Author: the braking zone

Mercedes dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and after that, we move on to race at Circuito de Jarama, in Jarama, Spain.  Now, a wrinkle for this race, which is basically the halfway mark in the championship, is that because of a restrictive pit/garage area, the Jarama round is an optional race for teams to participate in.  The same number of teams of which there are available pit spaces at Jarama, made the trip.  Joest Porsche is absent, choosing to stay in Germany to race at the Norisring, and likewise, so did the Repsol Brun Porsche squad, Richard Lloyd Racing, and Aston Martin.

So, Jarama sees somewhat of a depleted grid with just 23 starters.  It was a Mercedes front row lockout with Mauro Baldi and Kenny Acheson on pole, with Jean Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass alongside.  Jaguar also locks out the second row of the grid.  Toyota and Nissan fill out the top six.  Lights out, and away we go, at Jarama!  We’re off and running!  In efficient fashion, the team got their tire problems sorted out and for the first time, the front row was a familiar pair of silver shaped sports cars.  Jaguar, Toyota, Nissan, and the brace of privately entered Porsche’s follows, but there’s no doubt that Mercedes leads once again.

Jaguar is seemingly the best of the rest, with Nissan and Toyota, the Japanese marques giving chase.  The two yellow Spice cars are right there as well, looking to upset the apple cart among the factory teams.  Car #21 is being shared by Ray Bellm and Chilean driver Eliseo Salazar, while the sister #22 has at the wheel of it, Dane Thorkild Thyrring, and South African, Wayne Taylor.  The smaller, lighter, more agile 3.5 liter cars close up on the bigger cars like the Jaguar’s and the Mercedes’ which outweight them almost 2 to 1.  At the sharp end, however, it remains the same song, second verse.  Mercedes, Mercedes 1-2, followed by Jaguar, Jaguar 3-4, and Toyota and Nissan, 5-6.

Now, this apple cart was nearly upset when Ray Bellm tried a banzai move down the inside in a corner, and the bloke paid the price for it, spinning himself off the road.  This is the former Group C2 champion, remember, who won in the mid-1980s.  Johnny Dumfries, going Marco Solo in the Toyota due to an injury for Geoff Lees, got away with it, but lost time.  Both Mercedes are well out in front of the pack and are in a race of their own.  Meanwhile, Jaguar are being challenged by the #6 Repsol Brun Porsche 962, Oscar Larrauri, the vastly experienced Argentinian at the wheel of it.

Larrauri is sharing the car, as ever, with Spaniard Jesus Pareja.  Going through the back markers, we can see the Mercedes boys get into a little argy bargy.  Leadership battles are becoming a practical proposition for the outcome of the championship at Mercedes Benz.  Brun Porsche are in the lane for a new nose.  Obligatory pit stops force drivers to overtake and challenge for position rather than a train of cars forming, running liner stern for the whole of the motor race.  Mercedes still leads, but Jaguar seems to be at their most competitive, right at the top of their game, here at Jarama.

Jan Lammers is on a mission, to catch the Mercedes, and thus, it seems unbelievable how uncompetitive the Silk Cut Jaguar has been during the season to date.  Now, Jaguar have already run their new spec car on the IMSA Camel GT circuit back in the United States, and is desperately needed for them in WSPC.  We can see that Jan Lammers is running wide on the exits of the corners here at Jarama, which tells you his tires are going away, and there’s a lack of grip.  Mercedes has more trouble to deal with.  At Dijon last time out it was tires.  But now, here at Jarama, the brakes are the culprit.

Both cars are dealing with braking issues, but it’s the duo in #61 of Mauro Baldi and Kenny Acheson, that have to really struggle through it.  The brakes are overheating, boiling away the brake fluid.  So, on every pit stop, the pit crew has to bleed the whole brake system, and then, top it up with fresh brake fluid.  It’s also game over for the Bellm/Taylor Spice.  A minor fire has cooked the car, essentially, and has put the yellow Spice out of the race.  The brake problems have split up the Mercedes duo and have allowed the Jaguar #1 of Jan Lammers and Patrick Tambay to inherit second spot.

Mercedes win here at Jarama, but Jaguar are back on form, in the same style that took them to the world championship a year ago, in 1988.  Jochen Mass and Jean Louis Schlesser are your winners at Jarama, as only one Mercedes ends up on the podium despite the two cars crossing the finish line together.  Larrauri and Pareja finish third.  So, the top six finishers at Jarama are:

1. #62 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
2. #1 Lammers/Tambay Jaguar XJR9                                         Silk Cut Jaguar
3. #6 Larrauri/Pareja Porsche 962C                                     Repsol Brun Motorsport
4. #22 Thyrring/Taylor Spice SE89C Ford Cosworth         Spice Engineering
5. #61 Baldi/Acheson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
6. #2 Nielsen/Wallace Jaguar XJR9                                         Silk Cut Jaguar

The next race is the first of two for the WSPC in Great Britain, at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England, in a shade less than a month.

A huge field of Group C cars is present for the second round of the championship at Dijon.  43 entries, and ultimately, 36 of them will start this race.  There is no rain in the forecast, but there’s heat, and the heat and humidity will be a true test for the driver’s even in a sprint race.  Now, we have some newcomers to the grid here at Dijon, and also, a car that is noted for it’s absence.  Nissan will debut their new R89C to be driven by the British duo of Martin Donnelly and Mark Blundell.  Aston Martin are also back.  Remember when they suffered a huge accident at Le Mans in 1984?  Well, they are back now, with a factory team with the AMR1.  Courtaulds has built the chassis, and the engine has been built by Reeves Callaway, famous for his modifications to Corvette’s to turn them into supercars.

The motor is a normally aspirated 6.0 liter V8.  David Leslie will share with fellow Brit and sports car racing legend, Brian Redman.  Jaguar is supposed to have a new car, utilizing a turbocharged engine.  However, the turbo car is absent here at Dijon and Jaguar is sticking with their proven package of the Alan Scott built V12 motor.  Jean Louis Schlesser is excited to have competition from the new Jaguar, and, he points out that WSPC has more manufacturers signed up to compete than does Formula 1.  Peugeot and Alfa Romeo are said to be developing cars for the new era of Group C as well.

Mercedes are still running their 1988 car, and Schlesser hopes a new one will come soon.  Toyota have locked out the front row of the grid here at Dijon.  It’s lights out, and away we go!  Mercedes run 1-2 into the first turn, and they are followed by Toyota and Nissan while Porsche and Jaguar are slugging it out for the lower part of the top six.  From the word go, Mercedes are beginning to pull out a lead over everyone else through the tree lined peaks and valleys of the Dijon circuit.  Mercedes’ modus operandi is as such.

Qualify on the front row.  Get a flyer at the start of the race.  Whistle off into the distance, and then, control the race from the sharp end.  What we will begin to see is that Mercedes are going to be in a class by themselves, and there aren’t too many teams that can step up and take the fight directly to the Silver Arrows.  Ironically, this is exactly how Mercedes currently are operating in Formula 1.  Toyota, Jaguar, Porsche, and Nissan, all four of them are doing their damnedest to keep up with the V8 monsters from Stuttgart.  But they are finding the going to be quite tough.  It looks as though, as we’ve begun racing here at Dijon, Mercedes does have a worthy adversary.  It’s the fabulous Frenchman, “Brilliant” Bob Wollek, at the wheel of the Joest Racing Porsche 962 snapping at the heels of the silver streaks.

This is the revised Porsche 962 chassis Reinhold Joest, the team owner, and Bob Wollek, lead driver have been waiting for, and it’s doing the business in spades, of keeping up with the Mercedes juggernaut.  Porsche’s resurgence seems to be marking a whole renewed interest in Group C as we are in the final year of the decade of the ‘80s.  The FIA has told the Japanese teams they ought to commit to the series, and so, they have also come loaded for bear against the British Jaguar’s and the aforementioned Mercedes juggernaut.  We now see the leaders drawing away from the rest of the field.  Bob Wollek is giving both Mercedes’ a tough run for their money.  Both the Baldi/Acheson #61 car and the Schlesser/Mass sister car, #62, are right in the thick of it.

These four drivers are battling it out amongst themselves as well depending on how their driver rotation works out in these races.  Nissan are finding their feet with the new R89C further down the field, experiencing the common teething issues that come with a new car.  So, it’ll be a long road to hoe for Julian Bailey and Mark Blundell on their first adventures in Group C competition.  Jaguar is in desperate need of their previously announced new car, but the surprise here, chaps, is how the 962 Porsche is still showing it can run with the big dogs despite being a design that has been around for the better part of seven years, and it still has life in it, due to being revamped.

The 962 needs more downforce and better handling, and it should have it.  The Mercedes is probably the most aerodynamic Group C bullet on the grid right now.  Wollek now, is the meat in the Mercedes sandwich… the bratwurst in the Mercedes bun, shall we say.  It’s pit stop time for Nissan who need a new windscreen.  Wollek, meanwhile, is not content to play second fiddle to Mercedes.  He is steaming towards the front like there’s no tomorrow.  Now, you would think Mercedes was going to have it all their way here in France’s mustard capitol.  Nope.  Sorry.  You’d be wrong on that, sunshine.  The trouble they’d have, is due to the four black pieces of rubber that keep the car on the road… the tires.

In the heat here at Dijon, the soft compound Michelins, were breaking up.  They are becoming like chewing gum.  Mercedes have no choice but to slow down.  Tires were the reason why they had pulled out of the 1988 Le Mans race as well, recall.  The pit stops for fresh rubber gave them only temporary relief before the symptoms of the sticky, gummy tires, returns.  Other teams were experiencing tire maladies, but not to the extent of Mercedes.  Mauro Baldi says it all when he says that it’s difficult for them to put down the power and firmly stay on the road.

It sounds like they need a different, harder compound Michelin tire.  After the pit stops were complete, the race began to settle back into a rhythm, as always.  Now, with Joest Porsche #7 in the lane for a scheduled pit stop, Kenny Acheson inherits the lead briefly.  But, with Frank Jelinski now at the wheel of it, old #7 is coming on strong.  Once Jelinski is able to find the tail of the Mercedes, it’s really no contest, and the Porsche sweeps into the lead of this motor race.  Cornering isn’t the issue for Mercedes.  Instead, it is all about getting the power of the massive turbo V8 onto the tarmac without the tires breaking traction and causing the car to spin out of control.

Frank Jelinski knows Mercedes are in trouble.  So, instead of outbraking his competitor, he chooses his moment, slams the throttle down, and powers past the silver car under acceleration.  Jelinski has P1.  But, it isn’t just Mercedes who are coming a cropper in this race.  Jaguar is having their fair old litany of troubles, too.  Andy Wallace retires the #2 Jaguar with a blown tire.  It’s game over for him and co-driver John Nielsen, while the sister #1 Jaguar with Jan Lammers at the wheel of it, suffers electrical problems and pulls off into the sand trap.  So, the Lammers/Tambay automobile is kaput for this motor race at Dijon.  Game over.

Porsche #7 is in the lane for a second scheduled pit stop, and Bob Wollek gets back into the car, taking over from Frank Jelinski, to the flag.  More downforce for the Porsche, means the car is far easier to drive.  Frank Jelinski is really excited to be out there battling with Mercedes and Jaguar and says this year’s world championship so far has been “unbelievable” in his words.  Joest and Porsche are going to hold the lead for the remainder of this race here at Dijon.  Wollek and Jelinski win at Dijon!  Mercedes has the speed, but they are so far incapable of conquering the niggling problems that have been thrown at them so far, and just maybe, this pattern would continue.

Jaguar look more like outgoing rather than defending champions, but with that said, their new car is on the way.  No Jaguar driver has been able to crack the top ten in points after two races of the season are already done and dusted.  So, here are the top six finishers from Dijon, and we can also look at the driver’s points standings.

1. #7 Wollek/Jelinski Porsche 962C                                     Joest Racing
2. #62 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes               Team Sauber Mercedes
3. #61 Baldi/Acheson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
4. #37 Dumfries/Lees Toyota 88C                                          Toyota Team Tom’s
5. #14 Bell/Needell Porsche 962C GTi                             Richard Lloyd Racing
6. #13 Fabre/Bousquet Cougar C22S Porsche                      Courage Competition

We also look at the points standings.

