Night and Day - A tribute to Group C at Le Mans

[@FormulaFox]

Group C: So awesome the FIA had to kill it off to protect F1.

[@jue_boy4135]

Ah the 80's. Group A touring cars, Group B rally cars, Group C sports cars, and 1000+ hp Formula 1 cars. Gotta love the age of excess.

[@MrLonguinha17]

It was Golden Era of the Motorsports....with any excession...

[@deepdiamond5045]

Indeed

[@rdtli]

best times...pure racing

[@General-Gauder]

and then the FIA killed nearly all of it

[@milesr4609]

You forgot about Dakar machines like Peugeot 206 and 406 T16, and the DAF twin turbo trucks.

[@Mike_858]

Thanks so much for this great video, I am a huge fan of the Group-C racing (RIP) and showing the silk cut Jaguar reaching 245 mph at the mulsanne corner brings tears to my eyes. Thanks!

[@RMAsAmateurFootage]

Group C was THE sports-car prototype class. It's still a shame that this class died. The cars were so beauti and powerful. Not even to mention all their diffrent engine sounds and bodyshapes. Looking at those nowadays LMP1 prototypes, they make me wanna ralph! RIP Group C. never forgotten. And thanks for this amazing video!

[@Christoffski]

These guys were utterly amazing drivers.

[@red03mitsu]

god i miss these days. so many great drivers. silk cut & group 44 jags, the rothmanns porsches, later the mazda 787s. too many great cars to list.

[@484berkshire]

The golden era of sports car racing was also the dark ages of the automotive industry with the slow econoboxes that all looked the same no matter who built them. The group C machines were probably the only safe haven for car enthusiasts in the '80s. It's amazing how different they were to the consumer cars that were built by the same companies.

[@Christoffski]

Well this years Le Mans had a very group C feel. It's set to improve too. Amazing looking GT and Prototype cars and the new Garage 56 machine.

[@DemonT88]

Spectacular !! W group C

[@tommcglone2867]

I didnt know Jaguars hunted in packs

[@Christoffski]

@484berkshire It's how those horses are used that counts. The Sauber would only catch the LMP way down the first stretch after lagging behind in the first section, have to break WAY earlier and will take a longer time to negotiate the chicanes, be far less flat and stable and struggle for traction as it accelerates down the second and even then the LMP is going to be there. It's not like the LMP would be a dot in the mirror. Next section & Porsche curves? No chance. But I do prefer Group C. :)

[@ianwilmoth]

cool video man really well done!

[@484berkshire]

Man I wasn't even born until a year before this class was disolved...didn't get into racing until about 10 years ago...this would've been so fun to watch live and keep up with...but I guess I'm at least spared the heartbreak of seeing the FIA ruin this...

[@SouthPawRacer]

@RunningTheRiot No Traction Control, no Anti-Lock brakes, no Stability Control. The only "aids" F1 uses are the flappy paddle gearboxes and the engine management systems, and the drivers don't control their implementation.

[@R0LLM0P]

@Christoffski Yes I think you are right

[@santiare]

Does anybody know where to find real footage with audio about this races??? Im really in love with them.

[@R0LLM0P]

These shots have all been transfered from old VHS tape of the 1987 and 1988 race. Duke Video now offer these on DVD or even as a download for s small price, well worth it if you are a fan of the race

[@santiare]

@@R0LLM0P thanks dude 👌🏽

[@Christoffski]

The car that is smoldering is a Porsche 961 (959 racing version) isn't it?

[@putinladro6851]

W il Gr. C!!!!!!!

[@Christoffski]

watching the Peugeots dance round to this now ala the Jags.

[@Christoffski]

By 2014/15 we should see the amazing Lotus LMP2 beefed up into LMP1 form. Pretty much a group c car as a modern racing car can be.

[@milesr4609]

This not aged well... but i like the Bykolles CLM anyway...

[@Christoffski]

@@milesr4609 It didn't! The CLM really is a beaut, though.

[@milesr4609]

Yes! Is a pretty machine the CLM, it's best times were with the Nismo engine, it was a monster capable of surpassing the Hybrids in max speed. Personally i prefer the Rebellions (specially the R-one), and the BR1, also the Ginetta and some of the lmp2 (the Dome for example) nice to find someone who root for the non hybrids.

[@Christoffski]

Modern LMPs accelerate and corner faster. Aero means slower top speeds, but the straights are shorter so that is why. If the straights were longer the cars would be faster as they'd be set up for it. A TS020 would murk a C9. The Sauber wouldn't stand a chance and that's not even a modern LMP. I still prefer Group C, though. :D The soooouuuuuund. The shapes!!

[@484berkshire]

@Christoffski Modern LMPs make less than 600 hp. A group C car from the '80s made anywhere between 800 and 1000 hp. A Sauber would own one of them on the straights at LeMans, but yeah the modern ones corner and accelerate MUCH better.

