The Sauber C8 was a

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

race car introduced in 1985 for the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

as the first in a partnership between

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Design

Mercedes decided not to put forth the money for a full effort on their own until they had time to develop the production-based M117 5.0L Turbocharged V8. Therefore, Mercedes turned to Sauber to create a chassis for them and initially to run the team before Mercedes took on a larger role. Sauber chose to evolve the previous C7 prototype for the C8, although modifications were needed to house the larger V8 instead of the C7's previous Inline-6.

Racing history

In its debut at the

1985 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 53rd Grand Prix of Endurance, as well as the fourth round of the 1985 World Sportscar Championship season, 1985 World Endurance Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on 15 and 16 Ju ...

, Sauber was able to qualify 17th. However, an accident at the

Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (, "Straight Line of Les Hunaudières") is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is interrup ...

with John Nielsen at the wheel caused enough damage that the car was not able to participate in the race. The team promised to appear at a few more races in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

season, but never showed. For 1986, the team became known as Kouros Racing Team, and the C8 was entered in the full season of the 1986 World Sportscar Championship season. For the first two races the C8 showed promise, with an 8th and a 9th. However, later in the season two C8s were entered in the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans where neither car finished. For the 1000km of Nürburgring, the team was able to achieve its first victory with drivers

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (; born 25 September 1942) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Pescarolo is a four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and w ...

and Mike Thackwell, made all the more important by being won in front of the

executives in attendance. With this victory the Kouros Racing Team was able to end the season 5th in the teams championship. In 1987, the Kouros team switched to the newer

Sauber C9 The Sauber C9 (later named the Sauber Mercedes C9 or Mercedes-Benz C9) is a Group C prototype racing car introduced in 1987 as a continuation of the partnership between Sauber as a constructor and Mercedes-Benz as an engine builder for the World ...

, while C8 chassis #2 was sold to privateer French team Noël del Bello, which entered the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1000km of Nürburgring, but failed to finish either race. Noël del Bello continued into 1988, but failed to finish any of the races it entered again.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

† Privateer team

References

{{Mercedes-Benz Sportscar Racers Group C cars 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Sauber Motorsport

Design

Racing history

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

See also

References