1. J.L. Schlesser Sauber Mercedes                            35 points
2. Mauro Baldi Sauber Mercedes                            32 points
3. Frank Jelinski Porsche 962C                                     27 points
4. Bob Wollek Porsche 962C                                     27 points
5. Kenny Acheson Sauber Mercedes                            27 points
6. Jochen Mass Sauber Mercedes                            15 points
7. Johnny Dumfries Toyota 88C                                          10 points
8. Geoff Lees Toyota 88C                                          10 points
9. Kazuyoshi Hoshio Nissan R88C                                        10 points
10. Toshio Suzuki Nissan R88C                                        10 points

Here are the team’s championship standings.

1. Team Sauber Mercedes 35 points
2. Joest Racing 32 points
3. Toyota Team Tom’s 16 points
4. Nissan Motorsport 10 points
5. Richard Lloyd Racing 8 points
6. TWR Jaguar 8 points
7. Courage Competition 6 points
8. Brun Motorsport 5 points
9. Porsche Almeras 4 points
10. France Prototeam 3 points

World Sports Prototype Championship

For 1989, big changes have come to the World Sports Car Championship, now the World Sports Prototype Championship.  Seven races will be run starting in Japan, followed by half a dozen events in Europe, all of which will now have a sprint race format, bringing sports car racing closer to Formula 1, and each car will have just two drivers.  The 24 Hours of Le Mans has become a stand-alone event and will not count towards the WSPC.  We pick up the action with round one, at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan.

During 1989, the WSPC provided close, competitive racing, for eight rounds, and didn’t let up from start to finish.  The WSPC is out to show that sports prototype racing can, and indeed does, share the same level of glamor of Formula 1.  The Suzuka circuit with it’s tricky curves and undulating, hilly nature is tough enough.  But, to greet the drivers of the 1989 championship, one more wrench has to be thrown into the works here.  Said wrench, is rain.  It may be springtime in Japan, and the cherry blossoms on the trees might be blooming.  That’s all well and good, but this race will test the drivers more than any other you are about to read about in this series of reviews.

In practice, (and no we haven’t even gotten to racing yet), the track is awash.  Jean Louis Schlesser in the silver arrow Sauber Mercedes C9-88 was the first victim, spinning off the road in the wet.  He was OK.  But the car, well, that was another story altogether.  The Mercedes is certainly damaged after Schlesser’s off course excursion.  Arch rival Jaguar, would suffer a similar fate, when Jan Lammers lost control and binned it as well.  Lammers didn’t hit the wall, but rather, he was caught out in the wet, and sank into a pothole before the car slithered onto the grass.

Happily, the rainy monsoon at Suzuka was short lived, and the rest of the weekend saw spring like and sunny, warm weather.  This year, will particularly be a boon for the Japanese brands as Toyota and Nissan, launch their major factory efforts to fight the best Europe has to offer in world championship sports car racing.  Despite going off the road in qualifying, Toyota leads the field here in Japan, well clear of rivals from Nissan.  The all British lineup of Geoff Lees and former Le Mans winning driver, for Jaguar, incidentally, Johnny Dumfries, has pole.  34 cars will start this race.  Let’s have a look at the grid.

1. #37 Lees/Dumfries Toyota 89C-V     Toyota Team Tom’s
2. #36 Ogawa/Barilla Toyota 89C-V     Toyota Team Tom’s
3. #1 Lammers/Tambay                 Jaguar XJR-9       Silk Cut Jaguar
4. #61 Schlesser/Baldi Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
5. #72 Nakaya/Grohs Porsche 962C     Obermaier Primagaz (From A Racing)
6. #24 Hasemi/Olofsson Nissan R88C        Nissan Motorsports International
7. #23 Hoshino/Suzuki Nissan R88C        Nissan Motorsports International
8. #100 Fouche/Andskar Porsche 962C GTi  Richard Lloyd Racing (Trust Racing Team)
9. #55 Schuppan/Elgh Porsche 962C     Team Davey (Omron Racing Team)
10. #7 Wollek/Jelinski Porsche 962C                     Joest Racing
11. #85 Wada/Morimoto March 88S Nissan        Nissan Motorsports International (Cabin Racing Team with Le Mans)
12. #2 Nielsen/Wallace Jaguar XJR9                         Silk Cut Jaguar

12. #34 Takahashi/Dickens Porsche 962C                     Porsche Almeras Montpelier

(Advan Alpha Nova)

14. #11 Sekiya/Okada Porsche 962C                     Porsche Kremer Racing (Leyton House                                                                                                                   Racing Team)
15. #21 Salazar/Bellm/Thyrring Spice SE89C Ford Cosworth  Spice Engineering
16. #10 Lavaggi/Giacomelli Porsche 962CK6                                Kremer Racing Team
17. #201 Yorino/Oota Mazda 767                          Mazdaspeed
18. #5 Huysman/Varjosaari Porsche 962C                     Repsol Brun Motorsport
19. #202 Katayama/Terada Mazda 767                          Mazdaspeed
20. #50 Ratzenberger/Suzuki Toyota 89C-V                     Toyota Team Tom’s (SARD)
21. #40 Mogi/Takahashi/Tutiya Porsche 962C                     Swiss Team Salamin (Advan Alpha                                                                                                                            Tomei)
22. #14 Bell/Needell Porsche 962C GTi             Richard Lloyd Racing (Cabin Racing)
23. #6 Brun/Pareja Porsche  962C                    Repsol Brun Motorsport
24. #17 Dauer/Konrad Porsche 962C                     Dauer Racing
25. #16 Larrauri/Sala Porsche 962C                     Repsol Brun Motorsport
26. #13 Fabre/Santin Cougar C22S Porsche      Courage Competition
27. #20 Lee-Davey/Barth Porsche 962C                     Team Davey
28. #22 Thyrring/Taylor Spice SE89C Ford Cosworth  Spice Engineering
29. #8 Ricci/Ballot-Lena Porsche 962C                     Joest Racing
30. #62 Acheson/Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9 Mercedes      Team Sauber Mercedes
31. #103 Coppelli/Thuner Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth  France Prototeam
32. #101 Velez/Adams Spice SE86C Hart               Chamberlain Engineering
33. #108 Sheldon/Lindstrom Tiga GC289 Ford Cosworth  Roy Baker Racing

A rolling start, and the 1989 Group C season is underway!  Toyotas lead into the first corner,l and as would become the norm now that there is a new sprint format, everyone wants to go for it straight away in this motor race.  In a roaring frenzy the cars spread out, and Jean Louis Schlesser of France puts his thundering V8 Mercedes into the lead.  Toyota, Jaguar, Nissan, and Porsche (albeit an assorted range of them from mixed parentage, instead of a full factory effort), charge behind.  We see Jean Louis Schlesser pulling out a lead over the second place Toyota, Paolo Barilla, the Italian, at the wheel of it.

Jaguar, Toyota, Jaguar, Toyota, and the sister Kenny Acheson driven Mercedes come next.  Now, disregard what it says in the starting grid.  Mauro Baldi is teamed up with Jean Louis Schlesser, and Kenny Acheson is going Marco Solo in the #62 Mercedes as his team mate, Jochen Mass, is sick with an eye infection.  We watch the action from the onboard camera installed in the RLR Porsche with Derek Bell, able to see the rapid acceleration and frighteningly amazing deceleration rates of these space age racers.

Meanwhile, at the sharp end, the scrap is on for the lead.  Jean Louis Schlesser is being hounded by Paolo Barilla at the moment.  Barilla dives inside the big Mercedes, and takes the lead away.  Jean Louis Schlesser is having some tire trouble, as they are not fitting on the rims, making steering the big Mercedes a real handful.  Speaking of handfuls, we have a spinner!  Johnny Dumfries in the Toyota, under pressure to pass Bob Wollek’s Porsche and to stay ahead of Jan Lammers in the Jaguar, is wrong footed in the left hand turn spinning a full 360 and forced to deal with loose bodywork.

Toyota and tire trouble?  You don’t say.  The shoe is now on the other foot.  Barilla has his hands full with Schlesser.  Vroom.  Schlesser thunders around the outside.  He will no doubt extend his lead over the Toyota.  This race could very well set the tone for the ’89 season, seeing Mercedes dominance.  Will that happen?  You’ll have to stay tuned and keep reading to find out.  Johnny Dumfries in the Toyota is making up time, going ahead of former Jaguar team mate Jan Lammers.  Lammers is the defending world champ.  But the Jaguar as a car, is already showing its age, having been around on the WSPC grid since 1986.  It’s pit stop time for Mercedes.  Now, you will notice that these sprint races are going to turn out strategy wise, more like a Grand Prix.

The lead will reshuffle pretty constantly, since these chaps don’t have endurance to worry about and can go Harry Flatters for the whole race.  Let’s review.  Harry Flatters, means, flat out.  Cars can come into the pit lane in what amounts to random order, due to need for fuel, a knackered set of tires, or a driver change, as always.  But there’s no set rule on what has to be done when.  Mercedes, Toyota and others, are frantically pitting their cars.  Far more than in 15 second Formula 1 pit stops, pit stop strategy will be more crucial.  The stops will last around a minute.  Now, let’s resume the racing, and we see that Mauro Baldi has gone about on the whirligig, spinning the Mercedes early on in his stint.  Despite that mistake, Baldi holds the lead and will return the car to Jean Louis Schlesser, while it is still in the lead.

We are beginning to see problems, however, for the TWR Jaguar team, and they are dropping like stones down the order.  The leaders are slugging it out amongst themselves, but the big cats with their V12 engines have to slow down.  They just don’t have the performance based on the available fuel.  But, that’s relative.  These cars are balanced on the edge of adhesion.  Meanwhile, it is all Mercedes at the top of the tree, and not content with second place, Northern Irishman Kenny Acheson flies past team mate Jean Louis Schlesser as if he’s stopped dead stick, to take the lead!  Here at Suzuka will be the only time we see Mercedes use team orders during the 1989 season.

Kenny Acheson is obliged to move over for Jean Louis Schlesser, so that Schlesser can take the lead of we will have to get used to seeing a lot of in ’89.  But, it’s game over for Jaguar.  The #1 Lammers/Tambay entry is stopped on the circuit.  The defending champions run out of gas towards the end, and it’s victory in Japan for Mercedes!  Let’s have a look at the top six finishers.

1. #61 Schlesser/Baldi Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
2. #62 Acheson/Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes  Team Sauber Mercedes
3. #7 Wollek/Jelinski Porsche 962C     Joest Racing
4. #23 Hoshino/Suzuki Nissan R88C                        Nissan Motorsports International
5. #2 Nielsen/Wallace Jaguar  XJR9                        Silk Cut Jaguar
6. #36 Ogawa/Barilla Toyota 89C-V                     Toyota Team Tom’ s

Next, it is a six week break before we resume the action in France, in Dijon at the Circuit Dijon Prenois, in the same region of France that is famous, for their mustard.  Join us there.

The finale of the 1988 World Sports Car Championship, is the 360 kilometer sprint race at Sandown Park in Queensland, Australia, the finale of the series for the first time, since 1984.  It is high summer in Australia, and the southern hemisphere of the globe.  Sandown Park is a dual purpose racing venue for two types of horsepower.  There’s the four hooved variety, horse racing, and the four wheeled variety, motor racing.  We are located just outside the cosmopolitan town of Melbourne, Australia.  Martin Brundle is indeed champion, having scored 255 points so far this year, winning by 16 markers over Jean Louis Schlesser who is on 239 points.  The points order is as follows:

1. Martin Brundle              GBR.                     255 points
2. Jean Louis Schlesser     FRA.                     239 points
3. Mauro Baldi                   ITA.                       183 points
4. Eddie Cheever               USA                       170 points
5. Jochen Mass                   GER.                       160 points
6. Klaus Ludwig                 GER.                       145 points
7. John Winter                    GER.                       143 points

Here are the teams’ points going into Sandown.  The story all year has been Jaguar vs. Mercedes, with Porsche getting an occasional look in every so often.

