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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:26:15 GMT -5
Properly obscure this one From the 1985 International Steiermark Rally which is part of the Austrian Championship comes this works supported Sport Quattro for the pairing of Walter Mayer & Harald Gottlieb. The car itself had previously been driven by Rohrl & Mouton before ending up with debutant Mayer for this rally who would reach second spot before slipping back to 7th and then retirement on stage 17. Mayer & Gottlieb would not compete for Audi again but they reappeared on the scene in 1990 for Ford and would continue rallying until 2019. This was the car's last competitive outing before it was retired. Trofeu - Audi Sport quattro - 985 International Steiermark Rally - W.Mayer & H.Gottlieb - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:26:35 GMT -5
This is the same car as the previous post in it's last official works outing. Michele Mouton competed in 1985 in the British Rally Championship but it wasn't her year with only a single finish and the last outing of the season was the Scottish Rally where she and Fabrizia Pons ran the David Sutton prepared, Audi Sport UK entered works Audi Sport Quattro but unfortunately somewhere in the middle the gearbox packed up. the car would be seen once more as per the previous post and Michele would console herself by winning Pikes Peak a month later. Trofeu - Audi Sport quattro - 1985 Scottish Rally - M.mouton & F.Pons - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:26:58 GMT -5
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:27:26 GMT -5
What's next. Number 12 of course Maranello Concessionaires had been formed by Colonel Ronnie Hoare as the UK Ferrari importers in 1960 and had immediately begun competing in domestic events. 1963 saw Enzo Ferrari persuade Hoare to enter Le Mans with a 330 LMB with the driver pairing of Mike Salmon & Jack Sears who would start from 11th on the grid, the slowest of the trio of 330s. It didn't get better initially as two hours later they were back in 17th and the car had developed overheating issues and so for the next 22 hours they nursed the car so by quarter distance they were 13th and remarkably by half distance they were 7th though in part this was due to the high rate of attrition around them. They would gain a further place an hour later and then 3 hours later another to take them up to 5th which is where they finished after 314 laps taking a class win in the process. Matrix Scale Models - Ferrari 330 LMB - 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours - M.Salmon & J.Sears - 5th
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:27:46 GMT -5
A road car The Z-103 was the second Pegaso model after the Z-102 and was offered with a choice of V8 engines on a revised chassis and the whole car was both lighter, simpler & cheaper. It seems only 3 were built and one is the subject of this model, which was styled by Touring with reverse A-pillars and was originally a show car without an engine before being lent out for competition use. Subsequently returned to the factory it was then refurbished and then sold to its first official owner in Spain before ending up in California, now red in the early 70s. It changed hands in 1972 and for the next 20 years it was mothballed until it was fully restored ready for Pebble Beach in 1993. It remains with the same owner to this day Avenue 43 - Pegaso Z-103 Berlinetta Panoramica
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:28:11 GMT -5
After a DNF at Le Mans in 1977 with their C5, Sauber were back in 1978 with a new chassis for the driver trio of Marc Surer, Eugen Strähl & Harry Blumer who qualified 24th. It went well for the first 4 hours with the trio reaching 13th before the gearbox packed up and had to be completely rebuilt, dropping them back to 42nd. Thereafter, the car suffered from overheating and a misfire and spent a lot of time in the pits but nonetheless by half distance they were in 23rd, and they reached as high as 15th before dropping back to 18th which is where they finished after completing 257 laps. This should have given them second in class, but unfortunately they were not classified due to insufficient distance missing out by 2 laps. Bizarre - Sauber C5 - 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours - M.Surer, E.Strähl & H.Blumer - NC
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:28:35 GMT -5
Another lesser seen model. Looking very much alike a contemporary Porsche of the time, Mazda in conjunction with TWR turned up with two RX7 253i models, both with the new 1300cc twin rotary engine that put out 320hp which put them in the IMSA GTO class along with a Porsche 924 & a Camaro. Car 38 was driven by the trio of Yojiro Terada, Hiroshi Fushida & Win Percy and was the best qualifier of the pair in 49th and 3rd in class but despite that lowly start they were able to make 10 places over the first 2 hours before falling away back to 49th and then retirement after 25 laps when the rear axle gave up. Bizarre - Mazda RX7 - 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours - Y.Terada, H.Fushida & W.Percy - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:29:00 GMT -5
