Lancia LC2
Encyclopedia
The Lancia LC2 was a series of racing cars built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia
and powered by engines built by their sister company Ferrari
. They were part of Lancia's official factory-backed effort in the World Sportscar Championship
from 1983
to 1986
, although they continued to be used by privateer teams until 1991. They were also the company's first car meeting the FIA's new Group C
regulations for sports prototype
s.
More powerful than its primary competitor, the Porsche 956
, the LC2s were able to secure multiple pole position
s during their three and a half seasons with the factory Martini Racing
squad. However, reliability and more notably fuel consumption hampered the LC2's efforts for race wins against Porsche. LC2s earned three race victories over their lifetime in the hands of Italian drivers Teo Fabi
, Riccardo Patrese
, Alessandro Nannini
, and Mauro Baldi
, as well as German Hans Heyer
and Frenchman Bob Wollek
.
regulations were introduced to the World Championship. This rule set required teams to use coupé
-style cars that had to be able to meet a fuel economy
standard mandated at 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) for every 60 litres (15.9 US gal) of fuel. The Lancia LC1
, which had been built to the older Group 6 regulations, initially competed in 1982, but had to be replaced in order for Lancia to earn constructors' points in the World Championship, now open to Group C cars only in 1983. Besides the fact that the LC1 had an open-cockpit, the turbocharged straight-4
Lancia engine it had used was not capable of achieving the fuel economy necessary in the new Group C regulations, requiring Lancia to also seek a new powerplant. Under the direction of Cesare Fiorio
, Lancia began to work on the LC1's replacement.
Lancia lacked a production engine large enough to base a racing engine on, leaving the company to turn to outside sources. Since Lancia were owned by the Fiat Group
, they were able to seek the assistance of fellow Fiat company Ferrari
. Ferrari allowed Lancia to adapt the new naturally aspirated 3 litres (183 cu in) four valve V8
which had been introduced in the Ferrari 308 GTB
i QV in 1982. The engine was reduced in capacity to 2.6 litres (159 cu in) and two KKK turbochargers were added to help the engine provide the fuel economy and power necessary. The specific engine displacement was chosen because of the possibility of using the same engine in the North American CART
series. The engine was initially connected to a Hewland
five-speed manual gearbox, which was replaced by an Abarth-cased unit in 1984.
Design work on the chassis was split between Italian specialist racing car manufacturers Abarth
and Dallara
, the latter of which built the aluminium
monocoque
and the kevlar
and carbon fibre
bodywork in their factory. The LC2 featured a large intake for the radiator
s in the center of the nose of the car just as the LC1 had, unlike the contemporary Porsche 956
s which drew all their air from behind and to the sides of the cockpit. This air was also directed through the side bodywork to feed the intercooler
s for the turbochargers. Inlets for the rear brake cooling ducts were also integrated onto the side bodywork of the car, immediately behind the doors. At the rear, a pontoon
-style design was adapted to the fenders with the large wing bridging across the pontoons. The rear diffusers
exited between the pontoons and underneath the wing.
The LC2s were modified over their lifetime, with a multitude of modifications being made each season to the cars' aerodynamics, including adapting brake duct inlets beneath the headlights. The Ferrari V8 was modified in 1984, bringing the displacement
back up to 3.0-litres in an attempt to increase reliability and horsepower
while improved engine electronics
from Magneti Marelli allowed the larger engine to use the same amount of fuel as the previous version. In total, seven LC2s were built under the direction of Lancia, while a further two were built for Gianni Mussato without official backing after the program had ended.
, being run under the Martini Racing
name and painted in the Martini & Rossi
colors, as well as initially using Italian Pirelli
radial tyres. The first race of the season was also Lancia's home event, the 1000 km of Monza. The LC2 proved more powerful than the 956s, taking the pole position
by nearly a second over Joest Racing
's 956. However tyre problems took the leading Lancia out of the lead of the race, and the second team car finished twelve laps behind the winning 956.
