Having recently shared a BMW M3 at the Bathurst 12 Hours, Historic racer Frank Lyons and his GT-racing son Michael will be teaming up again in 2014 when they enter the Group C Racing series in their recently acquired Gebhardt C91.
Not a great deal is known about the C91 on account of its very limited racing history, and it is also referred to as the C901 on occasion. According to the very-excellent Racing Sports Cars website the car appears to have started life with an Audi 2.1ltr turbo engine in the in the 1991 IMSA GTP Championship, where it made three appearances and had a best result of 17th, before also taking part in the Interserie at Zeltweg later that year, where it came sixth.
The car’s brief flirtation with the FIA Sportscar World Championship (FIA Cup) came the following year, as Janos Wimpffen explains: “C91 is the proper designation and it is the same as the C901. 901 was the designation shown in some of the early 1992 articles commenting about the forthcoming SWC season. However, once the season started the car was always shown on entry lists as C91. It made only two appearances, Monza and Silverstone. Driven by Almo Coppelli and Frank Kraemer; it was 4th in Italy and blew the 3.5 Ford-Cosworth in England.
“It next appeared sans top, not really as a WSC, but more properly as a Mangoletsi series sports-racer (SR1 class) at the 1998 Kyalami round, now called a G4, Terry Moss / Stanley Dickens, 9th overall. It made four appearances in the 1999 season before sinking into obscurity.
“1999 records:
Monza 1000K – Stanley Dickens / Harald Becker / Almo Coppelli, fire in 2nd hour
Donington Park – Becker / Mattias Andersson / Michael Herich, non-start, engine
Nürburgring – Frank Jelinski / Dickens / Herich, 10th overall
Kyalami – George Fouché / Terry Moss, also practiced by Herich, 8th overall”
But that wasn’t the end of the story, as Michael Lyons explains; “The car was previously prepared and run by Robin Hooker in 2005/6, and raced by Martin Eyre in Group C. It made seven appearances over the two years, at Silverstone, Monza, Hockenheim, Estoril, the Nürburgring, Donington and Brands Hatch.
“We’ve acquired the whole lot: moulds, parts, even a spare tub from the G4. It’s something different, and that’s what attracted us to buying it – we’re a small family team and we’re used to running the Cosworth through our F1 cars; and the Gebhardt has a carbon tub so it should be a good car. And Andy Gillingham – who ran the car when Martin raced it – now works for us, so we’ve already got a knowledge bank.
“We’re cracking on with it and will be entering the full season, including Le Mans; I can’t wait to drive it. It previously ran in C2 but has been confirmed for C3 for this season, but we’re going to enjoy it whichever class we’re in.”
The revised classes for 2014 are as follows:
Group C/GTP Racing event will be contested in the following classes:
– Class 1 a: For all Group C C1, IMSA, and GTP cars 1987-1990 specification cars.
– Class 1 b: For all Group C C1, IMSA and GTP cars pre ’87 specification cars (i.e. ’82-’86).
– Class 2 a: For all Group C C2, Junior and IMSA Light cars 1986-1990 specification cars.
– Class 2 b: For all Group C C2, Junior and IMSA Light cars pre ’86 specification (i.e. ’82-’85)
– Class 3 a: For Japanese sportscars, IMSA and Group C cars running in ‘91-‘93 specification.
– Class 3 b: ‘Special Invitation’ – An invitation to run in this class is entirely at the discretion of The Club. The Special Invitation Class will be for any Group C/GTP car or any other car considered by the Club to be of a) Special Historical interest to the Club or Promoters of any of the Clubs races, or, b) be of particular benefit to the Club.
NB: All classes with the exception of the Class 3 b ‘Special Invitation’ will be eligible to score points as per the current regulations.
The Gebhardt may not have made much of an impact in its original incarnation, but its new owners could really make it shine. Michael, Frank and Mum Judy are all active and successful racers in FIA Masters Historic Formula One and know how to prepare and run winning cars.
Testing is due to start in the next two to three weeks, ahead of its debut at Barcelona in April. The car already has winning looks and there’s every chance that its potential will at last come through this season.
MH (All images ©Michael Lyons)
