Ford C100
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The Ford C100 is a
sports racing car Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is o ...
, initially built and run as a
Group 6 Group 6 may refer to: *Group 6 element, chemical element classification *Group 6 (racing), FIA classification for sports car racing *Group 6 Rugby League The Macarthur Division Rugby League is a senior Rugby league competition in New South Wale ...
car, but later as 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 ...
car. The C100 was built by
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
in 1981, and initially featured a 4-litre
Cosworth DFL The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had ...
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, which was replaced by a 3.3-litre version of the same engine in 1983, after the car had passed to private hands. Five cars are known to have been built. Although the cars were often very quick in qualifying (when they had been fully developed), reliability problems plagued them, and restricted their successes to two
Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (translated as ''German Racing Championship'') or simply DRM as it was known, was a touring car and Sportscar racing series. It is regarded as a predecessor of the current DTM as Germany's top national series. Hist ...
victories in 1982, and a single
Thundersports The Thundersports Series was a domestic championship which took place in mainly at Brands Hatch ran circuits, for prototype sportcars and also featured cars that were eligible for Can-Am and Group C2 racing. To bring some real excitement, noise ...
victory in 1983. Following the end of Ford's involvement in the C100 project in 1983,
Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. 1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...
modified one of the chassis into the C1/4, which used a 1.8-litre
turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
in-line 4 from their
Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: *Group 5 element, chemical element classification *Group 5 (racing) Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defi ...
Ford Capri The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...
. The C100 was also evolved into the Zakspeed C1/8, which used the 4-litre Cosworth DFL in a C1/4 chassis. The Zakspeed cars would prove to be far more successful than the C100 had ever been, and
Klaus Niedzwiedz Klaus Niedzwiedz (born February 24, 1951 in Dortmund, Germany) is a former professional race driver and motoring journalist. Driver His greatest success came in the 1980s as a driver for Ford. Niedzwiedz rose to prominence when driving a Ford C ...
used a C1/8 to win 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
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
.


Design and development

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
began the C100 project in 1981, with
Len Bailey Leonard Bailey (25 July 1926 – 23 June 1997) was a British automobile designer. Career Leonard Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War ...
, who had also been involved on the successful GT40 project in the past, being the man whom was selected to design it. Bailey penned a car with a shovelled nose at the front, and a lofty decking at the rear, and the car was designed to use a
Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
V8. However, Bailey soon became disillusioned with the project, and left prior to the development of an updated version for the 1982 season.
Tony Southgate Tony Southgate (born 25 May 1940, Coventry, England) is a British engineer and former racing car designer. He designed many successful cars, including Jaguar's Le Mans-winning XJR-9, and cars for almost every type of circuit racing. He was res ...
was soon called in to look at the C100, and was unimpressed by the car. He stated that the steering rack was misplaced, and that the rear suspension looked like it was designed for a totally different car. The original C100s used a simple
aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
chassis, but an updated model, initially built for
Alain de Cadenet Alain de Cadenet (27 November 1945 – 1 July 2022) was an English television presenter and racing driver. He was noted for racing in 15 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the 1970s and 1980s, achieving one podium finish with third ...
, used a stronger aluminium
honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic Beeswax, wax cells built by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. beekeeping, Beekee ...
chassis. Thompson redesigned the suspension at both ends of the car, which led to a significant reduction in lap time. Impressed with his work, Ford offered Thompson a deal to redevelop the C100 for the 1983 season. Thompson promptly redeveloped the car from scratch, bar its windscreen, and the redeveloped C100s used the same aluminium honeycomb
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
as the de Cadenet car had, whilst the body was initially made out of
glassfibre Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
. Thompson and
Keith Duckworth David Keith Duckworth (10 August 1933 – 18 December 2005) was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One. Early life an ...
worked on a
turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
version of the
Cosworth DFL The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had ...
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, and its installation in the C100's chassis. However, a week after the new C100 had undergone its maiden test at
Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...
, albeit with a regular DFL as the new engine was not yet ready, Ford pulled the plug on the C100 project. Thompson claimed that the updated C100 developed of downforce in its sprint race configuration, and that it was superior to the
Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. In 1983, driven by Stefan Bellof, this car est ...
. The C100 did, however, suffer from high-speed understeer during the test; Thompson put it down to having a low proportion of front-end downforce. Following the end of the C100's factory development,
Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. 1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...
, whom had helped Ford run their works programme, continued to develop the car themselves, and came up with the Zakspeed C1/4. This car had a stiffer aluminium honeycomb chassis, reworked aerodynamics, and the 1.8-litre turbocharged in-line 4 from their
Ford Capri The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...
Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: *Group 5 element, chemical element classification *Group 5 (racing) Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defi ...
car, which produced around . Zakspeed also produced a version of the C1/4 with a 4-litre Cosworth DFL V8, which was dubbed the C1/8.


