Four decades after the fearsome Group C prototypes first raced through Copse and into Maggotts, the beasts are set to roar once more at one of their spiritual homes for this year’s The Classic at Silverstone.
A 40th anniversary Group C demonstration will take place on both the Saturday and Sunday of the motor sport bonanza, which runs from August 26 to August 28 and will see a huge number of classic competition cars run and race.
Currently confirmed are a number of examples of the car thought by many to be the Group C machine: the Porsche 956/962, which made its debut at the 1982 Six Hours of Silverstone.
Amongst the iconic models set to take part is the 1983 No2 Rothmans 956 of Jochen Mass and Stefan Bellof which the pair campaigned at Le Mans; the ’87 No18 962 of Mass, Bob Wolleck and Vern Schuppan, the ’88/’89 962-200 red Cabin machine of Tiff Needell, James Weaver and Derek Bell as well as the ‘Pinky’ – the 962 which was driven in ’89 by David Hobbs and ’96 F1 champion Damon Hill in the latter’s only Le Mans appearance.
No1 car of Ickx and Bell on the Silverstone starting line in ’82
Silverstone
More classic cars are set to be announced from an era which featured the Lancia LC2, Jaguar XJR-9, Mazda 787B and Mercedes C11 amongst many others.
Though the ‘ 82 Silverstone race saw the 956’s competitive bow, the event was won by none-more-Italian combination of Ricardo Patrese and Michele Alboreto, driving the Lancia LC1 for Martini Racing.
As described by Motor Sport at the time, the 956 of Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell set the pace in qualifying, but fthe pair ound they could only run much slower in the race than their Italian rivals due to Group C fuel-use restrictions.
Lancia had chosen to run to the far-less confining Group 6 rules with its LC1, but this made it ineligible to score manufacturer points.
Ickx and Bell started on pole, but struggled in the race
Silverstone
“To the uninformed spectator, the performance of the new Gp.C Porsche 956 must have been very puzzling indeed — on pole-position by 1.7 seconds, but trundling round in the race nearly 10 seconds slower!” said the Motor Sport report.
“The drivers, five-times Le Mans winner Ickx and Briton Bell, hardly shared their bewilderment but were just as bored. The car had only to come to Silverstone, round two of the Manufacturers’ Championship, to prepare for the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance classic in June, but they cannot have learned much about its behaviour being forced to cruise round in fifth gear!”
The pair needn’t have worried, as they would score full championship points for being the leading Group C machine, before going on to win that year’s Le Mans by three laps from Porsche team-mates Mass and Schuppan. The 956 locked out the La Sarthe podium in its first year of service, starting one of the great sports car legacies.
As is tradition, The Classic will also feature a plethora of historic racing machinery in various races, with Formula 1 also taking centre-stage alongside the Group C cars.
In addition to the historic grand prix contests, there will be demonstrations of late ’80s/’early ’90s F1 cars of the V8, V10- and V12 variety.
The Classic at Silverstone will run from August 26–28 – tickets can be bought here.