1. Silk Cut Jaguar                 GBR.                            345 points
2. Sauber Mercedes            CH.                               258 points
3. Joest Racing                     GER.                             189 points
4. Brun Motorsport            CH.                                94 points
5. Porsche AG                      GER.                              75 points
6. Spice Engineering          GBR.                              70 points

Joest Porsche has been the fastest Porsche team as the factory cars from Stuttgart have pulled out.  All their efforts are focused towards IndyCar, and lets hope we see them back in World Sports Car competition before too long.  Sauber Mercedes dominate practice at Sandown and they will be 1-2 on the grid.  Jean Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass have done well.  It’s going to be a difficult race for Mercedes, fighting Jaguar, fuel consumption, and the weather.

Mercedes’ advantage is in their turbocharging, and also, their Michelin tires.  Stefan Johansson says Mercedes has a great chance, and the fuel consumption will be a big deal.  Johansson is enjoying Group C because it is more relaxed than Formula 1.  Sauber Mercedes are the quickest cars at Sandown.  Eddie Cheever says Sandown will be the most difficult race of the year, and Mercedes has the edge as Sandown has two drag strips with a few little chicanes in the middle.  Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries have won Le Mans, and they hope to get back on track.  Lammers is confident they can win.

Sauber Mercedes have come along in leaps and bounds.  It’s normally aspirated Jaguar V12 vs. turbocharged Mercedes V8, and the tire war is there, too, with Dunlop for Jaguar, and Michelin for Mercedes.  No rain forecast, and you can see from a long helicopter shot, the grass horse racing track in the middle of the circuit.  As we get this race underway, we’ll go for a lap around Sandown to show you the course.  The circuit is 3.9 kilometers in length, (2.437 miles).  It is very twisty, especially in the middle section of the course.  There’s a quick left hand corner before an s curve, a 90 degree left hander before right left kink down the short straight.  The back straight, leads to a double left hander through a hairpin, to another left kink and a long right hander, coming back out to a double left hander and back onto the straightaway to complete the lap.

There will be one pit stop and one drivr change in this race.  Let’s have a quick look at the 18 car grid for this race, with relatively few Porsche’s making the trip “Down Under” to Australia.

1. #61 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                       Team Sauber Mercedes
2. #62 Baldi/Johansson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                     Team Sauber Mercedes
3. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR-9                                     Silk Cut Jaguar
4. #1 Cheever/Brundle Jaguar XJR-9                                          Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                    Spice Engineering
6. #20 Lee-Davey/Crang/Dodd-Noble Porsche 962C               Team Davey
7. #107 Ricci/Ballot-Lena Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth           Chamberlain Engineering
8. #26 Bowe/Johnson Veskanda C1 Chevrolet                          Ves Kanda Racing
9. #103 Salazar/Thyrring Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth           BP Spice Engineering
10. #121 de Henning/Los Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth             GP Motorsport
11. #127 Miedecke/Adams Spice SE86C Hart Chamberlain Engineering
12. #115 Abrahamas/Smith/Seton ADA 03 Ford Cosworth   ADA Engineering
13. #109 Sebastiani/Randaccio Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth   Kelmar Racing
14. #40 Lavaggi/Salamin Porsche 962C                                     Swiss Team Salamin
15. #178 Lateste/Descartes/Lacaud ALD 03 BMW                    Automobiles Louis Descartes
16. #124 Rousselot/Messaoudi Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth  MT Sport Racing
17. #198 Hall/Bartlett/Andrews Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth    Roy Baker Racing
18. #183 Gall/Maurer Maurer C87 BMW     Maurer

One formation lap, and then we will be off and racing for the final time in 1988.  20 years ago at Jarama, in 1968, in the days of the Ford GT 40 and Porsche 908, that is when the World Sports Car Championship truly began in earnest.  The cars follow in an orderly line behind the Holden Commodore safety car.  Green lights, on!  We’re racing for the final time in 1988!  But we see that Thorkild Thyrring, the Dane is already having issues in his C2 class Spice he shares with Chilean veteran Eliseo Salazar, who has run in F1 and would go on to race IndyCar and more sports cars through his career.

Mercedes take the lead right off the start.  Jean Louis Schlesser leads Mauro Baldi.  The track here at Sandown has at least eight second gear corners, and is really twisty.  You would think the V12 normally aspirated Jaguars would be leading, but alas, it is the turbo V8 Mercedes that is doing surprisingly well in the early going.  The turbo V8 lump that powers both of the Mercedes’ has far more low end torque which you need to get off the exits of these slow corners.

Mercedes has thus shocked Jaguar as far as the competitiveness level.  Car #61 with Jean Louis Schlesser at the controls, leads the sister Mercedes #62 in the hands of Mauro Baldi.  In third it is the #1 Silk Cut Jaguar driven by the new world sports car racing champion, Martin Brundle.  Jan Lammers follows in the sister Le Mans winning #2 Jaguar he shares with Johnny Dumfries, and Gordon Spice, the world champion in C2, is fifth overall.  Yes, there are seagulls here at Sandown and they’d best fly away to avoid become instant roadkill as these Group C monsters flash past at high speeds.  We have a view from the onboard camera inside the Sauber Mercedes and Jean Louis Schlesser wrestles the big brute around Sandown Park.

The bumpy nature of the track does make the Group C sports cars hard to drive.  Remember now, these cars, no matter what engine configuration they’re running, flat six turbo, V6 turbo, V8 turbo, normally aspirated V12, they all have around 1,000 horsepower for the driver to play with under his right foot.  Mauro Baldi and Stefan Johansson are right in the wheel tracks of their sister car, the Jean Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass Mercedes.  Jan Lammers has the Jaguar in third, and of course, the highlight of his season, winning the 56^th renewal of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the biggest sports car race in the world.

C2 World Champion Gordon Spice makes the pass on the Porsche 962 of Tim Lee-Davey.  But, at the front of the field, in a race that has seen little to no incident, and has been very exciting, Jean Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass, they get redemption for not winning the world title, by scoring victory in the finale here at Sandown Park in Australia!  Mauro Baldi and Stefan Johansson finish second, making it a Sauber Mercedes 1-2 and making team boss Peter Sauber and chief mechanic Max Welti, very, very happy.  Jaguar scores third and fourth, and they’ve won the world championship with Martin Brundle.  So ends the 1988 World Sports Car Championship.  Porsche’s domination was gone.  Mercedes and Jaguar had basically split the season.  Six wins to Jaguar, and five wins to Mercedes.

So, here are the final results from Sandown, and the final points standings.

1. #61 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9-88 Mercedes                                Sauber Mercedes
2. #62 Baldi/Johansson Sauber C9-88 Mercedes                              Sauber Mercedes
3. #1 Brundle/Cheever Jaguar XJR9                                                   Silk Cut Jaguar
4. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR9                                              Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                            Spice Engineering
6. #20 Lee-Davey/Crang Porsche 962C                                              Team Davey

Here is how the 1988 teams points table turned out after the closer at Sandown, Down Under.

1. Silk Cut Jaguar                       357 points
2. Sauber Mercedes                   278 points
3. Joest Racing                            189 points
4. Brun Motorsport                   94 points
5. Spice Engineering                 78 points
6. Porsche AG                             75 points

Here are the drivers’ championship final points as well, calculating each driver’s best of seven scores for the totals.

1. Martin Brundle                       240 points
2. Jean Louis Schlesser              213 points
3. Mauro Baldi                            188 points
4. Eddie Cheever USA                182 points
5. Jochen Mass                            180 points
6. Klaus Ludwig                          145 points

1989 will see a new format for the World Championship as the races with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will no longer be endurance events, but instead, they will become three hour sprint races for the most part.  Nine races will make up the championship series.  Alfa Romeo and Peugeot will be entering the championship in 1990 and 1991 so the announcements say.  Sports car racing will survive and thrive as the 1990s come along.  We’ll see you in 1989, for more action, and many more sprint races.  Bring on ’89.  So long and, take care, everybody.

Kon’nichiwa, from the majestic Mount Fuji in Japan, as we are set for the penultimate race of the 1988 World Sports Car Championship.  All eyes are on the fight for the World Drivers’ Championship here at Fuji in Japan.  Also, Mount Fuji will see the last return of the factory Porsche team.  With Omron sponsorship, the #17 Porsche 962C is entered by Porsche AG for Klaus Ludwig, and American driver, Price Cobb.  For the final time, they will enter a Group C sports car race as their racing focus has shifted towards the open wheeled IndyCar championship in the United States.  Teo Fabi from Italy, is driving the IndyCar with Quaker State motor oil sponsorship, and some success.

Klaus Ludwig puts the #17 car fourth quickest in practice in a massive entry of 35 cars here at Fuji.  Bruno Giacomelli of Italy and Oscar Larrauri of Argentina have the #11 Kremer Porsche 962C in Leyton House colors, qualified well here at Fuji.  Recall that Brun won the teams’ championship here at Fuji, in 1986.  Eddie Cheever discusses strategy with his team at Silk Cut Jaguar.  Jaguar has reversed their driver lineups back to their usual status here in Japan.  Eddie Cheever and Martin Brundle share car #1 while Johnny Dumfries and Jan Lammers are teamed up in the #2 car.

John Nielsen, the Dane, is here as a reserve driver.  In practice, it was wet and interspersed by occasional dry periods.  One of the privateer Porsche’s actually held sway at the top of the timesheets in practice for a while.  John Nielsen has had much success with Jaguar in IMSA in the United States, having won the 24 Hours of Daytona, but of course, the ’88 crown in America went to Australia’s Geoff Brabham, driving for the Nissan team.  Michelin has done very well as tire supplier for Sauber Mercedes this year, and Mercedes could still be in with a shout of winning the driver’s championship if they do well here in Japan and at the finale in Australia that you’ll hear about soon.

Jean Louis Schlesser still leads the drivers’ championship and he’s shown much promise this year.  Mercedes still has to drop some points if they want to win the title.  Japan is well represented in their home race with factory efforts from Mazda, Toyota, and Nissan.  It is very wet in practice at Fuji, but this doesn’t deter the spectators from turning out to see the race.  85,000 people are jam packed into the grandstand here at Fuji to see the race.  We seem to have a keen eye not just for pretty sports cars, but also, pretty girls surrounding the sports cars as they are on the grid.

This massive 35 car grid will be led by the privately entered #27 From A Racing Porsche 962C out of Japan, driven by Sweden’s Stanley Dickens and Japan’s own Hideki Okada.  Second on the grid is the #32 turbocharged Nissan R88C with it’s 3.0 liter turbo V8 in a March built chassis for Masahiro Hasemi and Aguri Suzuki.  Suzuki is the 1988 Japanese Formula 3000 champion, transitioning from open wheel to sports cars.  Silk Cut Jaguar qualified sixth and seventh and the team is confident they can win.  When you get to the top level of racing, there are no excuses for not going fast.

There are a number of permutations between Mercedes and Jaguar in the drivers’ championship.  Jean Louis Schlesser knows he has to win to earn the title.  This is the first time Mercedes has raced at Fuji.  Klaus Ludwig hopes to do well with Porsche in their final race for the Porsche factory for a while it seems.  It will be very hard for Porsche to keep up with Mercedes and Jaguar.  Hans Stuck is not feeling well, and he has been running in IMSA GTP in the U.S., as Price Cobb has as well.  Porsche has a decided disadvantage against Jaguar and Mercedes, as well as the favorites from Japan like Nissan and Toyota.

Keep in mind this is also a round of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, and the Fuji Long Distance Series as well.  Let’s take a look as this is a marvelous grid assembled for the Fuji 1,000 Kilometers.

