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Information about Group C

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A sticker on a race car from the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans, denoting the car is part of the Group C category.
This article is about the International Sports Car category. For the Australian Touring Car category, see Group C (Australia).
Group C was a category of auto racing, introduced into sports car racing by the FIA in 1982, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs.

It was designed to replace both Group 5 (closed top touring prototypes like Porsche 935) and Group 6 (open-top sportscar prototypes like Porsche 936). Group C was used in the World Endurance Championship and other sports car racing around the globe. The final year for the class came in 1993.

History

The roots of the GTP category lie in both FIA Group 6 and particularly in the GTP category introduced by the ACO at Le Mans in the mid-1970s. GTP was a class for roofed prototypes with certain dimensional restrictions, but instead of the more usual limits on engine capacity, it placed limits on fuel consumption - it could be said that the "C" could also be interpreted as "consumption", since the FIA created a formula limiting the amount of fuel a car could use during the race, instead of limiting minimum weight and maximum displacement. The FIA hoped this would prevent manufacturers from concentrating solely on engine development, as in the late 1970s, a few manufacturers (especially Porsche, Ford and Lancia) had dominated sports car racing by simply increasing turbocharger boost pressure, especially in qualifiying trim (the 3.2 L Porsche 935 was able to produce more than 800 hp).

While the consumption requirement meant that cars needed to conserve fuel early in the race, manufacturer support for the new regulations grew steadily, with each make adding to the diversity of the series. With the new rules, it was theoretically possible for small normally aspirated engines to compete with large forced induction engines. In addition, most races ran for either 500 or 1000 km (usually lasting more than three or six hours, respectively) so it was possible to emphasize the "endurance" aspect of the competition as well.

Ford's C100 and Porsche's 956 were the first constructors to join the series. The traditional turbocharged boxer engine in the 956 was already tested in the 1981 version of the Group 6 936. Eventually, several other makes joined the series, including Lancia, Jaguar, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda and Aston Martin. Many of these also took part in the IMSA championship, as its GTP class had similar regulations.

As costs increased, a C2 class (originally named C Junior) was created for privateer teams and small manufacturers, with further limits to fuel consumption. Most cars used either the BMW M1 engine or the new Cosworth DFL, but, like in the main class, a variety of solutions was employed by each individual manufacturer. Alba, Tiga, Spice and Ecurie Ecosse were among the most competitive in this class. The low cost of these cars even lead to the notion of their use in national championships, such as the short-lived British BRDC C2 Championship.

Rise and fall

By 1989, the Group C series popularity was nearly as great as Formula One. When C1 cars were found to be breaking over the 240 miles per hour mark at Le Mans' Mulsanne Straight -- the WM Peugeot recorded the highest at 254 mph (over 400 km/h) -- the FIA revolutionized the class by attempting to turn it into a formula series to replace the C2 category (after they proved to be unreliable at endurance races). The new formula restricted the performance of cars built to the original rules (such as the Porsche 962 used by many privateers) and benefitted teams using F1-sourced 3.5 L engines -- these latter teams being effectively the large manufacturers alone, as the new formula cars were more expensive than the C1 cars. What followed was the quick downfall of Group C, as Ford, Mercedes and Peugeot elected to either concentrate on or move to F1 directly, while F1 engines were unaffordable for privateer teams like Spice and ADA. A lack of entries meant the 1993 WEC was cancelled before the start of the first race; however, because the Le Mans 24 hour race had became a non-championship race the previous year, the ACO still allowed the Group C cars to compete (albeit with restrictions). Nevertheless, the race still witnessed protests against the new state of affairs, as specators placed cloth banners in fences expressing their feelings.

The 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans was the last one in which Group C cars were permitted. A new category formed especially by race organisers also saw modified Group C cars without roofs. In fact, a former C1 car disguised as a road-legal GT car which was entered in the GT1 category, the Dauer 962, and won the race after transmission problems by a leading Toyota 94C-V. The 962 was subsequently banned; the Toyota was later given a special dispensation to race in the Suzuka 1000km, and a few C1 racers were allowed to compete in the newly formed Japanese GT Championship -- this would be its final year of competition. Many of the modified open top Group C cars continued to compete until they wrecked, broke, or retired out of competitiveness; notable among these was the Porsche WSC-95 which won the 1996 and 1997 Le Mans races, utilizing the monocoque of the Jaguar XJR-14 and Porsche 962 mechanicals (engine, transmission, etc.).

