Round 2: Silverstone 1,000 Kilometers Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, England, May 4th, 1986

From Monza, we travel to England, and the green and pleasant hillsides of Silverstone in Northamptonshire.  This is the first round to count towards the 1986 teams championship, as 26,000 fans have come in the hopes of a Jaguar victory.  At Monza, last time out, the British racers showed what they can do, and this time, they are equally ready to prove their power.  Lancia and Porsche were no slouches at Monza either, and remember now, both of them have turbocharging, as we are set to race on the world’s fastest Grand Prix circuit.

Porsche and Jaguar will be the two protagonists here at Silverstone as we have a strong grid.  Let’s look at it.

1. #4 Nannini/de Cesaris Martini Racing Lancia LC2/85
2. #1 Bell/Stuck Rothmans Porsche 962C
3. #51 Warwick/Cheever/Schlesser Silk Cut Jaguar XJR6C
4. #10 Gartner/Needell/Weaver Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 962
5. #52 Brancatelli/Schlesser/Cheever Silk Cut Jaguar XJR6C
6. #7 Follmer/Morton/Barilla Joest Racing Porsche 956
7. #17 Boutsen/Sigala Brun Motorsport Porsche 962C
8. #18 Larrauri/Pareja Brun Motorsport Porsche 962C
9. #14 Weaver/Niedzwiedz/Lloyd Liqui Moly Equipe Porsche 956
10. #33 de Villota/Velez Danone Porsche Espana w/John Fitzpatrick Racing Porsche 956B
11. #61 Thackwell/Nielsen/Pescarolo Kouros Racing Sauber C8 Mercedes
12. #9 Lassig/Ballabio/Wood Obermaier Racing Team Porsche 956
13. #31 Katayama/Terada/Kennedy Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Mazda 757
14. #70 Bellm/Spice Spice Engineering Spice SE86C Ford Cosworth
15. #80 Finotto/Facetti/Melgrati Carma F.F. S.R.L. Alba AR6 Carma F.F.
16. #30 Kennedy/Yorino Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Mazda 757
17. #13 Rousselot/Courage Primagaz Cougar C12 Porsche
18. #63 Brun/Schuster Ernst Schuster Porsche 936C
19. #79 Wilds/Mallock Ecosse C286 Austin Rover
20. #21 Konrad/Cleare/Robert/Leslie R.C. Racing March 85G Porsche
21. #19 Brun/Jelinski Brun Motorsport Porsche 956
22. #74 Dickens/Payne/Jelinski Gebhardt Motorsport Gebhardt JC853 Ford Cosworth
23. #105 Barberio/Gellini/Nicholson Kelmar Racing Tiga GC85 Ford Cosworth
24. #75 Clements/Harrower A.D.A. Engineering Gebhardt JC843 Ford Cosworth
25. #66 Los/Graham Cosmik Racing March 84G Porsche
26. #99 Thyrring/Sheldon R.B. Promotions Ltd. Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth
27. #72 Cohen-Olivar/Leim/Adams John Bartlett Racing with Goodman Sound Bardon DB1 Ford Cosworth
28. #84 Jones/Sebastiani/Smith Simpson Engineering Ltd. Simpson C286 Ford Cosworth
29. #90 Mercer/Winther Jens Winther URD C83 BMW
30. #98 Bain/Hall/Andrews R.B. Promotions Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth
31. #92 Heuclin/Descartes ALD 02 BMW
32. #88 Ashmore/Thomann/Kimpton Arthur Hough Pressings/Ark Racing Ceekar 83J-1 Ford Cosworth

We are set to race at Silverstone.  Current track owner and FIA Sports Car Commission President Pierre Aumonier is set to turn the cars loose on a circuit he is the current operator of.  The lights flash green, and away we go!  There’s drama right at the start!  Jaguar and Kremer Porsche get into argy bargy right from the flag, and Pierre-Francois Rousselot spins the Cougar Porsche, and the field thankfully avoids plowing into the bloke!  Lancia leads over Jaguar, a sea of Porsche’s, and Mercedes.  Derek Warwick is on the circuit he knows better than any other in the world.  He’s pressing after Lancia immediately.  With Alessandro Nannini at the controls, Lancia wants a win, especially since two days before this race, their great rally driver Henri Toivonen was killed in a crash on the Tour de Corse, Corsica rally.

Yikes!  A massive brake lockup for Jochen Mass in the factory Porsche 962! The big C1 cars are all over each other in the early stages here at Silverstone.  Lancia ekes out a lead over Jaguar followed by Kremer Porsche, and in the meantime, Bell is going to be blown away by Jean Louis Schlesser in the Jaguar!  Schlesser does make the pass.  So the order is Alessandro Nannini for Lancia, Derek Warwick for Jaguar, Jo Gartner in the Kremer Porsche, followed by Schlesser for Jaguar, and Bell for Porsche, in an epic fight for position.