Racing history


1981

Although Ford attempted to enter the C100 in the
1981 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 49th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 13 and 14 June 1981. It was also the eighth round of the World Endurance Championship of Drivers, and the fifth round of the World Championship for Makes. De ...
, they did not actually attend the event; instead, the car made its début at the
Brands Hatch 1000 km The Brands Hatch 1000 km was an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance sports car racing, sports car event that was part of the World Sportscar Championship for varying years from 1967 until 1989. Originally a six-hour race running under the ...
three months later.
Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock (6 October 1951 – 12 August 1985) was a German racing driver. He participated in 56 Formula One Grands Prix (with 47 starts) between 1980 and 1985, driving for Arrows, ATS, Brabham and RAM Racing, with a best finish of fi ...
and
Klaus Ludwig Klaus Karl Ludwig (born 5 October 1949) is a German racing driver. Biography He also known as ''König Ludwig'' ("King Ludwig") for his success in touring cars and in sports car racing. In the 1970s, Ludwig drove for Ford in the Deutsche R ...
were selected to drive the works-entered car, and took a debut pole by 1.1 seconds from the works
Lola T600 The Lola T600 was a racing car introduced in 1981 by Lola Cars as a customer chassis. It was the first GT prototype race car to incorporate ground-effect tunnels for downforce. The revolutionary aerodynamic design of the T600 was widely imita ...
of
Guy Edwards Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards, QGM (born 30 December 1942) is a former racing driver from England. Best known for his sportscar and British Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Champion ...
and
Emilio de Villota Emilio de Villota Ruíz (born 26 July 1946) is a former racing driver from Spain, born in Madrid. He entered 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1976 and 1982, qualifying twice. He entered most Spanish Grand Prix between 1976 ...
. Unfortunately for Ford, a gearbox failure forced the car out after 40 laps, and the Edwards/de Villota Lola went on to win the race.


