Our newly restored Porsche 962 C wins the Grand Prix de France Historique

When Porsche 962 C chassis 154, an important 962 in the model history, joined our stable of racing cars we knew it was an extremely original car, still in its 1990 Le Mans podium specification and condition.

However, it was time to write another page of its glory and we decided to carry out a full nut and bolt restoration to our renowned quality standards. No expense was spared to make it not only one of the finest 962's in existence, but also a very fast racing machine.

After a successful shake down, we decided to enter it in the Group C race at the Grand Prix de France Historique under our Iconic Racing Team banner. The GPFH is truly an incredible event with over 90,000 spectators, many F1 celebrities and the highlight being Alain Prost driving his 1987 McLaren.

Gerard Lopez (former Lotus GP F1 team owner) and Marcel Fässler (three times Le Mans winner) shared the wheel of our car, with Marcel driving it for the first time. Due to Marcel's platinum FIA ranking, the duo would receive a 40 second penalty at the driver change for each race.

Unfortunately, the track layout was the F1 version, with the chicane on the Mistral straight, so the 962 couldn't use all its power along the 1,2km straight. Nevertheless, the car qualified in 1.58.039 minutes, about 1.7 seconds faster than the best " Pre 85 " F1 of the weekend. This is just a reminder of how fast these Group C cars were in period.

The car was fast out of the box, which confirmed the quality of the hard work we put in restoring the car and our determination to make it a winning car at  the the highest level of historic Motorsport.

Race 1: Marcel's stint was perfect and he soon took the lead over the Hart Lola T92/10. With a comfortable lead at the time at the driver change, Gerard managed to drive a safe race in traffic at a great pace and despite de 40 sec penalty, crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of Zak Brown/Richard Dean's beautiful Jaguar XJR-9. Our Porsche also set the fastest lap.

Race 2: With the DNF of the Hart Lola, our fastest challenger in Race 1 was out. So we decided to run the car cautiously from a mechanical point of view and preserve the drivetrain. However, the drivers were nevertheless given the go ahead to push within those boundaries and to have fun, Marcel took a comfortable lead, but rain drops added a bit of last minute drama to the race. Gerard's stint was on slicks as the track became increasingly wet, a real challenge for a 900kg car running on 365mm wide rear tyres. Once again the race was won with a comfortable margin over the stunning Jaguar XJR9.

Gerard Lopez : “Beyond the racing, which was obviously successful for us, with a proper Group C grid, some fast drivers, and some great racing names, it was the event that was absolutely noteworthy. The amount of spectators, the quality of the cars, the star drivers participating in races and demos, all added up to a great weekend, in which the 962 C was the car to beat right out of its restoration. Great event, great races and great work by Iconic.”

Marcel Fässler : "It was a great weekend, I was honored to drive one of my childhood dream cars. I was very impressed about the car and what effort the drivers in the past have been faced at that time. I drove the 962 for the first time and I felt home immediately. The car was perfectly restored and prepared, thanks to the great work of the whole team.It was a fantastic weekend with great people wonderful cars and amazing spectators visiting. I’m really looking forward to Le Mans Classic."

Florent MOULIN ( Art & Revs / Iconic ) : "This is definitely a great start with the Porsche 962 C, the car is already fast and reliable on its first race. The drivers and the team were perfect, which bodes well for the future. On a personal note, I was very pleased that our attention to detail and quest for perfection in the restoration of the car was recognised by the connoisseurs and scrutineers who came to inspect the car at the stand."

Iconic Racing is now looking forward to Spa Classic where team owner Florent Moulin will drive the former Alain and Nicolas Prost Chrysler Viper GTS-R GT1.