1. #27 Okada/Dickens Porsche 962C      From A Racing
2. #32 Hasemi/Suzuki Nissan R88C        Nissan Motorsports
3. #62 Baldi/Streiff Sauber  C9/88 Mercedes  Team Sauber Mercedes
4. #17 Ludwig/Cobb Porsche 962C  Omron Porsche AG
5. #36 Lees/Sekiya/Suzuki Toyota 88C-V  Toyota Team Tom’s
6. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR9  Silk Cut Jaguar
7. #1 Brundle/Cheever Jaguar XJR9  Silk Cut Jaguar
8. #61 Schlesser/Mass/Acheson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes  Team Sauber Mercedes
9. #8 Jelinski/Winter Porsche 962C  Joest Racing
10. #100 Fouche/Schuppan/van der Merwe Porsche 962C GTi          Trust Racing Team
11. #23 Hoshino/Takahashi/Grice Nissan R88C  Nissan Motorsports
12. #25 Takahashi/Mogi Porsche 962C  Advan Alpha Nova
13. #33 Bell/Redman Porsche 962C  Takefuji Racing Team
14. #99 Elgh/Sandro Sala Porsche 962C  Rothmans Porsche Team Schuppan
15. #86 Wada/Olofsson March 88S Nissan  Italya Racing Team (Team Le Mans)
16. #37 Johansson/Barilla/Ogawa Toyota 88C-V  Toyota Team Tom’s
17. #201 Yorino/Katayama/Dieudonne Mazda 767  Mazdaspeed
18. #7 Wollek/Grohs/Ludwig Porsche 962C  Joest Racing
19. #77 Needell/Moretti/Huysman Porsche 962C  Memorex Telex Racing Team
20. #11 Larrauri/Giacomelli Porsche 962C  Leyton House with Porsche Kremer
21. #10 Weidler/Reuter Porsche 962 CK6  Porsche Kremer Racing
22. #28 Nagasaka/Hoshino/Kageyama Porsche 962C  Leyton House Racing Team
23. #202 Terada/Kennedy Mazda 767  Mazdaspeed
24. #85 Suzuki/Morimoto March 88S Nissan  Person’s Racing Team (Team Le Mans)
25. #45 Gilbert-Scott/Andskar Toyota 87C  Auto Beaurex Motorsport
26. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth  BP Spice Engineering
27. #103 Salazar/Thyrring Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth BP Spice Engineering
28. #107 Ricci/Ballot-Lena/Khan Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth  Chamberlain Engineering
29. #50 Donnelly/Dauer/Sasaki SARD MC88S Toyota  SARD
30. #121 Los/Hessert/Taylor Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth  Cosmik GPM
31. #171 Fukuyama/Yoneyama/Misaki JTK 63C Ford Cosworth  British Barn Racing Team
32. #127 Abrahams/Murphy/Khan Spice SE86C Hart Chamberlain Engineering
33. #106 Randaccio/Veninata Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth  Kelmar
34. #20 Lee-Davey/Dodd-Noble/Iketani Porsche 962C  Team Davey
35. #230 Shiratori/Fujii/Fujieda  Mazda 757  Shizumatsu

Will we see Martin Brundle become a world champion, following in the footsteps of Derek Bell?  The qualifying times for this massive 35 car grid were very close, and so, we expect to see a competitive race over the next 1,000 kilometers.  Tom Walkinshaw is obviously waiting to the last possible moment to see which of his cars Martin Brundle will start in.  The same applies to Mercedes and Jean Louis Schlesser.  Whoever, wins, will be World Champion. No matter, it is time now, to go racing, at Mount Fuji!  The safety car pulls off onto pit lane.    It’s green lights, on, and away we go!

The race begins and we do see the predicted Mercedes and Jaguar sprint at the front, as Klaus Ludwig is also giving it some serious welly in the factory Porsche 962C we are seeing for the final time in the World Sports Car Championship.  Baldi leads with Klaus Ludwig running second.  But, hot on his heels is the #61 sister Mercedes, Jochen Mass at the wheel of it.  Here comes Jan Lammers in the #2 Silk Cut Jaguar as well.  In fifth place, it’s the sister Jaguar, with Eddie Cheever currently at the controls.  Again, we wait to find out the decisions to be made by Martin Brundle at Jaguar and Jean Louis Schlesser at Mercedes for which cars on their teams they will choose to drive and score points in.

All Brundle has to do to win the championship is finish second or better.  Mercedes has to retain a 1-2 formation to win the title and to deny Jaguar glory.  Pit stop time for Mercedes, and we see a problem for Jaguar as Jan Lammers overcooks one of the turns here at Fuji and goes off the road.  He has a punctured tire, and whack!  He hits the barrier.  It is without doubt game over for Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries.  Not just Jaguar, but also, Mercedes runs into problems!  Mauro Baldi takes the leading Mercedes off the road, big style, crashing at the end of the long front straightaway here at Fuji.

To compound the woes of Mercedes, Northern Ireland’s Kenny Acheson at the wheel of the #61 car, has to deal with a really bad misfire in the Mercedes turbo V8 motor.  Boom!  We see some definite argy bargy between the two Kremer Porsche’s.  Don’t take your team mate out!  That’s the first rule in racing.  Well, the blokes driving for Kremer, didn’t listen, and team boss Erwin Kremer will be none too happy.  Jaguar #1 is now remorselessly reeling in the #61 Sauber Mercedes.  The car, is slowing down at a rapid rate.  Martin Brundle and Eddie Cheever take the lead of this motor race as the Mercedes tumbles down the order to fifth place in the overall.  Klaus Ludwig and Price Cobb have secured second place in the final drive for the factory Porsche team.  In third place, it is the #8 Joest Racing car of Frank Jelinski and John Winter with Matsuda Collection and Century Housing sponsorship.  Pole sitter’s Hideki Okada and Stanley Dickens are running fourth overall at the present time.

But, here, at Fuji, after five hours and 20 minutes of no more real drama and just flat out racing, it’s Silk Cut Jaguar, winning the race, with Eddie Cheever and Martin Brundle.  Brundle is the champ!  He wins his first ever World Sports Car Championship!  Spice Engineering, with Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm, they keep the steamroller alive in C2, winning another championship title!  TWR Jaguar doubles up.  Martin Brundle is the driver’s champion, and Silk Cut TWR Jaguar are the 1988 FIA World Sports Car Championship teams’ champions!

Let’s have a look at the top ten results from Fuji.

1. #1 Brundle/Cheever Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
2. #17 Ludwig/Cobb Porsche 962C     Omron Porsche AG
3. #8 Jelinski/Winter Porsche 962C     Joest Racing
4. #27 Okada/Dickens Porsche 962C     From A Racing
5. #61 Schlesser/Mass/Acheson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes  Team Sauber Mercedes
6. #25 Takahashi/Mogi Porsche 962C  Advan Alpha Nova
7. #99 Elgh/Sala Porsche 962C  Rothmans Porsche Team Schuppan
8. #28 Nagasaka/Hoshino/Kageyama Porsche 962C  Leyton House Racing Team
9. #23 Hoshino/Takahashi/Grice Nissan R88C  Nissan Motorsports
10. #100 Fouche/Schuppan/van der Merwe Porsche 962C GTi  Trust Racing Team

The winning C2 car is eleventh overall, rthe #103 Spice Engineering Spice Ford Cosworth of Thorkild Thyrring and Eliseo Salazar.

#103 Thyrring/Salazar   Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth   Spice Engineering

One race remains in the championship, as the World Sports Car Championship returns to Australia and the Sandown Motorsports Park in Queensland, Australia, for the first time since 1984.

Welcome to southern Belgium (the Ardennes forest and the Francorchamps, Malmedy, Stavelot triangle), and the mighty Spa Francorchamps circuit that has been around in one form or another since the 1920s.  The race is organized by the RACB, the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium.  This sweeping circuit that winds its way through the Ardennes mountains and forest is 6.9 kilometers, 4.3 miles long.  Jaguar can clinch both the drivers’ and the manufacturers’ championships today, at Spa, if everything goes in their favor.

Mercedes is still in with a shout for the driver’s crown.  It’s a duel between Martin Brundle from England, for Jaguar, and Frenchman Jean Louis Schlesser for Mercedes Benz.  A plethora, a flotilla of Porsche 962’s will be out there, as ever, to spoil the Jaguar and/or Mercedes party, however.  Joest has their two Blaupunkt Porsche’s and we cannot forget the modified Porsche 962 GTi for Richard Lloyd Racing in the hands of Derek Bell and Martin Donnelly.  Donnelly is a Formula 3000 single seater driver.  Can Mercedes have an advantage in the rain at Spa?  It seems unlikely, as Jaguar might just have the edge on setup.

Jean Louis Schlesser is not confident Mercedes can beat Jaguar in the treams championship.  Spa is a lovely circuit in the dry, but in the wet, it is a bugaboo, according to Eddie Cheever, Martin Brundle’s team mate.  Brundle can choose to drive the #1 or #2 car.  Jaguar has made progress on their V12 engines.  But, there are still some teething troubles, and yet, Jaguar has had their first real success in qualifying.  The weather is looking grim.

Mauro Baldi is the pole man, sharing with Stefan Johansson, who is still learning the Sauber Mercedes.  Jan Lammers and Martin Brundle have Jaguar #2 next up.  Johnny Dumfries will be teamed in the #1 Jaguar with Eddie Cheever, as Jaguar changes up their driver lineups. Bob Wollek has the quickest of the Porsche’s in the Joest entry, car #7, that pesky #7 that seems to always be in contention to try and mess with the Jaguars and Mercedes’.    Costas Los has the Spice quickest in C2.  Let’s look at the grid before this race gets underway.

1. #62 Baldi/Johansson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
2. #2 Lammers/Brundle Jaguar XJR9                                         Silk Cut Jaguar
3. #61 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
4. #1 Cheever/Dumfries Jaguar XJR9                                         Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #7 Wollek/Barilla Porsche 962C                                     Blaupunkt Joest Racing
6. #5 Larrauri/Reuter Porsche 962C                                     Brun Motorsport
7. #8 Winter/Jelinski Porsche 962C                                     Joest Racing GmBH
8. #14 Bell/Donnelly Porsche 962C GTi                             Richard Lloyd Racing
9. #4 Brun/Larrauri/Reuter Porsche 962C                                  Brun Motorsport
10. #35 Lechner/Franzmaier/Dauer Porsche 962C                   Walter Lechner Racing School
11. #20 Lee-Davey/Dodd-Noble Porsche 962C                          Team Davey
12. #121 Los/Taylor Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth         P. Motorsport
13. #40 Salamin/Lavaggi/Yver Porsch 962C                                  Swiss Team Salamin
14. #103 Thyrring/Coppelli Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         Spice Engineering
15. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         Spice Engineering
16. #127 Jones/Adams/Williams Spice SE86C Hart                    Chamberlain Engineering
17. #117 Sheldon/Chauvet/Smith Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth  Team Lucky Strike Schanche
18. #107 Ricci/Ballot-Lena Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         Chamberlain Engineering
19. #109 Randaccio/Taverna/Gellini Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth  Kelmar Racing Cars
20. #106 Barberio/Veinanta/Sebastiani Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth  Kelmar Racing Cars
21. #151 Lombardi/Sotty/Lecerf Spice SE86C Ford Cosworth  Lombardi, Pierre-Alain
22. #191 Piper/Iacobelli Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth  PC Automotive
23. #177 Lacaud/Descartes/Heuclin ALD 04 BMW    Descartes, Louis
24. #124 Rousselot/Messaoudi Argo JM19 Ford Cosworth  MT Sport Racing
25. #125 Oudet/Ferrarin/Witmeur Tiga GC85 Ford Cosworth  Patrick Oudet Vetir Racing
26. #198 Hynes/Cohen-Olivar/Musetti Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth  Roy Baker Racing
27. #178 Tremblay/Mecer ALD 03 BMW  Descartes, Louis

27 cars are set to take the start, here at Spa.  The track is wet, as the cars set off on the formation lap behind the safety car.  The cream of the cream in sports cars is here.  All the VIP’s from the automotive world and the major makes represented in Group C are here to watch the action from the suites around the track.  Green lights, on, and we’re off and racing in the rain, at Spa!  As the race gets underway, we can see Jaguar taking the fight to Mercedes already.  They know they can clinch the championship today, so they are undoubtedly taking advantage of that opportunity.

Jaguar doesn’t necessarily have to win, well, how should yours truly say this.  They still have to finish in the top two, but a better way to put it is, it does not matter which of their cars crosses the finish line first at the end of the 1,000 kilometers.  Jan Lammers is leading.  Martin Brundle is waiting in the wings to see which of the lead Jaguar’s he’ll team up with.  Will it be car #1 or car #2?  Jean Louis Schlesser is in a similar situation for Mercedes.  You want to have your strongest bullet in the gun, when it comes to crunch time in this motor race.

Once again, even in the rain, this is a two horse race.  Porsche seems to not have the speed to keep up with Jaguar and Mercedes as we’ve discussed before, numerous times during this 1988 WSC campaign.  The conditions here at Spa are atrocious.  There’s fog, and rain, everywhere, and at Spa, it is one of those circuits where, when it rains, it pours.  Jaguar’s strategy has gone a tad pear shaped.  Poor old Jan Lammers is in the lane already with a puncture.  This gives the lead, gift wrapped in a bow, to Mauro Baldi and Mercedes.  It’s a Mercedes 1-2.  Jochen Mass has recovered well in the sister Sauber Mercedes, clawing his way back past another of the Jaguars and the Brun Jagermeister Porsche, the Larrauri/Reuter entry.

