Joining me now are our old Group C friends from the late '80s; the Mercedes C9 and the Porsche 962. I know what you're thinking but the main reason why I called these two is plain simple because while these Group C greats are proven so legendary, a handful managed to make road-legal replicas of those. A South African man made a C9 replica while a man from Japan managed to keep a 962 in his garage and made it road legal. Pretty sweet, huh? But let's get to know about these cars first.
We are already familiar with the stories behind these machines ever since you and I set off in these Group C greats you can drive. The C9 won the 1989 Le Mans race with Jochen Mass, Manual Reuter, and Stanley Dickens behind the wheel and during its qualifying run with its 5.0L V8 Turbo engine armed, it went straight through the Mulsanne in 400kph. It scored a pole position in the first round of the 1988 World Sports Car Championship and went on to win five out of 12 races that year. It racked 21 races participated, 13 races won, 7 pole positions, and 5 fastest lap times.
The 962 is basically a rebuilt version of the 956 due to complicating restrictions both the IMSA GTP of America and European Group C had but ever since its 1984 Daytona debut, the 962 scored 21 constructors' championships, making it one of the most dominant cars in motorsport in the spirit of its prize-winning predecessors and it became popular among private teams.
Upon driving these two for some sighting laps, the Sauber-Mercedes C9 feels so nice to drive even at intimidating speeds and this is the kind of early prototype racer you wouldn't really let go until you are satisfied with its almost generous dynamics you can't get enough of. The 962, meanwhile, because of its aerodynamics, was proven to be quite a tricky car to drive and downright menacing but in the interest of getting to know Porsche's Group C Le Mans hero, I stuck with it and I had a blast with it.
With my impressions over, it's time to pit these two Group C champs you can drive for a lap around modern-day Le Mans track. Ready, set, go!
And now, the results...
#63 C9 - 3:42.632
#17 962C - 3:36.250
It's a shocking result. Although the 962 is short on power, its uncanny aerodynamics managed to beat the C9 by a huge margin, meaning Porsche really is a dominant carmaker in the world of Le Mans...well, sort of.
These Group C champs you can drive like the C9 and the 962, it's amazing seeing these two machines come to life on the road after their legendary statuses propelled them to become all-time greats and as times change, rest assured that these Group C heroes' efforts will never go in vain in the history of motorsport. They really are that phenomenal, don't you agree?
Although, it may had lead me to some lumpy throats, but this is no time for tears because with Le Mans is now here, it's time for them to make history, just as their spiritual predecessors did in their time.