Peter Auto will widen its horizons even further with the arrival of Group C Racing in 2016. In addition to its existing four historic racing grids — Classic Endurance Racing, Sixties’ Endurance, Trofeo Nastro Rosso and the Heritage Touring Cup, the Group C Racing Association will join Peter Auto at each of the circuits on the French organiser’s calendar in 2016.
In force from 1982 to 1993, the Group C regulations led to the creation of legendary cars that wrote some of the most glorious pages in the history of the Le Mans 24 hours and the Endurance World Championship.
In the early years the Porsche 956s dominated despite stout resistance from the Lancia LC2s. Then the competition gradually became stronger with the momentum generated by the arrival of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda when it reached its apogee. In addition to the major manufacturers, constructors like Cougar, Dome, Rondeau, Spice and WM were able to shine thanks to a clever interpretation of the liberal regulations based on strict fuel consumption limits. The Group C epoch ended in the early ’90s after a brief period of cohabitation with the 3.5 sports prototypes (Peugeot 905, Jaguar XJR-14, Toyota TS010, etc.). It remains a golden era for many endurance specialists.
The Group C machines are still capable of performances close to those of the present-day prototypes, as their top speeds exceed easily 300 km/h. They will certainly be the stars of the Peter Auto meetings whose 2016 calendar will be announced at the end of September and will include events like Spa-Classic, the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, the Dix Mille Tours and Le Mans Classic.
For more information, visit Peter Auto.
[Source: Peter Auto; photo: Julien Mahiels]