Tyre problems and engine reliability hampered the LC2s all season; the Pirelli tyres were eventually replaced with British Dunlop
crossply tyres, although the car's suspension had been optimised for the Italian product. Neither car managed to finish a race again until the fifth round, the 1000 km of Spa. There the two Martini Racing LC2s as well as the privateer Mirabella LC2 all finished, but only after suffering various difficulties that dropped them from contention earlier in the race. The LC2s finally ran reliably at the European Endurance Championship round at Brands Hatch
, where Michele Alboreto
and Riccardo Patrese
finished fourth. Lancia chose not to participate in the World Sportscar event in Japan, instead running the European Endurance event at Imola
. The choice paid off as Teo Fabi
and Hans Heyer
earned the LC2 its first victory, although the factory Porsche
team had not participated in this event. Lancia finished off the season with back-to-back second place finishes at Mugello
and Kyalami
. Even with their difficulties Lancia took second place in the World Constructors Championship, although they earned only 32 points to Porsche's 100.
, with suspension redesigned to work with the Dunlop tyres. Lancia opened the season with a podium finish, followed by another pole position at Silverstone
which led to a fourth place finish. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans
, both cars qualified on the front row and led at mid-race, only for problems with the gearboxes on both cars to lose the team their lead. Bob Wollek
and Alessandro Nannini at least proved the potential reliability of the LC2 by completing the full race distance and finishing in eighth position. The team took a brief hiatus after Brands Hatch, returning for Imola once again but they were unable to repeat their previous performance, both cars crashing out. Lancia once again skipped Fuji
, returning for Kyalami where they took a 1-2 finish. Although the LC2 earned its second win, none of the major Porsche teams attended the event. Unable to challenge further for the Constructors or Drivers Championships, the team did not attend the final round of the year. Although the cars were fast, over the year Autocourse
concluded that the team had had so many different problems that poor preparation must be the cause.
was a year in which Martini Racing needed to show the potential winning capabilities of the LC2 in order for Lancia to continue to fund a project that had seen limited success thus far. The cars were further revised and were running on Michelin
radial tyres. The season opened with an LC2 taking pole position at Mugello by 1.7 seconds ahead of the factory Porsche. Although the pole position car's engine did not last, the other team car finished fourth. For the 1000 km of Monza, the LC2s were nearly four seconds ahead of the closest Porsche in qualifying, and led the race early on. However, while Patrese and Nannini were in third place and on the same lap as the leaders, a tree fell across the track and caused the race to be stopped early. On pole once again at Silverstone, one of the LC2s was in the lead of the race until a wheel bearing
failure in the closing laps forced Nannini to pit, forfeiting the lead. Although the LC2s did not take pole at Le Mans
, they lead the race early. Reliability issues again forced the team to drop out of the lead. They eventually finished the race in sixth and seventh places. A fuel pump failure also dropped the team out of contention at the Hockenheimring
.
The team was competitive throughout the race at Spa, with the LC2 of Wollek, Patrese, and Mauro Baldi
leading the factory Porsche towards the end of the event. The Lancia were leading when the race organisers chose to end the race out of respect for driver Stefan Bellof
who had been killed in an accident earlier in the event. Even with the shortened race, Lancia were able to celebrate their first victory over the factory Rothmans Porsche team. The following event, the 1000 km of Brands Hatch, saw the LC2s leading en route to a potential win, only to hit one another and finish third and fourth. Once again unable to challenge Porsche in the championships, Lancia chose not to participate in the final two rounds. However they still earned second in the Teams Championship, just ahead of the privateer Joest Racing
Porsche.
, but only as a one-car effort. The year opened with a sprint event at Monza, with the speed of the LC2 allowing it to take second place, less than a minute behind the winning Rothmans Porsche. The first endurance event at Silverstone however saw a return of the LC2's reliability problems, as the fuel pump failed and the car was unable to finish. Feeling the cars were still not reliable enough nor fuel efficient enough to compete with the evolved Porsche 962
C, Lancia determined that the project was no longer worth supporting, and Martini Racing pulled out of the championship. Lancia turned their full attention instead to their efforts in the World Rally Championship
.
, but the outcome was the same. Even into 1991, the Veneto Equipe team turned to the LC2 to contend the World Sportscar Championship. As with all previous privateer efforts the car was unable to compete, failing to even qualify for some of the races, let alone finish them.
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
and powered by engines built by their sister company Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
. They were part of Lancia's official factory-backed effort in the World Sportscar Championship
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
from 1983
1983 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1983 World Sports Championship season was the 31st season of FIA “World Sportscar Championship” motor racing. It featured the 1983 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested by Group C Sports Cars, Group C Junior Sports Cars and Group B GT Cars in a seven race series which ran from...
to 1986
1986 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship season was the 34th FIA World Sportscar Championship season. It was a series running under the Group C formula, running cars in two classes known as C1 and C2. An invitational GTP class was also run for IMSA-spec cars...