Afterwards, prototypes nearly disappeared from Europe, resurfacing again in 1997. Recently, interest in Group C cars resurfaced as more of these cars have appeared on historic racing events.

Group C cars

Some examples of Group C race cars :
Group C was a set of Touring car racing regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport in 1973 for use in Australian touring car racing. This is not to be confused with the Group C sports car regulations, used for many years for the World Sportscar Championship,
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Automobile racing (also known as auto racing, motor racing, or car racing) is a sport involving racing automobiles. Auto racing began in 1895,[1] and is now one of the world's most popular sports.
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Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars.
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In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and the Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of
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touring car with its top down. The folded top behind passengers was known as the "fan" when in the down position.]]

A touring car was a popular car body style in the early 20th century, being a larger alternative to the runabout and the roadster.
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The Group B referred to a set of regulations for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rally racing regulated by the FIA. Group B was introduced by the FIA in 1982 as replacement for both Group 4 (modified grand touring) and Group 5 (touring prototypes) cars.
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Gt may stand for:
  • Gigatonne, a metric measure of mass
GT may stand for:
  • Gas turbine, a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of combustion gas
  • Guatemala's ISO country code
  • GB Airways' IATA code

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Group 5 was an FIA classification for cars in sportscar racing. Although originally for limited production sports cars, the class was redefined in 1972 to exclude any minimum production requirement, and again in 1976 to become a liberal silhouette formula
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Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the racing version of the Porsche 930 (911 Turbo), prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules (similar to the Porsche 934 which was built for the more standard Group 4).
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  • Group 6 element - an element classification
  • Group 6 - an FIA classification for sports car racing

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Porsche 936 was a racing car introduced in 1976 by Porsche as a delayed successor to the Porsche 917, which was retired by the factory after 1971. It's name came from using a variant of the Porsche 930's turbocharged engine, as well as competing in Group 6 racing.
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The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.

The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of
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  • Group 6 element - an element classification
  • Group 6 - an FIA classification for sports car racing

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The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance
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Dr Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

Public
(Xetra: POR3 )
(FWB: POR3 )
Founded 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche and Ferry Porsche
Headquarters Zuffenhausen, Germany

Key people Dr.
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Lancia Automobiles S.p.A.

Since 1969 a subsidiary of
Fiat S.p.A.
Founded 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia
Headquarters Turin, Italy

Key people Luca di Montezemolo - President
Olivier François - CEO
Industry Automotive
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turbocharger (short for turbine driven supercharger) is an exhaust gas driven forced induction supercharger used in internal combustion engines. This differentiates it from a normal supercharger (or blower) which uses a prime mover to power the compression device.
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Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the racing version of the Porsche 930 (911 Turbo), prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules (similar to the Porsche 934 which was built for the more standard Group 4).
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The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984.
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Porsche 936 was a racing car introduced in 1976 by Porsche as a delayed successor to the Porsche 917, which was retired by the factory after 1971. It's name came from using a variant of the Porsche 930's turbocharged engine, as well as competing in Group 6 racing.
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Lancia Automobiles S.p.A.

Since 1969 a subsidiary of
Fiat S.p.A.
Founded 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia
Headquarters Turin, Italy

Key people Luca di Montezemolo - President
Olivier François - CEO
Industry Automotive
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Jaguar Cars Ltd

Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company
Founded 1922
Founder Sir William Lyons
Headquarters Browns Lane, Allesley, Coventry, United Kingdom

Key people Geoff Polites, ceo
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For other uses of the name Mercedes, see Mercedes.

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Nissan may refer to:
  • Nissan Group, Japanese business grouping
  • Nissan Motors, automobile manufacturer
  • Nissan Diesel, truck and bus manufacturer

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Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki-gaisha
トヨタ自動車株式会社

Public corporation トヨタ自動車株式会社, 4 (NYSE:  TM ,
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Mazda Motor Corporation
Matsuda Kabushiki-gaisha
マツダ株式会社

Public (TYO: 7261 )
Affiliate of Ford Motor Company (33.
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Aston-Martin Lagonda

Private
Founded 1913
Founder Lionel Martin Robert Bamford
Headquarters Gaydon, Warwickshire, England

Key people Dr. Ulrich Bez ceo, chairman
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Sport governing body

Category Auto racing
Area of jurisdiction United States
Formation date 1969
Headquarters Braselton, Georgia
President Tim Mayer (CEO)
Other key staff Doug Robinson
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IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.

History

The series debuted in 1971.
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