GOODWOOD MEMBERS MEETING CELEBRATES FORTY YEARS OF 956
In the early 1980s, the world witnessed a revolution in sports car racing. The arrival of Group C ushered in an era where fuel efficiency was paramount and the aerodynamic advances of ground effect would revise the accepted norms of design and performance forevermore. At the vanguard of this brave new world was Porsche, which produced a world beater in the 956, the manufacturer’s first monocoque sports-prototype race car. Fast forward four decades and the legacy of Porsche’s Group C behemoth remains unrivalled. At Goodwood Motor Circuit, on the south coast of England, for the venue’s seventy-ninth Members Meeting, some twenty-one examples of the 956 and its successor, the 962, assembled, spanning a scarcely credible twelve years of international competition, underlining the scale and scope of their extraordinary dominance as factory and customer racing machines.
Of the 956s and 962s which made the journey to Goodwood, sixteen were taking part in a special high-speed demonstration run, marking the largest number of works and privateer examples to have driven together to date. Needless to say, the spectacle promised to be unique and unforgettable, overloading the senses with vivid liveries, evocative smells and the incomparable, unmistakable sound of Porsche’s turbocharged flat-six at full chat.
OFF TO A FRESH START
As the cars lined up in the half light of evening, forming the traditional pattern of a Le Mans start, headlamps came on at intervals, resulting in parallel