Into the pits from the race lead is car #62.  Mauro Baldi will hand the wheel to Stefan Johansson for the next stint in the race as tires are changed and the fuel tank is filled.  Meanwhile, Jean Louis Schlesser will share the sister #61 Mercedes with Jochen Mass.  Bob Wollek was hopeful of a good race here in the Ardennes.  But, it’s game over for Joest Porsche as old #7 retires with handling issues.  Bob Wollek and Paolo Barilla just couldn’t find a setup on the Porsche to make it drivable in the race.  So, now the plot thickens just a little bit.  It seems that the normally aspirated, massive 7.0 liter V12 in the back of the Jaguar has the legs in the wet.

Not so fast.  It is instead, the booming 5.0 liter turbo V8 Mercedes that is putting the cat among the pigeons here at Spa.  Jean Louis Schlesser and Stefan Johansson run 1-2 and they are putting on a clinic out there in the wet.  Jan Lammers put the #2 Jaguar into third, and of course, he will now have Martin Brundle co-driving the car.  Jean Louis Schlesser is on a Sunday cruise here at Spa.  But, it’s game over for Jaguar #1.  There was a fuel pickup issue on car #1.  It practically ran out of gas, and so, there was no way for the pickup in the tank to distribute fuel into the massive V12 motor, and the car stopped dead stick on the circuit.

Don’t count your chickens until they hatch.  After dominating, we see problems for Jean Louis Schlesser and Mercedes!  The car he shares with Jochen Mass has a broken suspension, and repairs on this issue in the pit lane, will demote them from the lead to third overall.  For Jean Louis Schlesser, he is none too happy as he sees his chances of a world championship evaporate right in front of his eyes.  It’s not all gloom for Mercedes, though, because the sister #62 car of Mauro Baldi and Stefan Johansson has taken the lead here at Spa.

Martin Brundle and Jan Lammers have gone to second place as the Chairman of Jaguar cars, Sir John Egan, looks on.  Jan Lammers is catching the Mercedes at a rate of knots.  Mercedes, though, is going to win the battle here at a soggy Spa Francorchamps.  So, they have something to celebrate, but the war is won by Jaguar!  They take the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships in Group C, 1988!  Jan Lammers says Jaguar has so far accomplished everything they’ve wanted to.  “We’ve won Daytona, we’ve won Le Mans, we’ve won the manufacturers’ championship.  We still want to win the drivers’ title”, says Lammers.  So, let’s look at the results from Spa.

1. #62 Baldi/Johansson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
2. #2 Lammers/Brundle Jaguar XJR9                                         Silk Cut Jaguar
3. #61 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
4. #5 Larrauri/Reuter Porsche 962C                                     Brun Motorsport
5. #103 Thyrring/Coppelli Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth          Spice Engineering*
6. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         Spice Engineering
7. #40 Salamin/Lavaggi Porsche 962C                                     Swiss Team Salamin
8. #20 Lee-Davey/Dpdd-Noble Porsche 962C                          Team Davey
9. #127 Jones/Adams/Williams Spice SE86C Hart                    Chamberlain Engineering
10. #117 Sheldon/Chauvet/Smith Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth  Team Lucky Strike Schanche

Spice Engineering wins in C2 WITH Thorkild Thyrring from Denmark and Almo Coppelli from Italy driving, and the Spice chassis takes the top two places in C2.  Time is of the essence.  The European World Sports Car season is complete.  Two races now remain.  The next event is the penultimate round of the year at Mount Fuji Speedway in Fuji, Japan, in three weeks.

Next up, we visit the historic town of Adenauer, Germany, on our way to the new, shorter, and safer version of the Nurburgring for the Nurburgring 1,000 Kilometers.  Time is of the essence in the World Sports Car Championship for 1988, with just three races to go after this one.  The heavens have opened here at the Nurburgring, big style.  Mercedes has the edge in practice with their #62 machine that has been rebuilt after the massive wreck at Brands Hatch, and the car will be driven around the Nurburgring by Mauro Baldi, and Sweden’s Stefan Johansson, making a return to sports car racing.

The fastest Jaguar is the #2 Jan Lammers/Johnny Dumfries car.  Martin Brundle will share the #1 Jaguar here at the Nurburgring, with Eddie Cheever.  Both Mercedes’ and one Joest Racing Porsche 962 have run quicker than the two factory works Jaguars;.  Now, the race organizers here at the Nurburgring, have a plan to split the 1,000 kilometer event into two halves.  The plan is to run one in the daytime, and one at night, to emulate the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  The first half is slated to begin on Saturday afternoon and run into the dark of night.

There’s been a 24 hour race for production cars on the Nordschleife for years.  The driver’s fear that racing on the new short course in the darkness, isn’t safe.  It is especially worrisome in the wet, and if there’s fog.  The drivers are appealing to the FIA and to the Nurburgring organizers to bring the start of the race forward to avoid running for a long period in the darkness.  You have people advocating for an earlier race start like both Jochen Mass and Jean Louis Schlesser for Mercedes, and the owner of Brun Motorsport, Walter Brun, running his privateer 962s.  Other drivers such as Mercedes’ Stefan Johansson and Eddie Cheever for Jaguar, also lobby to have the race start time moved forward for the sake of safety.

This meeting seems to have been productive as the organizers are listening to the fears of drivers and team bosses alike about racing in the rain and the dark.  Eddie Cheever is running his first WSC race since Silverstone, since he also drives in Formula 1 for the Arrows team.  He sees no point of racing at night at the Nurburgring.  There is no history of racing at night on the new track.  The darkness and the bleak weather is a mix that could create disaster, especially risking hurting the marshals.  Cheever believes that the argument of egos is what’s clashing.

He believe the drivers’ safety is paramount, while the organizers still want to thrill the fans with night racing, which puts the safety of the drivers at risk.  If the rain falls at 7PM, the scheduled start of the race, the teams will decide that it is too dangerous, and they will protest/boycott the event.  Jaguar has lights on their cars, but the new Nurburgring is not set up for night racing.  You can’t see the marshals or the circuit.  Jochen Mass for Mercedes says something might happen with the conditions, and the organizers should move the race forward to get it in.

He says that insisting to do the race at night when there won’t be as many spectators and the race will not be covered on television, is not a good idea.  He says he’ll start the race but the fuel is also a concern.  Two years ago, in 1986, at this very race, it rained, and threw the fuel strategy situation into disarray.  Bring the start time forward, or don’t race at all today and wait until Sunday.  Mauro Baldi at the wheel of the #62 Sauber Mercedes is 8/10ths of a second quicker than anyone else during practice.  Baldi is on pole and he too says that racing in the rain is going to be very hard and very unsafe.

Stefan Johansson is also racing in Formula 1 for Ligier in 1988.  He shares the #62 Mercedes with Baldi, and alongside them in the sister car are it’s usual drivers, Jochen Mass and Jean Louis Schlesser.  Third quickest, the #7 Joest Racing Porsche 962C being shared by Bob Wollek of France and Italy’s Paolo Barilla.  Then comes Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries in the #2 Jaguar, the Flying Dutchman sharing with the Scottish aristocrat.  The manufacturer’s championship is at stake.  Jan Lammers likes driving in the wet, but is not too happy about the Jaguar’s handling.

Martin Brundle in the sister car had his time disallowed.  Then comes Brundle alongside Eddie Cheever in Jaguar #1, followed by the #8 Joest Racing Porsche of Frank Jelinski and John Winter, with the #6 Brun Motorsport Porsche 962 of Manuel Reuter and Jesus Pareja, the German and the Spaniard.  Then comes Jochen Dauer, the German, driving with Franz Konrad from Austria in the #16 Victor Dauer Racing Porsche 962, and completing the top ten places, the #10 Kremer Porsche 962C of Germany’s Volker Weidler and Italian Bruno Giacomelli.

Before we begin this race, let’s look at the full starting grid of 30 cars.

1. #62 Baldi/Johansson Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Sauber Mercedes
2. #61 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                                 Sauber Mercedes
3. #7 Wollek/Barilla/Streiff Porsche 962C                               Blaupunkt Joest Racing
4. #2 Lammers/Dumfries   Jaguar XJR9                                   Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #1 Cheever/Brundle   Jaguar XJR9                                       Silk Cut Jaguar
6. #8 Jelinski/Winter Porsche 962C                                          Blaupunkt Joest Racing
7. #6 Reuter/Pareja            Porsche 962C                                 Brun Motorsport
8. #16 Dauer/Konrad Porsche 962C                                         Victor Dauer Racing
9. #10 Weidler/Giacomelli Porsche 962C                                Porsche Kremer Racing
10. #4 Brun/Huysman Porsche 962C                                         Brun Motorsport
11. #5 Schafer/Larrauri Porsche 962C                                      Brun Motorsport
12. #121 Los/Taylor Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth                    GP Motorsports
13. #111 Bellm/Spice Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                  BP Spice Engineering
14. #40 Salamin/Lavaggi Porsche 962C                                    Swiss Team Salamin
15. #14 Hobbs/Donnelly Porsche 962C GTi                              Richard Lloyd Racing
16. #127 Williams/Adams/Jones Spice SE86C Ford Cosworth  Chamberlain Engineering
17. #103 Thyrring/Coppelli Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth           BP Spice Engineering
18. #107 Ballot-Lena/Ricci Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth            Chamberlain Engineering
19. #24 Frey/Giangrossi Lancia LC2/88                                        Dollop Racing
20. #109 Gellini/Randaccio Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth           Kelmar Racing
21. #117 Chauvet/Smith Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth              Team Lucky Strike Schanche
22. #106 Veninata/Barberio Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth        Kelmar Racing
23. #160 Mudas/Neuberger/Seher Gebhardt JC873 Ford Cosworth  Gebhardt Motorsport
24. #191 Piper/Iacobelli Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth                           C. Automotive
25. #177 Lacaud/Tremblay/Descartes ALD 04 BMW                            Louis Descartes
26. #183 Maurer/Gall/Doren Maurer C87 BMW                                    Walter Maurer
27. #151 Lombardi/Sotty/Lecerf Spice SE86C Ford Cosworth  Pierre Alain Lombardi
28. #198 Sheldon/Crang Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth                  Roy Baker Racing
29. #124 Rousselot/Messaoudi Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth      MT Sport Racing
30. #20 Lee-Davey/Dodd-Noble/Oberndorfer Porsche 962C      Tim Lee Davey

Even here in West Germany, in the wet, a Jaguar XJ-S is the safety car, as the field streams around on a sopping wet track.  The diabolical conditions mean that whole field processes behind the safety car for three exploratory laps, to get used to the wet.  But now, the safety car pulls off and we will turn them loose.  Green lights on!  We’re racing at Nurburgring.  The Sauber Mercedes’ lead the way right off the start.  But the Jaguar ducks its nose right past the black AEG sponsored missile, going into the lead.  The crucial factor is if the teams chose the right wet weather tire compound.  It’s still a tire war, Michelin for Mercedes, and Dunlop for Jaguar.

Right now, Jaguar has the edge as Jan Lammers moves ahead of Mauro Baldi.  Lammers as always, sharing with Johnny Dumfries.  There isn’t an advantage for the turbo cars in the wet, namely the Mercedes’ and the Porsche’s.  Because of the slower speeds in the rain here at the Nurburgring, the usual fuel consumption planning can be tossed right out the window.  Group C cars, after all, are tuned so that they have a maximum of 1,000 break horsepower available.  Martin Schanche goes off the road in his Argo, and he’s used to off road driving, coming from a rallycross background.

That being said, a Group C sports car really shouldn’t go off road.  Now, Jan Lammers is flying and is one of the rainmeister’s here in the World Sports Car Championship.  Meanwhile, whoops!  Walter Brun puts the #4 Porsche 962C on the whirligig.  Well, fortunately there, it wasn’t a complete spin.  It was just a real long sideways drift.  We have a full course yellow on the circuit, and the safety car is dispatched.  Fog has been descending on the circuit just a bit.  No worries mate.  The ceiling is lifting.  They’ve got more than an hour or so of racing, at night.

