Two new additions - Peugeot 905 EV1 bis - World Sports Car Champion 1991
peugeot 905-1 by
David Freeman, on Flickr
peugeot 905-2 by
David Freeman, on Flickr
peugeot 905-3 by
David Freeman, on Flickr
PEUGEOT 905 EV1
The Peugeot 905 is a Sports-prototype racing car introduced for Sportscar racing. The car was initially unveiled in February 1990 and was developed throughout 1990 before making its race debut in the final two races of the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season (Montréal and Mexico).
In November 1988 Peugeot Talbot Sport, established under the control of Jean Todt at Vélizy-Villacoublay, in the suburbs of Paris, announced the launch of the 905 project to compete in the 1991 championship using the new rules which the 1991 season would introduce. Technically advanced, the 905 used a carbon fibre chassis engineered by Dassault and a light alloy SA35-A1 3499 cc naturally aspirated V10 engine that was similar to F1 engines of the time. The 905 was built at Vélizy-Villacoublay and officially unveiled on the 4th of July 1990 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille driving.
The car made its racing debut in the final few races of the 1990 FIA World Sportscar Championship with Jabouille and Keke Rosberg sharing the wheel. Although the car was slower than the contemporary Group C Sports Prototypes, it was notably quicker than the other 3.5 litre Sports-Prototypes which raced in the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season.
The 905 began its first full season in Sportscar racing by participating in the 1991 championship. Although the car was now quicker than the 1990 version, and indeed the heavily penalised Group C cars that were allowed to race, in the early part of the season the 905 suffered some performance and reliability problems but, more crucially for Peugeot, the car was a lot slower than the standard-setting Jaguar XJR-14 - a car that was able to match the lap times of most contemporary F1 cars (but not those of top cars such the Williams-Renault and McLaren-Honda cars who were at least 2 to 3 seconds faster per lap). The car was however able to obtain a lucky win at the Suzuka Circuit. Unfortunately, at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, both cars entered did not last past the four-hour mark.
Porsche 961 - Le Mans Concept Car
961-1 by
David Freeman, on Flickr
961-2 by
David Freeman, on Flickr
961-3 by
David Freeman, on Flickr
PORSCHE 961
The Porsche 961 was a racing car built by Porsche and based on their 959 sports car. It was intended for Group B sports car racing, complementing the purpose-built 956 and 962C which ran Group C in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. The 961project was short lived, running only three races and seeing the construction of only one car. Plans to sell the car to customers were scrapped when the Group B class was cancelled.
Making its first appearance at the May test for the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 961 was able to show its potential pace quickly by setting the tenth fastest lap time under the control of French driver René Metge.The 961's time was not only quicker than the BMW M1 which was entered in the Group B category, was also faster than several C1 and C2 class prototypes. At the race in June, Metge was joined by fellow Frenchman Claude Ballot-Léna and the two qualified the car 26th. Through dependability the 961 could climb through the field as the race progressed and eventually finished the race in seventh place, 47 laps behind the winning factory 962C.
