Porsche 935/76 – R. Stommelen & M. Schurti – Race. Limited edition

The Porsche 935/76

For 1976, endurance racing had two world championships: the 1976 FIA World Championship for Makes for Group 5 special production cars, and the 1976 World Sportscar Championship season for Group 6 prototypes up to 3.0 L. Accordingly, the 935 and the new Porsche 936 were the two-pronged Porsche effort for 1976 which was sponsored by Martini Racing, which had already supported Porsche 917 or 908 entries in 1970 and 1971, like the 1971 Le Mans winner.

Each championship had seven races, with only Dijon hosting both on the same weekend, while on two other weekends, the races were even run in different countries, which forced Porsche to divide its resources. Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass were the main drivers, when the F1 schedule permitted. Rolf Stommelen, who was recovering from his bad crash in the 1975 Spanish GP, was the backup, along with Manfred Schurti.

Under Group 5 rules, also known as “silhouette rules”, several significant modifications were allowed (including bodywork modifications, larger wings, wider axles and water cooling), provided that the basic silhouette of the car remain unchanged when viewed from the front. The 935’s engine was a 418 kW (568 PS; 561 hp) (at 7,900 rpm) version of the regular 3.0 L flat-six, with 60 mkp (438lb-ft, 588Nm) torque at 5,400 rpm. Boost was between 1.35 and 1.55 and fuel consumption was 52 litre per 100 km.

Capacity was reduced to 2.85 L, and with the turbo charging penalty factor of 1.4, it fit into the 4.0 L class which had a prescribed minimum weight of only 970 kg (2,140 lb). Porsche, having a lot of experience with lightweight cars, had managed to get the Carrera RSR prototype to under 800 kg. The empty 935 tipped the scales at 900 kg, and weight distribution could be balanced with an additional 70 kg. Preseason testing at the fast Paul Ricard circuit showed a top speed of 183 mph (295 km/h).

The 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans counted towards neither world championship, but Le Mans was often considered the real championship. For that race, it was possible to use the 935’s well-tested original engine setup. The main battle was between the sportscars, with a Renault Alpine setting the pole. The 935 driven by Stommelen and Schurti qualified third and, despite the weight and drag of a Group 5 silhouette, finished fourth overall, with one of the Porsche 936s taking the win.

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History : See wikipedia article