Silverstone staged its annual festival for historic racers with some 600 cars taking part in 20 races over the last weekend of July. To celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the start of the Group C era, the Group C/GTP organization gathered together the greatest ever number of these machines in one place.
Racing in a double header were 30 of these iconic sports cars with a staggering 50 further examples for demonstration and static display. These included no less than 26 Porsche 956/962s, including Rothmans Porsche 956-001, the original factory entry and the winner of the first ever Group C race which took place at Silverstone in 1982 (See Profile in Oct. 07 VR). Original driver Derek Bell was on hand to demonstrate the car. For the first time in public, all 6 Jaguar XJR9s were displayed together. Making a fine sight were three Lancia LC2s and representative Group C/GTP cars from ADA, Alba, Aston Martin, Bardon, Ecosse, Ford, Harrier, Intrepid, March, Mazda, Spice and Tiga.
The first of the two Group C/GTP races was over 30 minutes and saw Mark Sumpter’s Porsche 962 “Fat Turbo” assume a commanding lead from David Mercer’s Spice SE90C. At mid-distance Mercer was overhauled by Gary Pearson’s Jaguar XJR11 and, when Sumpter tripped over a back-marker, necessitating a pit stop, the way was clear for Pearson to take a 5.5-second leadfrom Mercer. Justin Law’s Jaguar XJR12d took 3rd after a closing Charlie Agg in his yellow Nissan R90 CK indulged in a spin.
The mechanics had 24 hours to fettle the cars before race two, which saw Derek Bell drive the Sumpter Porsche 962 into the lead having dropped as low as 9th place, only to retire at two-thirds distance. Early leader Gary Pearson with the Jaguar XJR12 was another retirement in what turned out to be a race of attrition, with only 12 finishers after 45 minutes. Andy Purdie’s Porsche 962C came through to take a comfortable win from Charlie Agg’s Nissan. A crowd pleaser in both races was the screaming and flame-spitting Mazda 757 Rotary of Jim Loftus.
Submitted by Keith Booker