1982

For 1982, four further cars were built, and the cars were used in both the
Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (translated as ''German Racing Championship'') or simply DRM as it was known, was a touring car and Sportscar racing series. It is regarded as a predecessor of the current DTM as Germany's top national series. Hist ...
(DRM), and the
FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...
(WEC). In his C100, which had now been reclassified as 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 ...
car, Ludwig opened the 1982 season with a retirement at
Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...
, which held the opening round of the DRM, before taking tenth in the second round, held at
Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...
(although he had retired after 17 laps, he had completed enough to be classified.) Ford Germany ran one C100 at the
1000 km Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. Overview Despi ...
, which opened the WEC season; Winkelhock, Ludwig and
Marc Surer Marc Surer (born 18 September 1951 in Arisdorf) is a former racing driver from Switzerland currently working as TV commentator and racing school instructor. He participated in 88 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 9 September ...
drove C100 #02, although Ford had also initially entered Surer alongside
Klaus Niedzwiedz Klaus Niedzwiedz (born February 24, 1951 in Dortmund, Germany) is a former professional race driver and motoring journalist. Driver His greatest success came in the 1980s as a driver for Ford. Niedzwiedz rose to prominence when driving a Ford C ...
in C100 #03 as a second entry. Yet again, however, the C100 retired; this time due to overheating after 18 laps. Ludwig then missed the
Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
round of the DRM, whilst Surer and Niedzwiedz both missed the
6 Hours of Silverstone The 4 Hours of Silverstone (formerly the 1000 km of Silverstone and 6 Hours of Silverstone) is an endurance sports car race held at Silverstone Circuit near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. First run in 1976 a ...
. However, Winkelhock and Ludwig ''did'' attend the latter event, and became the first drivers to finish a race with the C100; eighth, and fifth in the Group C category, was where they finished. The pair retired again in the
1000 km Nürburgring 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, having suffered a differential failure after 31 laps, but this was enough to classify them in twentieth. 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 racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
provided even less success; Ford entered four cars, but only two ever competed. Surer and Ludwig drove C100 chassis #04, whilst Winkelhock and Niedzwiedz drove the #03 chassis, but both retired due to electrical failure after 71 and 67 laps respectively. Two C100s were entered at the
Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 19 ...
round of the DRM, with Winkelhock and Ludwig being selected to drive them. Winkelhock brought his car home in second place, for the C100's first podium, finishing one second behind the Porsche 956 of
Jochen Mass Jochen Richard Mass (born 30 September 1946) is a German former racing driver. Life and career Born in Dorfen, Bavaria 50 km (31 mi) from Munich, Mass participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 Jul ...
, whilst Ludwig finished in eighth, two laps behind the leading duo. The next round, held at Hockenheimring, saw Ludwig go one better than Winkelhock's performance at Norisring, as he won the race by just under five seconds from Niedzwiedz in a Zakspeed Capri Turbo, although Winkelhock retired due to ignition problems after 11 laps. The DRM then held its third Hockenheim round of the season, but Ludwig retired with transmission problems after 28 laps. The C100 then returned to international competition in the
1000 km Spa The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races fo ...
, where Surer and Ludwig drove the #05 car, and Winkelhock partnered Niedzwiedz in the #03 car. Once again, however, it was unsuccessful; the Surer/Ludwig car retired due to fuel pump failure after 124 laps, whilst the other C100 finished the race, but only completed 123 laps, and was classified in eighteenth overall, ninth in the Group C category. Two C100s were entered in the DRM season finale, once again held at Nürburgring; however only one actually raced. Ludwig drove his C100 to victory, beating Niedzwiedz's Capri by over 37 seconds. Ford ended the season by entering three cars at the Brands Hatch 1000 km; Surer, Ludwig and Winkelhock in C100 #03, Winkelhock and Niedzwiedz in C100 #05, whilst
Jonathan Palmer Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...
and
Desiré Wilson Desiré Randall Wilson (born 26 November 1953) is a former racing driver from South Africa and one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. Born in Brakpan, she entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non ...
were entered in C100 #04. The C100s were dominant in qualifying, with the Surer/Ludwig/Winkelhock car taking pole, and the Winkelhock/Niedzwiedz car taking second; the works
Lancia LC1 The Lancia LC1 was a sports car run by Lancia under the Group 6 regulations in the World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1982 to 1983. The car was built as an attempt by Lancia to move up from production-based competition wi ...
s in third and fourth were nearly two seconds slower, although the Palmer/Wilson C100 was qualified in eighth. Although the Winkelhock/Niedzwiedz car was badly damaged in an enormous accident after four laps, both of the other C100s finished; Palmer and Wilson brought their car home in fourth, and second in class, whilst the Surer/Ludwig/Winkelhock car finished directly behind them. Ludwig was the highest placed C100 driver in both the WEC and the DRM, as he finished joint-39th in the WEC, with eleven points, and fourth in the DRM, with 83 points.