It’s wild, isn’t it?  The headlights are on in the mist and fog, and the driver’s and team bosses know ten times better than do the organizers that these conditions are tricky at best, questionable at worst.  We’ve seen two rounds of pit stops and as darkness falls, Jean Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass have the Sauber Mercedes in P1.  But, the challenge from Jaguar looks to be curtailed.  Johnny Dumfries was closing in hand over fist on the Mercedes until he got balked and had a dust up with Manuel Reuter in the #6 Brun Motorsport Porsche 962C.  This means Dumfries still finishes, but does so in second behind the Mercedes.  In third, it’s Martin Brundle and Eddie Cheever in the second Jaguar.

Sunday morning, now, and it is time for part two of this motor race to commence.  Now, we are ready to get underway with the second 500 kilometer race that will make up the Nurburgring 1,000 Kilometers.  500 kilometers, 312 miles are ahead.  We have more rain and awful weather on Sunday, here at the Nurburgring.  How will part two of this motor race play out?  Now, the second Sauber Mercedes, car #61 had finished seventh in the Saturday race.  But, as we get underway on Sunday, in equally dreadful and rainy conditions here at the Nurburgring, it is languishing in seventh and might not go too far.  It’s lights out, and begrudgingly, away we go, through the rooster tails of spray.  Mercedes #62 spins off the road off the final corner even before the race starts, putting it’s sister car, #61, as the only Mercedes in real contention for overall victory.

Schlesser and Mass won race one yesterday.  Jochen Mass and Jean Louis Schlesser lead on this track.  Nurburgring is wet.  Isn’t it always?  Well, not always, but when it rains, it pours here in the Eiffel mountains.  Johnny Dumfries went extremely well in race one, but race two isn’t going to plan for him as he spins off the circuit.  Exit one Sauber Mercedes, and exit one Silk Cut Jaguar.  Both teams are now equal with one bullet in the gun, each.  Obviously, a couple of these drivers woke up in a fog as thick as the rain is this morning at the track, and didn’t use their heads, choosing to leave any common sense on in the hotel room overnight.

This is a race Jean Louis Schlesser has to win to have a shot at the championship.  The best seven races out of the eleven that make up the season, will count.  Because of Schlesser’s success, he will need to drop points, while Martin Brundle in the Jaguar, he has yet to score any points in all of the ’88 races to this point.  Both race times from the two 500 kilometer races will be added together now, to create the overall result.  We see Schlesser coming back on track after a routine visit to the pit lane.  Pretty simple idea, per the German organizers.  OK, chaps, that was sarcasm.  If you think it is simple for yours truly, I can only imagine the poor old spectators who have gotten absolutely soaked trying to enjoy watching a motor race.

Now, spoiler alert!  Jaguar had this race in the bag, but four laps from home, their V12 engine coughs and sputters.  Sauber Mercedes retakes the lead from the ailing V12 Jaguar and goes on to sweep the two races here at the Nurburgring.  Let’s take a look at the results of the doubleheader from the Nurburgring.

1. #61 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9-88 Mercedes     Team Sauber Mercedes
2. #1 Cheever/Brundle Jaguar XJR9                         Silk Cut Jaguar
3. #7 Wollek/Barilla Porsche 962C                           Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
4. #8 Jelinski/Winter Porsche 962C                         Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
5. #6 Reuter/Pareja Porsche 962C                            Brun Motorsport
6. #4 Brun/Huysman Porsche 962C                         Brun Motorsport
7. #14 Hobbs/Donnelly Porsche 962C GTi              Richard Lloyd Racing
8. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR9                    Silk Cut Jaguar
9. #40 Salamin/Lavaggi Porsche 962C                    Swiss Team Salamin
10. #10 Weidler/Giacomelli Porsche 962C               Porsche Kremer Racing

Incidentally, the top ten is filled with C1 cars.  The C2 winner finishing 12^th overall.  It is the #106 Kelmar Racing Tiga.

C2 Winner: #106 Veninata/Barberio        Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth           Kelmar Racing

Congratulations to Vito Veninata and Pasquale Barberio, the two Italians, who win C2 at Nurburgring.  Only three races left to run in the 1988 Group C sports car season.  Next up on the calendar, as the races dwindle in number, it is another legendary circuit, the mighty Spa Francorchamps in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, in two weeks.

The second half of the 1988 World Sports Car Championship, begins in the garden of England at Brands Hatch in Kent.  The bells ring from an English country church.  It should be high summer, but the weather is uncertain as practice gets underway.  Qualifying for the race was also awash with rain, and we could still see the skies open for the Sunday race.  So, eager fans who have come to see sports car racing have the brollies at the ready.

Mercedes, Porsche, and Jaguar, once again, are set to do battle, and it’s coming up, next!  On the pole for Mercedes Benz is the #61 Sauber C9-88 Mercedes in the hands of Mauro Baldi and James Weaver, the Italian and the Briton.  Baldi beat team mate, Frenchman Jean Louis Schlesser to the top spot, and Schlesser has already had five starts from P1 in 1988.  Schlesser will co-drive as per usual with Jochen  Mass, the German.  They won two weeks ago at Brno, but Mass is not sure how this race will go other than being a good one.  If it rains, the big turbo V8 in the back of the Mercedes will find it hard to work as there will be less traction for the tires.

If it’s damp, Mass says Sauber Mercedes will be OK.  But, if we get a gully washer, then they’re going to be behind the eight ball without a doubt.  The new Dingle Dell chicane at Brands Hatch has gotten mixed reviews from drivers, but Mass seems to favor it.  Porsche slots in third quickest ahead of the hometown favorites from Jaguar, with Klaus Ludwig starting Porsche #7 for Reinhold Joest’s team.  Ludwig says his qualifying performance was OK, not fantastic as one of the commentators puts it.  He believes Porsche will be able to run ahead of Jaguar, but that Mercedes Benz are the cars to beat.  They are the ones with the advantage going into this motor race.

Ludwig says the new fuel injection and electronic waste gate control, has changed the performance of the Porsche.  Ludwig is not bothered by the new Dingle Dell chicane, but, he says that the designer should have thought it out more before adding it to the circuit.  It’s going to make the corner faster than it already was and may cause more sticky situations than actually help the racing with the big Group C cars here at Brands, as we anticipate the start, soon.  Ludwig says this rallycross style chicane is going to be a bugaboo.

Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries line the #2 Jaguar up in fourth spot next to the Joest Porsche.  Again, these chaps won Le Mans, and Jan Lammers still wants to show he’s competitive.  Brands Hatch is a really important race for Jaguar, being the second WSC race of the year in England.  John Winter and Frank Jelinski have the sister Joest Porsche #8 in the top five.  Winter, like his team mate at Joest, Klaus Ludwig says the new Dingle Dell chicane is way too fast.  It is a blind corner.  Frank Jelinski will start Porsche #8 as we get ever closer to starting this race at Brands Hatch.

Race distances will be 1,000 kilometers, 625 miles, at a lap count of 240 laps roughly within the six hours.  John Nielsen, Andy Wallace, and Martin Brundle, have the #1 Jaguar set to go.  Let’s look at the starting grid for the Brands Hatch 1,000 Kilometers.

1. #61 Baldi/Schlesser Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Sauber Mercedes
2. #62 Schlesser/Mass/Baldi Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                     Sauber Mercedes
3. #7 Ludwig/Wollek Porsche 962C                                                    Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
4. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR9                                               Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #8 Jelinski/Winter Porsche 962C                                                    Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
6. #1 Nielsen/Wallace/Brundle Jaguar XJR9                                     Silk Cut Jaguar
7. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                            BP Spice Engineering*
8. #3 Watson/Jones Jaguar XJR9                                                         Silk Cut Jaguar
9. #103 Coppelli/Thyrring Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                 BP Spice Engineering
10. #117 Hoy/Schanche Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth                        Team Lucky Strike Schanche
11. #115 “Chavet”/Sheldon/Lee-Davey ADA 03 Ford Cosworth         ADA Engineering
12. #40 Salamin/Lavaggi/Deletraz Porsche 962C                                  Swiss Team Salamin
13. #107 Ballot-Lena/Ricci Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                      Chamberlain Engineering
14. #191 Piper/Iacobelli Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth                       PC Automotive
15. #42 Regout/Santal/del Bello Sauber C8 Mercedes                      Noel del Bello Racing
16. #123 Harvey/Hodgetts/Donovan Tiga GC287 Porsche               Charles Ivey Racing/Istel/Goal  Systems
17. #112 Walker/Stott/Flux Tiga GC287 Ford Cosworth                        FAI Automotive Ltd.
18. #109 Randaccio/Gellini/Veninata Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth      Kelmar Racing
19. #125 Ferrarin/Lacaud/Oudet Tiga GC85 Ford Cosworth                Patrick Oudet Vetir Racing
20. #127 Adams/Birrane Spice SE86C Hart                                              Chamberlain Engineering
21. #198 Hynes/Cohen-Olivar/Bartlett Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth    Roy Baker Racing
22. #177 Lateste/Tremblay/Bennett     ALD 04 BMW                           Automobiles Louis Descartes

Twenty two cars will start this race.  If Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm win C2 at Brands Hatch, they will take yet another title, which is something like their fourth on the trot.  The Ford Sierra safety car moves to pit lane.  Green lights, on, and away we go!  It’s a gorgeous day for Brands Hatch.  Jochen Mass put the Mercedes into the lead right away, followed in hot pursuit by Jan Lammers in the fastest of the Jaguar’s.  Mauro Baldi is third, but he has a challenge, look, from Porsche #7 of Klaus Ludwig!  Reinhold Joest has given him the instructions to go for it and charge after the Mercedes and Jaguar juggernauts.

They dive down Pilgrims Drop for the first time.  Porsche reckons there could be an early yellow that will put them in the pound seats on fuel strategy.  Klaus Ludwig leads this motor race ahead of the two Mercedes’ of Jochen Mass and Mauro Baldi.  Jean Louis Schlesser will take over whichever Mercedes is ahead after the first round of pit stops.  But, there’s a crash!  Look out!  The slower C2 Tiga that started next to last, with American Stephen Hynes at the wheel, gets loose, and boom!  Jochen Mass in the Mercedes has no place to go except straight into the C2 racer, which destroys the Sauber and pitches him towards the tire wall coming off of Clearways, the final corner on the circuit!

Now, in the picture we see Mauro Baldi in the sister Mercedes, and he locks everything up, spinning a 360 to avoid being the third victim in this incident and thus wiping out the Mercedes squad.  One of the Jaguar’s cuts through and continues on in the race.  Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries come through.  They’ll be OK.  So will the third Jaguar in the hands of John Watson and American Davy Jones.  This has to have been one of the most violent, spectacular carambolages seen for years at Brands Hatch or anywhere for that matter.

Thank God for very well constructed modern Group C sports cars, because Jochen Mass and Stephen Hynes can both walk away from this crackup unharmed.  The safety car is on track as the efficient British marshals clean up the wreckage.  Mauro Baldi in the sole remaining Mercedes is in the pit lane to change his flat spotted tires.  The tires on Baldi’s Mercedes could very well have come off the car in the shape of cubes after his spin!

Jeepers!  Jochen Mass explains he was on his way to overtake the C2 Tiga with Hynes at the wheel of it.  Klaus Ludwig in the Porsche had passed the C2 car.  Hynes stays to drivers’ left, and Jochen Mass thinks, ‘OK, I’m clear.  I have space.’  Hynes loses it, and… crunch!  Mass has no escape.  He is sent reeling into the barriers.  It’s game over for Jochen Mass and Jean  Louis Schlesser, who never got to drive his stint.  Schlesser can still drive as he is entered with Baldi in the #61 car but will have to take points in that automobile now that the sister car went from being one of the gorgeous cars on the grid, to a worthless pile of junk, in mere seconds.  At the restart, the safety car pulls into pit lane.

Now, Klaus Ludwig retains the lead, but only just by the skin of his teeth.  The #1 Jaguar is closing, fast.  Martin Brundle should be at the wheel of it.  Beg your pardon, John Nielsen is currently at the controls with Jaguar’s second, third and fourth.    Andy Wallace, Martin Brundle, and John Nielsen will all share car #1 according to Tom Walkinshaw, the team owner at TWR Jaguar, and chief mechanic/race strategist, Roger Sillman.  #3 has the new 48 valve V12 experimental engine in the back of it, and again, the drivers are Ulsterman John Watson, ex F1 driver, and IndyCar driver, Davy Jones, who in later years would go on to much success with the Jaguar team.  Jaguar has been leading, only to be derailed by a punctured tire, and so, Klaus Ludwig now brings Joest Porsche back into the lead.

