IMSA LAP TIMES 1982 TO 1986

IMSA LAP TIMES 1982 TO 1986

IMSA LAP TIMES 1982 TO 1986 Last week, Jeremy Buckingham, who used to be an engineer with the March Company, from Bicester, England called me. Jeremy lives in Atlanta now and still is employed as a race engineer a very good one! We started discussing the rise of the Porsche 962 here in America, in the IMSA races from 1984 onward. Jeremy pointed out that the March 85G, usually the most unloved of the March GTP cars, due to the rear suspension not being optimized, was often, particularly when powered by the turbocharged Buick V6, as fast, or faster over a lap, than the 962 in 1985/6 but unfortunately, the Buick engine suffered from a design defect in it s valve gear and seldom lasted, whilst the turbocharged engine of the Porsche was well known for it s reliability, as well as it s outright power. This led me to looking back in my IMSA yearbooks, to see exactly what was happening with lap times of these competing GTP cars from 1982-1986. They make for some strange reading and some things are not easily explainable. Page 1

1981 had seen Brian Redman win the IMSA Championship in his Lola T600, the first of the new breed of GTP cars. Usually, Porsche 935s had turned up the boost on their turbocharged engines and easily proved to be the fastest cars out there but the new breed of GTP cars promised to be faster still, particularly in the races themselves, as 935s often had to turn the boost down after a few quick laps, both in search of conserving the engine and raising mpg, thus cutting down on stops for fuel. 1982 saw the 935s fighting a desperate rearguard action but now March of Bicester had joined the fray with their new 82G cars. As well, customers who had bought Lola T600s, such as the Ted Field Interscope team, and Chris Cord/Bill Adams started showing just how fast the new breed of GTP cars were and the dear old Porsche 935s were not going quietly into the night; indeed, JLP- 4, in the hands of John Paul, Jr. put up some startlingly quick qualifying laps. Page 2

1982: Road Atlanta: J. Paul Jr: 1:18.626. 935. Riverside: Adams: Lola T600: 1:38.526. 1st Laguna Seca: J. Paul Jr: JLP-4: 1.00.102. 1st. Charlotte: Adams: 1:08.868. Lime Rock: Fitzpatrick: 935K4:.51.899 1st. Mid-Ohio: J. Paul Jr: 1: 24.963. 4th. Brainerd: Ongais. Lola T600: 1:28.133. 2nd. Sears Point: Ludwig. Mustang: 1:30.237. 1st. Portland: J. Paul Jr: JLP-4: 1:03.548. Road America: J. Paul Jr JLP-4: 2:04.476. 15th. Pocono: Ongais: 1:23.239. 1st. Daytona: Wollek, 935: 1:42.276. Starting from 1983, Al Holbert used three March 83Gs, two naturally aspirated Chevrolet 366 cu. inch V8 powered and one turbocharged Porsche 956 powered. The next year, in 1984, Al Holbert sat out the first part of the season, awaiting his first 962. The front running prototype in that year was the Blue Thunder team of March 83/84Gs, still using the small block Chevrolet V8 of 366 cu. inches. Page 3

1983: Road Atlanta: Bundy: March 83G-Chev: 1:23.053. 1st. Riverside: Holbert: March 83G Chev: 1:36.284. 1st, Jim Truman. Laguna Seca: Holbert: March 83G.Chev: 1.00.258. 1st. Charlotte: Holbert: March 83G Chev: 1:08.051. Lime Rock: Holbert: March 83G Chev:.49.779 4th. Mid-Ohio: Rahal: March 83G Chev: 1: 24.643. 1st. Brainerd: Holbert: March 83G-Porsche: 1:31.543. 1st. Sears Point: Holbert: March-Porsche: (can t read). 1st. Portland: Holbert: March 83G-Porsche: Tullius Jaguar XJR 1:04.554. DNR. Mosport: Holbert: 1:17.190. 7th. Road America: Holbert: 2:09.90. 15th. Pocono: Tullius: Jaguar XJR5: 1:28.832. 1st. Daytona: Holbert, March 83G-Porsche: 1:27.876. 1st. Randy Lanier won the IMSA GTP Championship in 1984 but it was Bill Whittington who did the qualifying for the team and he put their March on the pole six times in twelve races, with an aggregate lap time some two seconds faster than Al Holbert, in a similarly powered March, the year before. I can only presume that must have been down to better tires although Bill Whittington was no slouch as a driver! Indeed, this is borne out by Sarel van der Merwe qualifying on pole at Portland in 1984, driving a similar March 83G-Porsche to the car that Al Holbert had qualified with the previous year; van der Merwe s time was some three seconds faster than Al Holbert s qualifying time of the year before. Road America is a fast track with long straights, where brute power probably counts for more than driver skill but in 1984, Holbert, in his new Porsche 962, really set the cat amongst the pigeons, qualifying on pole some seven plus seconds faster than in the previous year. I don t have Bill Whittington s qualifying time to compare it with there. Page 4