Warwick is going for the lead, and the jubilant Silverstone crowd is on their feet!  Five long hours of the race left, and Derek Bell points his team mate Jochen Mass by, as Bell is keeping an eye on his fuel consumption.  The Jaguar is ready to pounce on the Lancia.  Despite not having a turbo, the Jaguar makes up for it, having gobs of torque and acceleration power from it’s large displacement V12 engine.  At Stowe corner, Derek Warwick makes the pass on the Lancia for the lead, makes it stick, and the British crowd goes bonkers!  Pit stop time for Lancia, taking on fuel and tires, and doing a driver change.  Andrea de Cesaris will take over from Alessandro Nannini.  Derek Warwick still leads the motor race, but he has to pit as well, and hand the controls of the Jaguar to co-driver Eddie Cheever.  Lancia are in the lane, and Jaguar, also in the lane.  It’s going to be a race to see which squad has the faster pit stop.

Lancia seems to have a faster pit stop as they are out front while Jaguar is still executing the driver change.  Now, will Cheever come out ahead of the Lancia, or will this be a game of catch me if you can?  Cheever blasts out of the pit lane, but he’s not quick enough as the Lancia resumes in the overall lead.  It’s two Jaguars in hot pursuit of one Lancia as the sister Jaguar, the #52 Schlesser/Brancatelli car in third spot.  In fourth now is Hans Stuck, having taken over the #1 factory Porsche 962C from Derek Bell.  The contest for fifth is Kremer Porsche vs. Mercedes.  Kremer has Jo Gartner teamed with Brits Tiff Needell and James Weaver, although Weaver would not drive the car, and in the Mercedes, Henri Pescarolo, the French legend, is sharing with New Zealander Mike Thackwell and Dane John Nielsen.

Cheever and Jaguar retake the lead here at Silverstone, because Andrea de Cesaris is forced to drive his Lancia at a slower pace.  He’s driving on the fuel meter, making sure not to run the tank dry.  Porsche #1 pits and Hans Stuck hands back to Derek Bell.  Jaguars continue running first and third, but #52 will lose time with a broken gearshift lever.  Meanwhile in the #51 camp, Eddie Cheever pits and will hand back to Derek Warwick for the finish.  Lancia reassumes the lead temporarily, until they have to pit for a routine brake pad change.  Jaguar makes their pit stop, and they have been the class of the field.  Porsche has not had a look in all weekend.  Lancia remains second however, de Cesaris does have fuel pressure problems.  It’s terminal.  Game over for Lancia, de Cesaris and his co-driver Alessandro Nannini.

Warwick and Cheever are giving it everything to the checkered flag, and in fifth we now have the #33 John Fitzpatrick Racing Danone sponsored Porsche 956 driven by the Spanish duo of Emilio de Villota and Fermin Velez.  Derek Warwick is driving his final stint before handing over to Eddie Cheever to take the Jaguar to the end of the motor race.  Likewise, Derek Bell will hand back to Hans Stuck on their next pit stop.  The race is over, and Jaguar has triumphed!  Not only have they triumphed at their home track at Silverstone, but they’ve won their first World Championship sports car race since the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans when Brits Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb won for Ecurie Ecosse.

Hans Stuck cruises to second while Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm do give Ecurie Ecosse a win in this race, too, with their new Austin Rover V6 engine.  Jaguar Cars Chairman John Egan is ecstatic about the win!  Egan says, “I’ve got a taste for winning now!”  Here are the results of the Silverstone 1,000 Kilometers.

1. #51 Warwick/Cheever Silk Cut Jaguar XJR6
2. #1 Bell/Stuck Rothmans Porsche 962C
3. #10 Gartner/Needell Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 962C
4. #14 Weaver/Niedzwiedz Liqui Moly Equipe Porsche 956
5. #33 de Villota/Velez Danone Porsche 956
6. #7 Barilla/Morton/Follmer Joest Racing Porsche 956

Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm win C2 in their #70 Spice Cosworth.  Here are the standings in the driver’s championship, after Silverstone.

1. Derek Bell 35 points
2. Hans Stuck 35 points
3. Derek Warwick 20 points
4. Eddie Cheever 20 points
5. Andrea de Cesaris 15 points
6. Alessandro Nannini 15 points
7. Jo Gartner 15 points
8. Walter Brun 14 points

The longest, most challenging race of the year is up next.  It’s the 54th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.