The Sauber C8 was a

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

prototype race car introduced in 1985 for the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

as the first in a partnership between

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...

and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

. Mercedes decided not to put forth the money for a full effort on their own until they had time to develop the production-based M117 5.0L Turbocharged V8. Therefore, Mercedes turned to Sauber to create a chassis for them and initially to run the team before Mercedes took on a larger role. Sauber chose to evolve the previous C7 prototype for the C8, although modifications were needed to house the larger V8 instead of the C7's previous Inline-6. In its debut at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sauber was able to qualify 17th. However, an accident at the Mulsanne Straight with John Nielsen at the wheel caused enough damage that the car was not able to participate in the race. The team promised to appear at a few more races in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

season, but never showed. For 1986, the team became known as Kouros Racing Team, and the C8 was entered in the full season of the

1986 World Sportscar Championship season The 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship season was the 34th season of FIA "World Sportscar Championship" motor racing. It featured the 1986 FIA World Sports Prototype Championship which was contested over a nine race series that ran from 20 A ...

. For the first two races the C8 showed promise, with an 8th and a 9th. However, later in the season two C8s were entered in the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans where neither car finished. For the 1000km of Nürburgring, the team was able to achieve its first victory with drivers

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the 2 ...

and

Mike Thackwell Michael Thackwell (born 30 March 1961) is a former racing driver from New Zealand, who participated in a number of prominent racing categories, including Formula 1. The fifth youngest driver ever to qualify for a Grand Prix, he participated in f ...

, made all the more important by being won in front of the

executives in attendance. With this victory the Kouros Racing Team was able to end the season 5th in the teams championship. In 1987, the Kouros team switched to the newer

Sauber C9 The Sauber C9 (later named the Sauber Mercedes C9 or Mercedes-Benz C9) is a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1987 as a continuation of the partnership between Sauber as a constructor and Mercedes-Benz as an engine builder for the World Sp ...

, while C8 chassis #2 was sold to privateer French team Noël del Bello, which entered the

1987 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 55th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 13 and 14 June 1987. It was also the fifth round of the 1987 World Sports-Prototype Championship. Track alterations A chicane was installed in the middle of th ...

and 1000km of Nürburgring, but failed to finish either race. Noël del Bello continued into 1988, but failed to finish any of the races it entered again.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

† Privateer team

Achievements

The Sauber C8 won the 1986 Nurburgring 1000 km in the hands of Mike Thackwell and Henri Pescarolo. The C8 had a top-speed of 370 km/h (230 mph).

References

{{Mercedes-Benz Sportscar Racers Group C cars 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Sauber Motorsport

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Achievements

See also

References