1995 would see the return of a Ferrari prototype to Le Mans for the first time in decades. The 333 SP was a Ferrari/Dallara designed, Dallara/Michelotto built car around a Ferrari tub and 4 litre V12 with Dallara transmission and suspension that was developed for the WSC championship at the behest of MOMO owner Giampiero Moretti. Unveiled in late 1993 and debuting in the IMSA championship in 1994 the car would perform well with 4 wins in its first season. 1995 would see it return to IMSA and Euromotorsport brought one to Le Mans for the driving trio of Massimo Sigala, Jay Cochran & René Arnoux who sat out some of qualifying whilst the team argued with the ACO over the rev limiter but they did get out and would qualify 17th. Sigala started and initially charged through the field up to 3rd place within the first hour, but then began to fall away and would stop out on track after 7 laps. Turns out a stone had damaged the ignition trigger and once this small component had been replaced the engine fired back up, but it was too late, and they were out of the race. Spark - Ferrari 333SP - 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours - M.Sigala, J.Cochran & R.Arnoux - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:29:24 GMT -5
First seen at Le Mans in 1975, the De Cadenet Lola was based on a T380 with Cosworth DFV power and would finish 14th on it's debut and after some aero tweaking it would finish 3rd in 1976 which remains Lola's best finish at Le Mans. 1977 would see it with new drivers and team, and it would fail to qualify, then it was back in 1978 with new drivers and team where it was not classified and with then again in 1979 with the same team and different drivers in came home 20th. 1981 saw the old girl return with yet another new owner for the driving trio of Martin Birrane, Nick Faure & Vivian Candy who would qualify 26th. It wasn't to be an easy race as they immediately had fuel pump problems which saw them dropping places to as low as 35th and by 6 hours in they were 28th. Once the fuel pump was sorted they climbed back up and were 24th at half distance and then the exhaust began to break up, and they dropped back to 28th which became 26th through attrition at three-quarter distance. Finally, they stopped to get it fixed and pitted for the major job but unfortunately mid-fix and unexpectedly the gearbox casing split of its own accord and that was the end of their race after 171 laps. De Cadenet Lola - 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours - M.Birrane, N.Faure & V.Candy - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:29:44 GMT -5
Moving forward a year. Ford developed a new Group 6 car to challenge Porsche in 1981 but it never made to Le Mans that year instead debuting at Brands Hatch later in the year. Initially designed by Len Bailey with a new 4 litre version of the DFV from Cosworth, a revised version was built for Alain De Cadenet and then further development by Tony Southgate for Zakspeed resulted in another chassis that was 40 kg lighter. Ford entered 2 cars in the Group C class, one of the De Cadenet chassis and a new Zakspeed chassis for the driver pairing of Klaus Ludwig & Marc Surer who proved that the car was fast by placing 6th on the grid followed by reaching 2nd place in the 1st hour when they stayed for 2 hours before falling away back to 6th in the pit stop cycle. They would gain another place before the gremlins surfaced, the Cosworth DFL being known for vibration, had literally shaken the electrics apart and the car stopped on track in the 7th hour after 67 laps Bizarre - Ford C100 - 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours - K.Ludwig & M.Surer - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:30:05 GMT -5
Mazda in conjunction with TWR returned to Le Mans in 1982 with two RX7 254i models, with better aero and the 1300cc twin rotary engine that put out 320hp which this time put them in the IMSA GTX class alongside 935s, M1s & 512BBs. Car 83 was driven by the trio of Tom Walkinshaw, Chuck Nicholson & Peter Lovett who qualified in a rather lowly but despite that they were able to make 18 places over the first hour before falling away briefly before climbing through the field to reach 21st by quarter distance. By half distance with Walkinshaw at the wheel they were leading the class and in 12th overall, but they began to slip away albeit slowly back to 13th, then 16th and then 19th before in the 16th hour and after 180 laps the engine called it a day and blew. Bizarre - Mazda RX7 - 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours - T.Walkinshaw, C.Nicholson & P.Lovett - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:30:28 GMT -5
