Group C Sports Cars

Among the finest spectacles in historic motor racing are the races for the mighty Group C cars of the 1980s. These cars continue their 2013 racing season at Donington Park this weekend and they will make an awesome sight at a track with period history for the Le Mans-style cars. From modern beginnings at the start of the decade, Group C racing developed through the 1980s to earn a place in history as one of the greatest eras for global sport-car racing. Sadly, into the 1990s a massive spending contest among key manufacturers drove the privateer teams away and the series dwindled and died, but not before delivering some fine racing and leaving a legecy of fantastic cars. Many of those cars remain in active competition and an excellent field of Group C cars will gather this weekend for the second event of the 2013 season. In period, many manufacturers mounted Group C campaigns to take on Porsche, which debuted its hugely successful 956 at Silverstone in May 1982. This weekend's grid is ample demonstration of the scale of manufacturer involvement, with cars from Lancia, Jaguar, Mercedes and Nissan taking on Porsche and cars from specialistmanufacturers like Spike and Tiga. Top of the pack has to be the stunning 'silver arrows' Mercedes C11 of Gareth Evans, a regular race winner in Group C. At the height of Group C at the end of the 1980s, drivers like Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger represented the might of Mercedes in cars like this. Two stunning Lancia LC2s will grace the grid in the hands of Roger Willis and Rupert Cleveley, while Stefano Rosina represents Nissan and Porsche 962s are entered for Tommy Dreelan and Henrik Lindberg. Category C veteran Richard Eyre flies the flag for Jaguar and Australian Paul Stubber fields the rare Aussie-built Veskanda. In the Group C2 category, Mike Donovan should set the mark in his Spice SE88.Tags:Donington Historic Festival