and was built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). In the past, TWR's Jaguars had been designed under the direction of Tony Southgate, while Brawn worked with a large design staff (12 according to John Piper); a paradigm shift (albeit small) in its own right and reflective of Brawn's Formula One background.