Xavier Lapeyre qualified his brand new Group 6 Cosworth powered Lola T286 fourth splitting the works Porsche but this was the highlight of the weekend for him and co-driver Bernard Chevanne. By the end of the 1st hour they were down in 46th and would slip to 51st before rallying to 49th due to attrition but it was all too much for the engine which gave up the ghost in the 4th hour after 9 laps. Bizarre - Lola T286 - 1976 Le Mans 24 Hours - X.Lapeyre & B.Chevanne - DNF
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:30:47 GMT -5
Lancia introduced a new car for the Group B regulations in 1983 to replace the ineligible LC1. Lacking a suitable engine, Lancia turned to fellow FIAT group members Ferrari who offered the 3 litre V8 found in the 308 which was reduced in capacity to 2.6 litres and then twin turbocharged and this was initially mated to Hewland 5 speed gearbox. Chassis development was split between Abarth and Dallara, featuring front mounted radiators and underbody diffuser which extended all the way to the rear courtesy of the twin pontoon design. The car would debut in April 1983 at Monza, and it proved fast and powerful out of the box securing pole on its debut, but ultimately it proved fragile and would suffer from tyre issues and overheating, securing only one finish before Le Mans that year. Three cars were entered by the Martini team and two would qualify well in 2nd and 4th but the third car driven by Paolo Barilla, Alessandro Nannini & Jean-Claude Andruet could only manage 13th. After a brief foray into the top ten in the 1st hour it would slowly drop away, finding itself in 18th by quarter distance and 27th by half distance before turbocharger failure in the 14th hour ended its race after 135 laps though it did have the dubious distinction of being the LC2 that did the most laps and lasted the longest. Spark - Lancia LC2 - 1983 Le Mans 24 Hours - P.Barilla, A.Nannini & J.-C.Andruet
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:31:08 GMT -5
After running with RX7s for the previous two years, Mazda returned to Le Mans in 1983 with a purpose built Group C car albeit in the junior class utilising the same twin rotor 13B engine as found in the RX7. The car had been designed and built under Mazda guidance by Mooncraft and featured an aluminium chassis clothed in a carbon fibre and kevlar body and had ground effects and very low drag and was nicknamed the Butter Bean. Two cars were entered with the slightly newer build chassis with uprated suspension for the Japanese driving trio of Takashi Yorino, Yojiro Terada & Yoshimi Katayama who would qualify 42nd but would have a superb run reaching 24th by quarter distance and 17th by half distance. They were delayed by two punctures, but the charge kept going albeit a little slower now, so they were 13th and three-quarter distance and would finish 12th overall and 1st in class after 302 laps. Spark KB - Mazda 717C - 1983 Le Mans 24 Hours - T.Yorino, Y.Terada & Y.Katayama - 12th
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Post by Scalainjridesagain on Apr 11, 2022 6:31:33 GMT -5
A new release from Schuco in conjunction with Marklin is this 914/6 which I picked up as an upgrade for the Art Cars version that took me some time to track down in 2010. This time round I did some digging into it's history, and it turns out it's quite a significant car as it was the first car seen in Jagermeister colours and would become the first car in their fledgling racing team. Originally built in 1971 by Max Moritz racing, it did a full season for them including an outing at Le Mans that year before being sold to Eckhard Schimpf who asked his cousin who happened to be the CEO of Jagermeister to sponsor him. Thereafter the racing team was set up and the 914 would see action for the next two seasons in Schimpfs hands in the European GT Series with 26 outings with 8 wins to his credit. Schuco have modelled it at it's debut for Jagermeister in May 1972 at the Nurburgring where it either won or did not start depending on your source..... Jagermeister sold it back to Max Moritz as part payment against a Carrera RSR who would run it for two seasons before selling to American Rodd Harrison who used it for three seasons in IMSA. Thereafter, it was converted to a road car and disappeared from the records until one day a classic car dealer in Florida discovered the history of what was now a complete rust bucket that was off to the scrapyard. Long story short, Jagermeister acquired it again and had it fully restored as you see it modelled, and it to this day remains part of their collection. Schuco - Porsche 914/6 - 1972 Nurburgring 1000km - E.Schimpf - DNS
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