[@Hellisoy]

Is it possible that you made a video called "When Group C Ruled the world" ? The songs in the video were from the sweet and helloween.

[@R0LLM0P]

No that was not my work, but a good video

[@DJJamesMorrison]

I was trying to find that video on KZbin but I had no luck.

[@Christoffski]

@soulwaxer The Sauber hit something crazy like 248. In some ways I wish the straight would return to being a straight. Nowadays unless there is a failure, once a car is ahead that's it. Cars seem so easy to drive with so much downforce and shit. I miss the days when guys like Hans could make up 7 minutes in 2 hours or so. How often do we see privateer teams win these days? Last I can remember is an Audi R8 and the BMW V12 LMR. That's 2 since the glory days of the ugly open top monstrosities.

[@co1bateman]

this could have been way better with just back ground music

[@RMAsAmateurFootage]

@LOLWUT612 Uhm...Group C reached 380-400 kph. OK LMP can't because of nowadays race circuits. The Sauber C9 had about 720 hp and that is probably the minimum. I have not read yet that either Audi or Peugeot have considerably more horsepower in their LMPs. Torque no doubt.

[@Christoffski]

Maybe it didn't sound -as- cool but Le Mans 2014 was along with 1999 the closest thing to Group C we've seen at Le Mans since the dark ages descended. Amazing crowd too. Toyota again robbed, though. :(

[@christianponicki9581]

Christoffski Funny you should say that, 2014's the year they brought back the Group C engine regulations...

[@Christoffski]

Christian Ponicki And it's worked. Le Mans is now as good as it's ever been. Group C on steroids but also in safer cars. And it's like Porsche waited for another manufacturer to reach the level they did before coming back to battle them in the most epic 24 hour sprint ever. It was decades in the making. The 919 had the spirit and presence of the 956/962, 917 et al as it took on the new king and it genuinely felt titanic all the way. Group C is indeed back, only better than ever. NIssan even bought back their old paint job.

[@christianponicki9581]

Christoffski Now all they should do is loosen the aero regulations and allow underbody aerodynamics again. I love the shape of ground effect cars and it's actually a possibility since the FIA is considering allowing ground effects again on 2017 F1 cars. Of course, they say a lot of things about 2017 F1 cars so maybe it won't happen but I like the thought of it.

[@christianponicki9581]

***** F1 doesn't just need more overtaking; all the overtaking in the world won't solve it's problem, which is that there's not enough competition of any sort between teams. Getting rid of all the technical regulations would result in teams actually designing cars the way they want to and the resulting diversity would lead to more overtaking as well. But the overtaking is a result of healthy competition, not the cause.

[@christianponicki9581]

***** They won't be able to get better venues if they keep the crappy regulations they have now, though. The FIA needs to scrap the regulations and eventually hosting F1 races will seem attractive again to track owners.

[@ElNinoDeOro1925]

Group S is forgotten it was going to replace Group B and FIA cancel it.

[@iiGrapex]

they shouldn't have put the chicanes on for this year's group c race

[@Christoffski]

@SouthPawRacer F1 cars are all aerodynamics. They should switch the emphasis back to mechanical grip. Too much aero ruins racing.

[@ticote16]

les "LMP1"ne sont pas plus rapide que les groupe "C"....ce qui les sauve dans leurs chrono....c'est la stabilités qu'elles ont dans les virages,elles sont conçues pour ça,ce n'est plus la puissance qui prime de nos jours,mais la finesse de prendre les virage le plus vite possible!!voila pourquoi les chronos des LMP1 sont hallucinant parfois pour des voitures qui ne dépasses pas les 550CV!!

[@siryoyo113]

Sans compter les assitances électriques comme sur la 919 evo lors de son record sur le Nurburgring, ça permet de s'éjecter hors des virages et d'avoir une reprise de classe supersonique

[@LOLWUT612]

@DaSchraadz LMP1 cars are faster and more powerfull than the 80's GRC cars

[@9maxi3]

na difusors^^

[@Christoffski]

Toyota fail again. :'( This video for me hammers home how the 24 hours will always belong to Porsche. Audi were never going to stop them for long, Masters of the clock. Audi were always just keeping their seat warm.

[@kierenboimufc5940]

So what if jag had continued one of the Porsche’s that won le man was made of of parts from the xjr-14

[@Christoffski]

@@kierenboimufc5940 That's a what if. Glad Toyota finally got their win. Hope they can do it again against stronger competition.

[@kierenboimufc5940]

Christoffski I mean the wsc-95 was basically all jag under a different name but that win went to Porsche

[@milesr4609]

Fernando Alonso +2...

[@Tarcfor]

why whit music, motors are better!!!

[@matthewthomas2546]

Great video ruined by music