1983

For 1983, Ford ended the C100 program, and sold C100 #04 to Peer Racing, who promptly replaced the 4-litre Cosworth DFL engine with a 3.3-litre version. Peer Racing entered David Kennedy and
Martin Birrane Martin Birrane (19 August 1935 – 9 June 2018) was an Irish businessman and former racing driver. Born in Ballina, County Mayo and educated at St Muredach's College, Birrane made his money in property development, with his company ''Peer Gro ...
in the new
Thundersports The Thundersports Series was a domestic championship which took place in mainly at Brands Hatch ran circuits, for prototype sportcars and also featured cars that were eligible for Can-Am and Group C2 racing. To bring some real excitement, noise ...
series, but the pair crashed out of the season opener, held at
Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...
. They then attempted to enter the
1000 km Silverstone The 4 Hours of Silverstone (formerly the 1000 km of Silverstone and 6 Hours of Silverstone) is an endurance sports car race held at Silverstone Circuit near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. First run in 1976 as ...
, which was part of the WEC, but did not attend the event. The team then entered the second Brands Hatch round of the Thundersports season, and took second, finishing a lap down on the Lola T530-
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...
of
John Foulston John Foulston (1772 – 30 December 1841) was an English architect who was a pupil of Thomas Hardwick and set up a practice in London in 1796.Peter Leach, ''Foulston, John (1772–1841)'', rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Un ...
and Brian Cocks.
François Migault François Migault (4 December 1944 – 29 January 2012) was a racing driver from Le Mans, France. He participated in 16 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 August 1972, but scored no championship points. Career A native ...
joined the team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but a fuel pressure problem forced the team into retirement after 16 laps. Kennedy and Birane then retired again in the Thruxton round of the Thundersports series, after a puncture caused the suspension to fail after nine laps. Jim Crawford replaced Birrane at
Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...
, and the car took its last ever victory, winning by a lap over the Lola T594-
Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...
of
Pete Lovett Peter Charles Lovett (born 6 March 1950) is a retired British racing driver and businessman. He is perhaps best known for his racing exploits in the TWR run Rover SD1 in the early 1980s. Racing career Lovett's debut in racing was in 1976 drivin ...
and
Jeff Allam Jeffrey Frank Allam (born 19 December 1954 in Epsom, England), is a former British racing driver who made his name in Saloon Car racing. He now works as Head of Business for Allam Motor Services in Epsom which are a Skoda sales and service and V ...
. This would also prove to be the car's last ever finish; an accident in practice prevented Birrane and Kennedy from running the car in the Brands Hatch 1000 km, whilst Kennedy and
Rupert Keegan Rupert Keegan (born 26 February 1955) is a former racing driver from England. He participated in 37 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 8 May 1977. He scored no championship points. Keegan won the 1976 British Formula 3 Cha ...
crashed out of the final race of the Thundersports season, also held at Brands Hatch. This proved to be the last time a C100 was entered in a major race. Zakspeed, meanwhile, initially focused on the DRM, and had both a C1/4 and a C1/8 ready for the opening round of the season, which was held at Zolder. Ludwig drove the C1/4, whilst Niedzwiedz drove the C1/8, but neither driver was classified at the end of the race. Although Ludwig was not classified at the following round, held at the Hockenheimring, Niedzwiedz won the race by over a minute, and took the fastest lap in the process.
AVUS The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...
saw a turbo failure put Ludwig out after 3 laps, but Niedzwiedz came home in third. Ludwig finished for the first time at the next round, held at
Mainz Finthen Airport Mainz-Finthen Airport ''(German: Flugplatz Mainz-Finthen)'' is an airport in Germany, located about southwest of Mainz and approximately southwest of Berlin. The airport serves the general aviation community, with no commercial airline servic ...
; he came home second, whilst Niedzwiedz finished fifth. Although neither car finished at Norisring, Ludwig led Niedzwiedz home at
Diepholz Diepholz (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Deefholt'') is a town and capital of the district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnabrück, and 60 km southwest of ...
in second place. Niedzwiedz thus finished the season in third place, whilst Ludwig took fifth. Following the end of the season, Zakspeed turned their attention to 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 ...
. At
Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoin ...
,
Jörg van Ommen Jörg Van Ommen (born 27 September 1962 in Moers, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former German racing driver. He drove for Mercedes-AMG in the DTM in 1995 and 1996, finishing in second place in 1995 in a Mercedes C-Class. He also is the nephew o ...
drove the C1/4, whilst Niedzwiedz remained with the C1/8; although the latter retired after 21 laps with differential problems, van Ommen won the race and took the fastest lap. He followed this by taking second in the second race, whilst Niedzwiedz was unable to make the start of that race. For the final race of the season at Hockenheim, Ludwig was back in the C1/4, and finished second, whilst the C1/8 was not used at this event. Despite only competing in two races, van Ommen finished sixth in the driver's standings.


1984

In 1984, the C1/4 was not used, and the C1/8 ran a full season in both the DRM and the Interserie. Although the C1/8 was not used in the opening round of the season, Niedzwiedz took victory in the next round at
Zeltweg Zeltweg is a town in Styria, Austria. It is located in the Aichfeld basin of the Mur River in Upper Styria. Larger municipalities in the vicinity are Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf. History Some farms were recorded at Zeltweg in the Duchy of ...
, winning both heats in the process. He followed this with another dominant victory at the Nürburgring. The C1/8 was then entered in the opening Norisring round of the DRM season, but gearbox issues restricted Niedzwiedz to tenth place, last of the classified drivers.
Jochen Dauer Jochen Dauer (born 10 January 1952) is a German former racing driver and founder of Dauer Sportwagen. In the beginning of 2010 Jochen was in detention of a suspect in Nuremberg because of tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat ...
, meanwhile, had driven a second C1/8, but he could do no better than seventh. Niedzwiedz dominated again in the next round of the Interserie, held at
Erding Erding () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the rural district of the same name. It had a population of 36,469 in 2019. The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty. Erding is located around 31 kilometers nor ...
, but the team's attempt to run the C1/8 at the 1000 km Nürburgring ended with a driveshaft failure after two laps. At the Diepholz round of the DRM, Niedzwiedz came home fourth, and he followed this with another win in the Interserie, this time at
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 ...
. For the first time that year, Niedzwiedz came second in the following race at Siegerland, beaten by
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 ...
in a Joest Porsche 956. A fourth-place finish in the Nürburgring round of the DRM followed, before Niedzwiedz retired from the final round of the Interserie, which was also held at the Nürburgring. Niedzwiedz took the driver's championship in the 1984 by 20 points from Roland Binder in the Lola T296 BMW, whilst finishing twelfth in the DRM driver's standings.


