THE SAVIOUR OF SPORTS CARS
HE PORSCHE FACTORY TEAM set the gold standard in the heart of the 1980s Group C era, but it’s also true that it could have throttled the life out of the formula, particularly in its dominant early days. What saved Group C was Porsche’s canny decision to sell customer cars to privateers, some of whom had the backing and technical nous to develop their own 956s and 962s, and on occasion beat the factory, or at least represent the manufacturer when the works team missed races. Imagine how thin grids would have been without that policy, how much less colourful (so many