1984: Road Atlanta: K. Ludwig Mustang GTP: 1:15.964. Riverside: K. Ludwig: 1:34.061. Laguna Seca: B. Whittington: March 83G.Chev:.58.990. Charlotte: B. Whittington: March 83G Chev: 1:06.525. Lime Rock: B. Whittington: March 83G Chev:.47.202. Mid-Ohio: B. Whittington: March 83G Chev: 1: 23.621. 2nd. Holbert in 962 won. Sears Point: Whittington: March 83G-Chev: 1:27.783. Portland: van der Merle: March 83G-Porsche: 1.01.396. Lanier won. Mosport: Holbert: 1:17.190. 7th. Road America: Holbert: 2:02.387 962. Pocono: Tullius: Whittington: 1:21.478. Daytona: Holbert, Porsche 962: 1:41.508. 1st. Page 5

On to 1985: The Blue Thunder team had disbanded, Lanier and Whittington being in trouble with the law, and the 962 appeared to be dominant, taking pole at eight of the tracks; a March 85g/Buick did take pole at Riverside in the very capable hands of John Paul, Jr., Klaus Ludwig took pole in the Mustang GTP car at Road America and Sarel van der Merwe was the fastest qualifier at Daytona in a Corvette GTP (a thinly disguised Lola T710), some two seconds plus faster than Holbert s 962 had posted the previous year. Page 6

1985: Road Atlanta: Bundy: Porsche 962. 1:14.5 5th. Riverside: Paul Jr: March 85G Buick: 1:32.254. DNF. Laguna Seca: Wollek: Porsche 962: 58.331. Charlotte: Holbert: Porsche 962: 1:04.920. Lime Rock: Holbert: 962:.47.671 4th. Mid-Ohio: Hobbs: 962: 1: 21.335; 1st. Sears Point: Wollek: 962: 1;25.212. 1st. Road America: Ludwig, Mustang: 1:59.881. 15th. Pocono: Halsmer; 962: 1.12.062. Daytona: van der Merwe, Vette GTP: 1:38.883. 1986 saw the Porsche 962 at the peak of its success in America, winning 12 out of 19 races but in qualifying, the story was very different. 962s only qualifying on the pole three times. This really was the period of turning up the boost knob on turbocharged engines, the turbo Chevrolet V8 of Sarel van der Merwe proving to be particularly quick but the Electramotive Nissan (Lola T80 modified) was also proving to be fast but fragile. It would take that particular race team another two years until it struck gold but the 962 would always be there to give stiff opposition in a race and, in 1988, Jaguar joined in the fray too 1986: Road Atlanta: van der Merwe, Vette GTP: 1:12.001. Riverside: Paul Jr: March 85G Buick: 1:30.103. DNF. FL: 1:35.610. Laguna Seca: K. Ludwig, Mustang Probe: 56.692. Charlotte: Holbert: Porsche 962: 1:07.773. (Slower than 1985 rain?) Lime Rock: Robinson, XKR7: 962:.49.592 4th. (Slower than in 1985.) Mid-Ohio: Stuck: 962: 1: 20.437; 1st. Sears Point: Wollek: 962: 1;24.876. 1st. Road America: van der Merwe, Corvette GTP: 1:58.064. 15th. Daytona: S. van Der Merwe, Corvette GTP; 1:39.564. (Slower than in 1985.) Page 7

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