1985

In 1985, Zakspeed once again began to use the C1/4. Niedzwiedz remained with the team and the C1/8 in order to defend his Interserie crown, and he began the season with a fourth at the Nürburgring and a third at Hockenheim. For
Wunstorf Wunstorf () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km west of Hanover. The following localities belong to the town of Wunstorf: Blumenau (with Liethe), Bokeloh, Großenheidorn, Idensen ...
, Niedzwiedz switched to the C1/4, and finished fourth once again. Niedzwiedz remained in the C1/4 for AVUS, and Franz Konrad drove the C1/8; however, Niedzwiedz retired from the second heat and, despite winning the first heat, came sixth overall, and Konrad only competed in the second race. Niedzwiedz was the only Zakspeed driver at Zeltweg, but he had problems in the second heat and was not officially classified. Jan Thoelke was selected to drive the C1/8 at Erding, and he took fifth, with the Kumsan Tiger Team taking over that car; Niedzwiedz, in his C1/4, took second. Both teams then went to the first, and only, dedicated DRM race of that season, held at Norisring; Thoelke did not start the race, and Niedzwiedz came home in 13th. Kumsan Tiger Team then took their C1/8 to the 1000 km Hockenheim, part of the WEC, but only completed 77 laps and were not classified. Both teams then returned to the Interserie; Konrad replaced Niedzwiedz at Zakspeed, but was not classified after not competing in the second race, whilst Thoelke came home sixth. Although Niedzwiedz was supposed to return to Zakspeed for the next round at Most, no Zakspeed entry ran in that race; Thoelke came home fifth in his car. For Siegerland, Ludwig had returned to Zakspeed, and he finished third, whilst Thoelke took another fifth-place finish. Ludwig repeated the feat at the Nürburgring, whilst Thoelke was not classified. Niedzwiedz finished the season in ninth place in the driver's championship, whilst Thoelke was 13th, Ludwig 18th, and Konrad 19th.


1986

The C1/4 was retired at the end of 1985, and never ran again. Zakspeed selected Dauer to drive their C1/8, whilst Thoelke drove in several events in his C1/8, both as a privateer and under the Derichs Rennwagen banner. The first appearance of 1986 for both C1/8 entries came at the Hockenheim round of the
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
Supercup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...
, which had replaced the DRM; Dauer retired, whilst Thoelke finished ninth. Both teams ran at the next
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Supercup event, which was the 100 Miles of Norisring and also formed part of the
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; both cars retired without completing half of the race distance. Dauer then switched back to the Interserie for the Zeltweg round, and was classified in seventh place. He followed this with eighth place at both Most and Siegerland, whilst several entries for Thoelke did not actually result in any racing. Dauer was not classified in the Nürburgring Supersprint round of the Supercup, and finished the Interserie season with a fourth place at the second Zeltweg round. He was classified in 13th in the Interserie. Dauer then entered the C1/8 privately at the
500 km Kyalami The Nine Hours of Kyalami is an endurance sports car race contested at Kyalami, Midrand, South Africa. The first races were held from 1958 to 1960 at a circuit at the Grand Central Airport near Midrand before moving to Kyalami in 1961. The event ...
, but retired on lap 61 with
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issues.


Later years

In 1987, the C1/8 was only used twice. It was now permanently in Dauer's hands, and, driving for Victor Dauer Racing, he raced at Hockenheim and Most, taking fifth in the latter; however, he spent most of the season driving a
Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Europ ...
C, and would eventually take fifth overall in the driver's standings. The C1/8 did not figure in Dauer's plans at all for 1988, and instead, Mike Baretta was chosen to drive it. However, by now, it was past its best, and Baretta never finished any higher than tenth overall in any round. However, it was at least fairly reliable, and this helped him to finish joint-fifth in the driver's championship, level with Walter Lechner; he was also the highest placed non-Porsche driver. The C1/8 never raced again after the end of the 1988 season.


References

{{reflist, 30em C100 Group 6 (racing) cars Group C cars 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Sports racing cars Zakspeed racing cars