<< Prev Page 2 of 2 The 1986 season was a carbon copy of the 1985 one, with the Porsche field now mostly made up of 962s. The name of the championship changed to WSPC (World Sports Prototype Championship), but the winner was the same! This time the works team was more successful at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although two of the three entered cars retired, the works was able to score victory with the remaining 962C.
The FIA followed in the IMSA's footsteps by adding the pedal box behind front-axle rule to the regulations, leaving the 956 obsolete for the 1987 season. The now five year old design was showing its age against more modern competitors like the Jaguars and Saubers and in most of the World Championship races the 962C was outpaced. At Le Mans Porsche introduced a new 3 litre powerplant, which was more powerful but reliability was not sacrificed. It was this reliability that resulted in Porsche's sixth consecutive Le Mans victory after most of the competition were forced to retire.
In 1988 the Jaguar team had truely taken over from Porsche, with the Sauber Mercedes team close on their tale. The six Le Mans victories and the many other major victories of the 956/962 were a fitting finale to Porsche's 20 years stronghold of sportscar racing. The 962 was victorious once more at Le Mans in 1994, with Porsche taking advantage of the large number of 962's produced, making it eligible for the new GT1 class. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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The 1986 season was a carbon copy of the 1985 one, with the Porsche field now mostly made up of 962s. The name of the championship changed to WSPC (World Sports Prototype Championship), but the winner was the same! This time the works team was more successful at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although two of the three entered cars retired, the works was able to score victory with the remaining 962C.