The Debora SP93 was a C3 class sports-prototype built by

Debora Debora Racing cars is a small French car builder, popular with private racing teams, based in Besançon, France. Teams generally use their chassis to take part in Le Mans style endurance racing such as Magny Cours, Jarama and le Mans. Drivers also ...

for

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

and for the French Coupe Alfa Romeo. It was updated to the Debora LMP294 in 1994 for the same event. Both cars were fitted with a 3-litre

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik ...

, and both were run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by

Didier Bonnet Racing __NOTOC__ Didier is a French masculine given name and surname common throughout the Romance languages. It comes from the Ancient Roman names Didius and Desiderius. During the 5th century AD, with the Christianisation of ancient pagan names, it has ...

. Only two chassis, #C393-01 for Le Mans and #C393-02 for the "Coupe Alfa Romeo", were built, and were used for both the SP93 and the LMP294.

Racing history

The SP93 first appeared in the test session for the

1993 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 61st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 19 and 20 June 1993. The race was won by Peugeot Talbot Sport, with drivers Geoff Brabham, and Le Mans rookies Éric Hélary and Christophe Bouchut completing 3 ...

, with

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...

, Georges Tessier, Gérard Tremblay and Didier Bonnet listed to drive the car.

entered it, with the car being fitted with a 3-litre

and competing in the LMP class. The car set a time fast enough for 18th, and was the only LMP-class car to attend the event. Muller, Tremblay and Tessier drove the car in the race, but retired after 253 laps due to engine failure; however, they completed more laps than three of the finishers. For 1994, the car was updated into the LMP294, and Bruno Miot was selected to drive it in the

1994 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 62nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1994. The 1994 race was won by a car that had its roots in a 10-year-old design. Porsche exploited an unusual quirk in the GT regulations at the t ...

test session; he set a time good enough for 19th overall, and second in the LMP2 category. For the race, Georges Tessier, Pascal Dro and Bernard Santal were selected to drive the car; this time, an accident forced the team to retire after 79 laps. The car was not raced again for four years, until R.D.C. Schweiz entered Josef Pfyl in the

Most Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** A ...

round of the

Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series. Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Härl ...

in 1998; the car had been reverted to the SP93 specification, and was classified in the Div.II-Euroserie category. Pfyl was able to finish 15th overall in the first heat, and eleventh in class; this was not fast enough for him to compete in the second heat, and the chassis was never used again.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Le Mans Prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Debora vehicles Sports prototypes