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After an absence of many years, Group C sportscars came back to Le Mans and they did so in style. Providing the spectacle were 30 fantastic Group C machines that took to the grid in glorious sunshine to compete in the historic support race organised by Motor Racing Legends. The 10-lap sprint race was also one of the four-round Group C Racing series for 2008.
Fittingly, it was the Jaguar XJR V12 driven by Justin Law that took victory, exactly 20 years on from the famous Jaguar v Porsche duel that ended in the win for Jaguar and a marked a shift in the balance of Group C power.
Law rolled back the years and led from lights to flag after securing pole position in qualifying on Thursday. In an impressive display he never looked threatened, although second-placed Mark Sumpter in his Porsche 962 only back backed off when it was clear that a win wasn’t possible. An ecstatic Justin said: “It’s awesome, I never expected this, I’m over the moon! I could see Mark in my mirrors all the time, so I just kept pushing as hard as I could.”
Commenting on a fine second place, Mark added: “Justin had an advantage as he’s been here before, but as the race went on I was getting progressively quicker.”
The first four across the line accounted for first and second places in classes 1 & 2 (C1: Justin Law, Jaguar XJR 12 and Mark Sumpter, Porsche 962C. C2: Oliver Mathai, Porsche 962C and Gary Pearson, Jaguar XJR 11). The Class 3 & 4 winners were Peter Schleifer, March 84G and Christopher Catt, Spice GTP Light.
It’s obvious that even after the best part of two decades, Group C cars are engraved on the heart of the motorsport enthusiast, because the Le Mans spectators just couldn’t get enough of these iconic racers. Meanwhile, the depth and quality of the Group C field is emphasised by the fact that the series runs examples of such Le Mans-winning marques as Porsche, Jaguar, Mazda, Spice and Mercedes, as well as cars from Aston Martin, Nissan, Argo and Tiga.
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