The see saw battle here at Brands Hatch is fascinating to watch.  For the aforementioned #3 Jaguar, it’s game over.  The experimental 48 valve V12 lump in the back of that XJR9 has gone ka-blammo.  Old #7 comes in for a pit stop.  Fuel, tires and a driver change for this car, but they are having some trouble as Bob Wollek takes ovrr the car.  Jan  Lammers with the #2 Jaguar takes over the lead.  Can he win a race after his Le Mans triumph?  The answer is, no.  The #2 Jaguar XJR9 has an electrical fire, and it’s game over, meaning one Jaguar is left in this race at Brands Hatch.

Whoops!  It’s a bit of Ross & Roll for Antoine Salamin as he takes his turn on the merry-go-round, and spins his Porsche 962.  He will continue, but his tires are cubed and his race, pear shaped.  Salamin incidentally, shares his Porsche with fellow Swiss driver Jean Denis Deletraz, and the Italian, Giovanni Lavaggi, whose name in Italian, literally translates to Johnny Carwash in English.  A car wash is autolavaggio in Italian.  No pear shaped race for Jaguar, however.

They have another scheduled pit stop.  Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm will win C2, and finish fourth overall.  Jaguar is going to win with Martin Brundle, John Nielsen, and Andy Wallace.  In second, Bob Wollek and Klaus Ludwig in the #7 Joest Blaupunkt Porsche, and recovering beautifully after cubing his tires in that spin, Mauro Baldi and co-driver Jean Louis Schlesser, at the wheel of the #61 Sauber C9/88 Mercedes!  But, it’s victory at home, in England, once more, for Jaguar!  Now, one more bit of drama.  Remember Stephen Hynes?  Well, he got his Tiga C2 car fixed after the accident, but right at the end of the motor race, Hynes loses a wheel!

You’ve picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel.  Here’s more irony.  Yes, you’ve guessed it.  That wheel off of Hines’ C2 racer nearly clattered into the Sauber Mercedes as it crossed the finish line in third spot!  Whew!  What a race at Brands Hatch!  Yours truly will need a rest after covering this one. Here’s the top ten from the Brands Hatch 1,000 Kilometers.

1. #1 Nielsen/Wallace/Brundle Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
2. #7 Ludwig/Wollek Porsche 962C     Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
3. #61 Baldi/Schlesser Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Team Sauber Mercedes
4. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         BP Spice Engineering*
5. #103 Coppelli/Thyrring Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         BP Spice Engineering
6. #121 Los/Taylor Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth         GP Motorsport
7. #40 Salamin/Lavaggi/Deletraz Porsche 962C     Swiss Team Salamin
8. #107 Ballot-Lena/Ricci Spice SE88C Ford Cosworh  Chamberlain Engineering
9. #109 Randaccio/Gellini/Veninata Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth     Kelmar Racing
10. #117 Hoy/Schanche Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth   Team Lucky Strike Schanche

Four races left in the championship.  Next up, it’s the Nurburgring in Germany.  But after their dramas today, are Mercedes’ mathematical chances to be champions, over?  Has their dream been shattered?  We’ll have to see.

Welcome to the Moravian capitol of Brno, in the Czech Republic.  Brno is a city of 400,000 people, is famous for its industry and gave its name to the Brngun.  Brno is between the Czech capital city of Prague, and the Austrian capitol of Vienna.  For many years, Brno had a road circuit on public roads running through it, much like Le Mans.  But, in 1987, the road circuit was replaced by the Brno Autodrom, a purpose built speedway that is the site of today’s World Sports Car Championship sprint race.

This is one of the best motor racing tracks in all of Europe and measures 5.4 kilometers (3 and 3/8s miles), in length.  The natural grandstand, on the hillside overlooking the speedway, seats 185,000 eager fans, who are ready to go sports car racing.  The World Sports Car Championship, for the first time ever, comes under the Iron Curtain.  Porsche and Jaguar will do battle once again with Mercedes Benz, who were fastest in practice.  Jean Louis Schlesser has scored his fifth pole in six races, and of course, Sauber Mercedes missed Le Mans due to tire trouble.

The Michelin tires will be fine at a shorter, slower track like Brno.  Most drivers says this track is similar to Jerez in Spain.  Jean Louis Schlesser compares the corners to Brands Hatch and the straightaway speeds kind of like Spa.  Schlesser is fastest, sharing the #62 Mercedes with Jochen Mass, and in the sister #61 machine it is Mauro Baldi sharing with James Weaver.  Mercedes are not too happy with the overall performance of the Sauber C9-88 as it is understeering a lot.  Mercedes are in reasonably good shape, but there have been problems here at Brno for Jaguar.  The TWR team has had to repair the car after the morning warmup.

Lead driver, and Formula 1 ace, Martin Brundle is totally unsure of what is causing the problems, and is as perplexed as the rest of the team.  Brundle is guessing there is a computer issue, and is not too concerned.  There is a spare car if need be.  Mercedes and Blaupunkt Porsche will be in the fight.  Brundle says the Jaguars have the handling, but are still getting outrun by the turbocharged Porsche’s and Mercedes’ on the straightaways.  Bob Wollek driving the #7 Blaupunki Car Audio Porsche 962C is just behind the Benzes and the Jaguars.  Wollek is sharing Joest’s famous #7 with John Winter.  Bob Wollek says the Porsche has better out of corner performance.

Wollek also says that he will try to pass and pull away from his rivals.  In fifth is the #2 Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR9 in the hands of Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries.  Jan Lammers predicts Jaguar will kind of be the meat in the sandwich between Mercedes and Porsche.  Porsche Customer Racing Director Jurgen Barth, has been looking after the customer Porsche efforts all year, and now, he is going to return to the driver’s seat as well.  Barth, from Germany, is set to share the sister #8 Joest Blaupunkt Porsche 962C with Franz Konrad from Austria.

There was a lack of availability for Joest’s sister car for Brno, so, Barth has decided to step in and fill that role, sharing with Konrad.  Jurgen Barth was part of Porsche’s 1977 Le Mans winning crew with the 936 spyder Prototype alongside Hurley Haywood and Jacky Ickx.  Incidentally, that car was powered by a 2.1 liter twin turbo flat six engine, that was from a Porsche 911.  Jurgen Barth’s dad, Edgar Barth ran at Brno on the old 35 kilometer (22 mile) circuit.  Barth and Konrad have qualified sixth quickest for this race.  Seventh, and right behind them, is the leading C2 car, the #103 BP Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth to be driven by Thorkild Thyrring from Denmark, and the Italian, Almo Coppelli.

Not too far behind them is the #121 GP Motorsport Spice of Costas Los from Greece and Briton Evan Clements.  They were faster than the sister works Spice, #111, of Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm.  Tenth is the Porsche 962, #40 for Swiss Team Salamin.  The team owner Antoine Salamin from Switzerland, shares with Italian Luigi Taverna.  Frenchman Jean Louis Ricci, sharing with Claude Ballot-Lena, a longtime campaigner in sports car racing, have the Chamberlain Engineering Spice Cosworth next on the grid.  Then there’s Dollop Racing with their Lancia, and another Chamberlain Spice with Hart power.  17 cars are in the field, a small grid.  Let’s have a look at it.

1. #61 Baldi/Weaver Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                               Sauber Mercedes
2. #62 Schlesser/Mass Sauber C9/88 Mercedes                             Sauber Mercedes
3. #1 Brundle/Nielsen Jaguar XJR-9                                                 Jaguar Silk Cut
4. #7 Wollek/Winter Porsche 962C                                                  Blaupunkt Joest Racing
5. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR-9                                           Jaguar Silk Cut
6. #8 Konrad/Barth Porsche 962C                                                   Blaupunkt Joest Racing
7. #103 Thyrring/Coppelli Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth              BP Spice Engineering*
8. #121 Los/Clements Spice SE87C Ford Cosworth                      BP Motorsport
9. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth                         Spice Engineering
10. #40 Salamin/Taverna Porsche 962C                                           Swiss Team Salamin
11. #107 Ballot-Lena/Ricci Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth              Chamberlain Engineering
12. #24 Frey/Giangrossi/Marozzo Lancia LC2/88                         Dollop Racing
13. #127 Stott/Adams/Birrane Spice SE86C Hart                          Chamberlain Engineering
14. #106 Barberio/Veninatta Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth           Roy Baker Racing
15. #198 Bender/Kimpton Tiga GC286 Ford Cosworth               Roy Baker Racing
16. #177 Descartes/Tremblay ALD 03 BMW                                 Louis Descartes
17. #109 Gellini/Randaccio Tiga GC288 Ford Cosworth             Kelmar Racing

One other car was supposed to start, but the #20 C1 class Tiga Ford Cosworth for Team Lee-Davey was not so lucky.  The British trio of Tim Lee-Davey, Chris Hodgetts, and Tom Dodd-Noble were supposed to share the car, but in testing, the car caught fire and burned completely to the ground.  So, 17 cars will start as they line up on the grid.  78,000 people are here for a Group C race, and much of the crowd has walked for miles to the circuit, to see the race.  Again, this is the first time the World Sports Car Championship has ventured behind the Iron Curtain.  The field is led by a Tatra safety car.  The grid, as we’ve seen, is very close.

We have 67 laps scheduled for this race.  Sauber Mercedes is back with a vengeance.  Green lights, on, and away we go!  The original lineups in those cars would have seen Mauro Baldi and Jean Louis Schlesser in #61 and Jochen Mass and James Weaver in #62.  Peter Sauber, the team owner, and team manager, Max Welti, are keeping their options open on Jean Louis Schlesser.  Keep in mind, despite Mercedes missing Le Mans due to their tire issues, they are still leading the points table in the world championship.  Jean Louis Schlesser will decide which car to drive depending on which one is leading at half distance, 180 kilometers or 112 and a half miles.

Jaguar is running to a steady pace with John Nielsen and Martin Brundle at the moment.  Sauber Mercedes run 1-2.  So many fans are here, not only from Czechoslovakia, but from all over Eastern Europe.  So, the race is underway, and we’ve seen so far that Sauber Mercedes has been dominant.  However, #61 has a problem.  An unscheduled pit stop was taken early, for a puncture.  Jean Louis Schlesser will join the sister #62 Mercedes leading this motor race, with Jochen Mass currently at the wheel of it.  So, the driving team becomes in #62, Mass/Schlesser/Weaver.  Although, it is doubtful James Weaver will drive in this sprint race.

The Brundle/Nielsen Jaguar continues on in second as the Porsche’s just cannot keep up with the Jag’s or the Benzes at this point.  The best they can muster so far, is third in the overall with the Lammers/Dumfries #2 machine.  Mercedes has repaired the punctured tire on car #61, but according to the strategy, they will need a second pit stop for fuel despite the nature of this race at Brno being a super sprint.  Jochen  Mass and Jean Louis Schlesser are the duo that still leads the motor race.  Mercedes are not the only blokes with tire issues, a puncture also ruined the race for the #2 Jaguar which is now having to make up for lost time.

Jochen Mass and Jean Louis Schlesser are on a Sunday cruise here at Brno as in the C2 division, we are going to see another win for the Spice of Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm, who also dominated Le Mans of course.  Pit stop time for Sauber Mercedes #62.  Jochen Mass, out, and Jean Louis Schlesser in for the next stint.  Schlesser must retain his lead in the race to gain maximum points so that his lead in the driver’s championship balloons to a margin of 20 points.  Porsche and Joest can manage fifth and sixth spot here at Brno with Bob Wollek and John Winter finishing ahead of Franz Konrad and Jurgen Barth.

Mercedes dominates here in Czechoslovakia, with the top four cars all on the same lap.  They win at Brno!  Let’s have a look at the results.

