One of the attractions for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, in celebration of the event’s centenary, is a public auction, organised by RM Sothebys, of some very significant cars from the storied history of Le Mans, the auction itself will take place on the track on Friday 9 June.
The auction is billed as ” the most significant sale of sports competition cars ever offered” and will feature 24 sports racing cars all of which will boast significant race history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The cars will be on display in the ‘Village’ with viewing open to the public.
Before then though DSC will be featuring just a few of the astonishing cars that will be up for sale.
Porsche 962C Chassis 004
The sale of Porsche 962 chassis 004 represents the first time that one of the factory Rothmans Porsche 962 Cs has been offered publicly.
The car scored pole position at Le Mans in 1986, one of three appearances at Le Mans, and competed in factory hands in both 1985 and 1986.
Across its four year contemporary career it was raced by eight Group C Le Mans winners: Derek Bell, Al Holbert, Jacky Ickx, Klaus Ludwig, Jochen Mass, Vern Schuppan, Hans Stuck, and John Winter.
The car is one of three Works 962s assigned to the Rothmans Porsche factory team for both the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Making its debut at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car qualified 5th behind the other factory 962s, which were both fitted with 3-litre engines for qualifying. During the race 004 established its status as the lead Works car as it maintained 2nd place behind the Joest 956 for over 12 hours, before a crankshaft failure ended its race after 21 hours.
Following its debut, chassis 004 was pressed into action as Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass’ regular steed “No. 1” in the 1985 WSC, starting from the pole for the 1000 Kilometres rounds at Hockenheim, finishing 2nd at Mosport, and with a retirement at Spa-Francorchamps.
With the retirement of Jacky Ickx from regular duties for the 1986 WSC season, Bob Wollek joined Jochen Mass for an assault on the championship, with chassis number 004 now sporting “#2”. The campaign began at Monza and continued at Silverstone before moving on to Le Mans.
Mass and Wollek were joined by Vern Schuppan for the 1986 24 Hour race.
Mass took pole with 0.61 seconds in hand over the eventually victorious sister car of Bell, Stuck and Holbert. During the race the trio battled for the lead before settling in for an almost certain 3rd place. Unfortunately, a mistimed arrival at an oil spill at 3:04 am pitched Mass off track and into retirement.
Its final Works Rothmans Porsche outing was at the 1000 Kilometres of Nürburgring.
Chassis 004 was then sold to Joest Racing in April 1987.
During this time, the team was factory supported and took over the Rothmans sponsorship. The 962 C made its debut with Joest at the 1987 1000 Kilometres of Nürburgring. Driven by former factory drivers, Derek Bell and Hans-Joachim Stuck, it scored a 2nd-place finish.
The car would feature successfully in more WSC rounds and Supercup races, but its final bow at Le Mans would be at the 1988 edition of the 24 Hour race, in Blaupunkt colours. Driven by David Hobbs, Didier Theys, and Franz Konrad, it ran a textbook race with no troubles and finished 5th overall and ahead of the second factory Shell Dunlop 962.
962 004 was driven by Valentino Rossi at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed while in 2022 it was demonstrated at both Goodwood and the Silverstone Classic, being reunited with Derek Bell and John Watson.
The car is being sold with a long tail body but comes with a short tail also supplied.
Porsche 962C 004 – Racing Record
1985
24 Hours of Le Mans – #2 Rothmans Porsche – Watson/Holbert/Schuppen – DNF
1000K Hockenheim – #1 Rothmans Porsche – Ickx/Mass – Pole – DNF
1000K Mosport – #1 Rothmans Porsche – Ickx/Mass – 2nd
1000K Spa – #1 Rothmans Porsche – Ickx/Mass – DNF
1986
360K Monza – #2 Rothmans Porsche – Mass/Wollek – 6th
1000K Silverstone – #2 Rothmans Porsche – Mass/Wollek – DNF
24 Hours of Le Mans – #2 Rothmans Porsche – Mass/Wollek/Schuppen – Pole – DNF
1000K Nürburgring – #2 Rothmans Porsche – Mass/Wollek – DNF (Heat 1: 7th)
1987
1000K Nürburgring – #7 Joest Racing (Rothmans) – Bell/Stuck – 2nd
1000K Spa – #7 Joest Racing (Rothmans) – Bell/Stuck/Wollek – 5th
500K Kyalami (Heat 1) – #8 Joest Racing (Camel) – Wollek – 1st
500K Kyalami (Heat 2) – #8 Joest Racing (Camel) – Wollek – 2nd (2nd on aggregate)
1988
800K Jerez – #7 Joest Racing (Blaupunkt) – Wollek/Ludwig – 3rd
360K Jarama – #7 Joest Racing (Blaupunkt) – Wollek/Ludwig – DNF
24 Hours of Le Mans – #7 Joest Racing (Blaupunkt) – Hobbs/Theys/Konrad – 5th
Supercup – Diepholz (Heat 1) – #5 Joest Racing (Abtei) – Konrad – 8th
Supercup – Diepholz (Heat 2) – #5 Joest Racing (Abtei) – Konrad – 6th
Supercup – Diepholz (Final) – #5 Joest Racing (Abtei) – Konrad – 6th
Supercup – Nürburgring (Heat 1) – #4 Joest Racing (Abtei) – Konrad – 9th
Supercup – Nürburgring (Heat 2) – #4 Joest Racing (Abtei) – Konrad – 5th
Supercup – Nürburgring (Final) – #4 Joest Racing (Abtei) – Konrad – 8th
500K Kyalami (Heat 1) #3 Joest Racing (Sachs) – Jelinski/”Winter” – 6th
500K Kyalami (Heat 2) #3 Joest Racing (Sachs) – Jelinski – 3rd (4th on aggregate)
All pictures with kind permission of RM Sothebys
Historic pics copyright Girado Collection
Contemporary pics copyright AlexPenfold and Remi Dargenen