1. #62 Schlesser/Mass/Weaver Sauber C9/88 Mercedes    Sauber Mercedes
2. #1 Brundle/Nielsen Jaguar XJR9                                        Jaguar Silk Cut
3. #2 Lammers/Dumfries Jaguar XJR9                                  Jaguar Silk Cut
4. #61 Baldi/Weaver/Schlesser Sauber C9/88 Mercedes   Sauber Mercedes
5. #7 Wollek/Winter Porsche 962C                                       Blaupunkt Joest Racing
6. #8 Konrad/Barth Porsche 962C                                         Blaupunkt Joest Racing
7. #111 Spice/Bellm Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth               Spice Engineering*
8. #103 Thyrring/Coppelli Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth    BP Spice Engineering
9. #40 Salamin/Taverna Porsche 962C                                 Swiss Team Salamin
10. #127 Stott/Adams/Birrane Spice SE86C Hart                  Chamberlain Engineering

The next race is in the garden of Great Britain, at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, England, in two weeks.

We have reached the greatest endurance sports car race in the world, the 56^th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in northwestern France.  But, there is one notable absence from the race this weekend.  Sauber Mercedes will not race at Le Mans in 1988.  German driver Klaus Niedzwiedz had been brought in, to replace Jean Louis Schlesser, who refuses to race at Le Mans on the grounds of safety.  Schlesser claims the race is far too dangerous.

Klaus Niedzwiedz lost a left rear tire, proving Schlesser’s claim about the danger of La Sarthe.  So, the factory entered Sauber Mercedes cars were all withdrawn.  That includes the #61 which was to be driven by Jochen Mass, Mauro Baldi, and James Weaver, and #62 for Niedzwiedz and Kenny Acheson, from Northern Ireland.  This round, it’s Jaguar vs. Porsche.  You will notice that the Andretti family has teamed up in one of the factory Porsche’s with Shell livery, as the #19 car is set to be driven by Mario Andretti, his son, Michael Andretti, and his nephew, John Andretti.

So, here are the top qualifiers as the Porsche factory returns just for Le Mans, and takes the top three places in qualifying.

1. #17 Ludwig/Stuck/Bell Porsche 962C     Porsche AG
2. #18 Wollek/Schuppan/van der Merwe Porsche 962C     Porsche AG
3. #19 Andretti/Andretti/Andretti Porsche 962C     Porsche AG
4. #1 Brundle/Nielsen Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #8 Dickens/Winter/Jelinski Porsche  962C    Blaupunkt-Joest Racing
6. #2 Lammers/Dumfries/Wallace Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
7. #11 Nissen/Fouche/Grohs Porsche 962C     Porsche Kremer Racing
8. #36 Lees/Sekiya/Hoshino                 Toyota 88C          Toyota Team Tom’s
9. #21 Sullivan/Jones/Cobb Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
10. #37 Barilla/Hagawa/Needell Toyota 88C          Toyota Team Tom’s
11. #22 Daly/Perkins/Cogan Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
12. #3 Watson/Boesel/Pescarolo Jaguar XJR9         Silk Cut Jaguar
13. #5 Pareja/Sigala/Schafer Porsche 962C     Repsol Brun Motorsport
14. #33 Redman/Elgh/Jarier Porsche 962C     Takefuji Schuppan Racing Team
15. #23 Hoshino/Wada/Suzuki Nissan R88C        Nissan Motorsports

There are your top 15 qualifiers in a field of 49 cars.  It’s a wise decision for Mercedes to have withdrawn from the 24 Hours as they need to investigate the trouble with their Michelin tires.  They’ll be back.

The Trois Couleurs flag waves, and the 56^th 24 Hours of Le Mans is underway!  As you can tell from the grid, the factory Porsche team has returned, but just for this single race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans anhd they took pole, with all three of their cars leading as the race begins.  Again, this race is Jaguar vs. Porsche.  The #17 car in the hands of Klaus Ludwig, Derek Bell, and Hans Stuck absolutely obliterated the track record on their way to pole.  Again, the Andretti’s also are driving here at Le Mans in the #19 Porsche 962C.  All three cars are liveried by sponsors Dunlop tires and Shell Oil.

The #18 Porsche which we see has gone to the sharp end early, has Bob Wollek, Vern Schuppan, and Sarel van der Merwe on the driver’s strength.  So, the South African and the Frenchman are teaming up with the Australian, and the man who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, five years ago, back in 1983 alongside Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert.  Hans Stuck has taken the lead, looking for his third Le Mans win.  Derek Bell is looking to tie his longtime team mate Jacky Ickx, with six victories at Le Mans.  Le Mans is back to its former glory.

Yes, we wish Mercedes were here, and that they hadn’t had their tire troubles, because then it would be a really good scrap.  But Porsche and Jaguar are giving us plenty to talk about.  216,000 fans are here to see the race.  More than 50,000 are British.  Now, this race has settled into a rhythm.  But, Martin Brundle spins the #1 Jaguar into the sand trap at Indianapolis.  What?  No bucket and spade?  He might wriggle his way out of that jam momentarily, as it is pit stop time for one of the sister Jaguar’s, the #2 Lammers/Dumfries/Wallace machine.  They are leading after the opening three hours of the motor race.

The #1 Brundle/Nielsen Jaguar is back in the race but has lost all kinds of time.  Speaking of losing something, one of the factory Porsche’s has lost drive!  Klaus Ludwig tried to eke out an extra lap and it didn’t work.  His fuel tank went dry, and so, he has to be pushed into the pit lane.  Needless to say, Hans Stuck and Derek Bell, they were furious about this!  Klaus, how can you let us down like this, sunshine!  Just wait though.  This trio’s drive through the field for the next 20 hours, is going to be the stuff of legend.

Bob Wollek takes the lead in the fourth hour of the race.  Meanwhile, Walter Lechner seems to be on a Saturday drive out in the country, when all of a sudden… he runs out of race track, realizing the Porsche 962 won’t make a good rallycross racer, and… wallop!  He slams the wall!  He has a very silent Porsche 962.  The engine stalled.  Its game over for the Austrian and his team mates, Franz Hunkeler from Switzerland, and Germany’s Manuel Reuter.  Darkness has now fallen at Le Mans.  Night is relatively short at Le Mans, but as we’ve seen before, it is a challenge.  The #18 Porsche factory car leads, the Wollek/van der Merwe/Schuppan entry.  They are just barely ahead of the highest placed Jaguar XJR9 in second of Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries, and Andy Wallace.

Factory Porsche #17 is also in strife in the lane, with mechanical woes.  But, Hans Stuck, Derek Bell, and Klaus Ludwig, will recover.  Actually, they needed to change the front nose section of the automobile.  There’s a pit lane fire as well!  We’ve seen this before, shades of the 1985 Hockenheim race.  The #13 is not lucky at Le Mans this year as the Cougar C20B Porsche has flamed out!  Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Michel Ferte, the two Frenchmen had handled this car for most of the race distance.  Yves Courage of France and Italy’s Roberto Ravaglia were also slated to drive.  But, neither will get a chance, because it’s game over and the car is burned to a crisp.

Thankfully, the marshals doused the flames.  Now, we fast forward a little ways in this long grind that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and head for the early A.M. hours just before sunup.  The three factory Porsche’s are still being given a run for their money by two of the remaining Silk Cut Jaguar’s.  These are cars #2 and #1.  #2 leads the motor race overall, but is being harried by Bob Wollek in the #18 Porsche, Wollek, a man who has tried to win his home race for many years, but has not achieved it.  1988 will not be Wollek’s year at La Sarthe.  Terminal engine trouble is diagnosed by the mechanics, and so, it is all over for Wollek and co-drivers Vern Schuppan and Sarel van der Merwe.

It was a great drive by Wollek in this year’s race, but it’s not to be.  Derek Bell, Hans Stuck, and Klaus Ludwig are still running, and so is the Andretti family Porsche, the third car on the team.  Early in the A.M., IndyCar driver and 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner, Danny Sullivan, in a spin and win in that race, he does a pirouette in the Ford chicane as the sun rises.  Sullivan, and co-drivers Davy Jones and Price Cobb are not running anywhere near the sharp end, but they will finish the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hour race.  Porsche #17 has clawed it’s way back to the lead by 6AM.  Jaguar #2, their closest competition had to come to pit lane for emergency service, to get the windscreen replaced.

Both of the Blaupunkt Joest Porsche’s are also running well and are inside the top six spots.  Both cars will finish, #7 shared by David Hobbs from England, Belgian Didier Theys, and Austrian Franz Konrad, and #8 by Sweden’s Stanley Dickens, and Germans John Winter and Frank Jelinski.  An hour later, at 7AM, Jaguar resumed in the lead with the Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries, Andy Wallace car, after one of the factory Porsche’s had to pit to replace a broken fuel pump.  The C2 division lead belongs to BP Spice Engineering and their familiar #111 Spice Cosworth, with Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm joined by Frenchman Pierre de Thoisy here at Le Mans.  Disaster befell Jaguar in the middle of the morning as the #1 car of Martin Brundle and John Nielsen was out with head gasket failure.  Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries, and Andy Wallace now lead Le Mans, but would the same fate befall that squad?  TWR boss Tom Walkinshaw has every right to be worried and pace nervously in the pit lane.

The team had started five of the swoopy looking Jaguar XJR9s and there were only three left in the motor race.  Every time the three remaining Jaguars appeared around Le Mans, the British fans went crazy!  The British fans, will get their wish!  At 3PM on Sunday, June 12^th, 1988, Jaguar wins Le Mans for the first time in 31 years!  Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries, and Andy Wallace, win!  It was a close race towards the end though, as in second place, the #17 Porsche 962 of Hans Stuck, Klaus Ludwig, and Derek Bell, is on the very same lap!  How close do you like it?

Amazingly, before Le Mans, none of the winning drivers had finished a World Sports Car Championship race, in 1988.  But today belongs to Jaguar, and drivers Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries, and Andy Wallace!  Here are the top ten finishers from Le Mans, and a look at the points standings in the championship.

1. #2 Lammers/Dumfries/Wallace Jaguar XJR9 LM                 Silk Cut Jaguar
2. #17 Ludwig/Stuck/Bell Porsche 962C                     Porsche AG
3. #8 Dickens/Winter/Jelinski Porsche 962C                     Joest-Blaupunkt Racing
4. #22 Daly/Perkins/Cogan Jaguar XJR9 LM                 Silk Cut Jaguar
5. #7 Hobbs/Theys/Konrad Porsche 962C                     Joest-Blaupunkt Racing
6. #19 Andretti/Andretti/Andretti Porsche 962C                     Porsche AG
7. #5 Pareja/Sigala/Schafer Porsche 962C                     Repsol Brun Motorsport
8. #11 Nissen/Fouche/Grohs Porsche 962C                     Leyton House Kremer
9. #10 Takahashi/Giacomelli/Okada Porsche 962C                     Kenwood Kremer
10. #33 Redman/Elgh/Jarier Porsche 962C                     Takefuji Schuppan Racing Team

Jaguar wins, and many Porsche’s are in the top ten.  Again, the winners in C2:

#111 Bellm/Spice/de Thoisy                                        Spice SE88C Ford Cosworth         BP Spice Engineering

We have not looked at the driver’s points table all season so far.  Here’s how it appears after Le Mans.

C1 Drivers:

1. Jean Louis Schlesser 115 points
2. Mauro Baldi 109 points
3. Eddie Cheever 100 points
4. Martin Brundle 100 points
5. John Winter 91 points
6. Frank Jelinski 91 points
7. Klaus Ludwig 85 points
8. Derek Bell 65 points

C1 Teams

1. Silk Cut Jaguar 190 points
2. AEG Sauber 115 points
3. Joest Racing 103 points
4. Brun Motorsport 58 points
5. Spice Engineering 30 points
6. Kremer Porsche 29 points

C2 Drivers:

1. Gordon Spice 190 points
2. Ray Bellm 190 points
3. Almo Coppelli 82 points
4. Thorkild Thyrring 82 points
5. Jean Louis Ricci 79 points
6. Claude Ballot-Lena 79 points

C2 Teams:

1. Spice Engineering 200 points
2. Chamberlain Engineering 79 points
3. Charles Ivy Racing 72 points
4. Kelmar Racing 44 points
5. Lucky Strike 35 points
6. GP Motorsport 30 points

Jaguar’s Le Mans triumph is unforgettable for those who attended the race, still to this day.  Next up, for the first time ever, sports cars will race inside the Iron Curtain, in Czechoslovakia at the Brno Autodrom, coming up in a month’s time, and we will be truly back to a sprint race format.