, although they continued to be used by privateer teams until 1991. They were also the company's first car meeting the FIA's new Group C
Group C
Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
regulations for sports prototype
Sports prototype
A sports prototype, also referred to as simply a prototype, is a form of racing car that is used as a top category in sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars differ from street-legal and production-based racing cars that also compete in sports car racing.Prototype racing cars have...
s.
More powerful than its primary competitor, the Porsche 956
Porsche 956
The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship...
, the LC2s were able to secure multiple pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
s during their three and a half seasons with the factory Martini Racing
Martini Racing
Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968...
squad. However, reliability and more notably fuel consumption hampered the LC2's efforts for race wins against Porsche. LC2s earned three race victories over their lifetime in the hands of Italian drivers Teo Fabi
Teo Fabi
Teodorico Fabi , better known as Teo Fabi, is an Italian former racing driver.-Career:Fabi participated in 71 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on January 23, 1982. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 23 championship points...
, Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...
, Alessandro Nannini
Alessandro Nannini
Alessandro "Sandro" Nannini is a former racing driver from Italy. He is the younger brother of rock-singer Gianna Nannini.-Biography:...
, and Mauro Baldi
Mauro Baldi
Mauro Baldi is an Italian former Formula One driver who raced for the Arrows, Alfa Romeo and Spirit teams.He started his career in rallying in 1972 and turned to circuit racing in 1975 with the Italian Renault 5 Cup...
, as well as German Hans Heyer
Hans Heyer
Hans Heyer is a racing driver from Wegberg, the site of the Grenzlandring, a former high speed race track oval...
and Frenchman Bob Wollek
Bob Wollek
Bob Wollek , nicknamed "Brilliant Bob", was a race car driver from Strasbourg, France. He was killed on March 16, 2001 at age 57 in a road accident in Florida while riding a bicycle back to his accommodation after the day's practice sessions for the following day's race, the 12 Hours of...
.
Development
In 1982, the new Group CGroup C
Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
regulations were introduced to the World Championship. This rule set required teams to use coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
-style cars that had to be able to meet a fuel economy
Fuel economy in automobiles
Fuel usage in automobiles refers to the fuel efficiency relationship between distance traveled by an automobile and the amount of fuel consumed....
standard mandated at 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) for every 60 litres (15.9 US gal) of fuel. The Lancia LC1
Lancia LC1
The Lancia LC1 was a sports car run by Lancia under the Group 6 regulations in the World Sportscar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1982 to 1983...
, which had been built to the older Group 6 regulations, initially competed in 1982, but had to be replaced in order for Lancia to earn constructors' points in the World Championship, now open to Group C cars only in 1983. Besides the fact that the LC1 had an open-cockpit, the turbocharged straight-4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
Lancia engine it had used was not capable of achieving the fuel economy necessary in the new Group C regulations, requiring Lancia to also seek a new powerplant. Under the direction of Cesare Fiorio
Cesare Fiorio
Cesare Fiorio is a former Formula One sporting director for Ferrari, Ligier and Minardi, and former team manager of Lancia's factory World Rally Championship team. He is currently employed as a TV commentator...
, Lancia began to work on the LC1's replacement.
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
, they were able to seek the assistance of fellow Fiat company Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
. Ferrari allowed Lancia to adapt the new naturally aspirated 3 litres (183 cu in) four valve V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
which had been introduced in the Ferrari 308 GTB
Ferrari 308 GTB
The Ferrari 308 GTB are mid-engined sports cars manufactured by the Italian company Ferrari in the 1970s-1980s. They made up the lower end of the company's range...
i QV in 1982. The engine was reduced in capacity to 2.6 litres (159 cu in) and two KKK turbochargers were added to help the engine provide the fuel economy and power necessary. The specific engine displacement was chosen because of the possibility of using the same engine in the North American CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
series. The engine was initially connected to a Hewland
Hewland
Founded by Mike Hewland in 1957, Hewland is a British engineering company specialising in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland was the first company to manufacture a bespoke racing-car gearbox....
five-speed manual gearbox, which was replaced by an Abarth-cased unit in 1984.
Design work on the chassis was split between Italian specialist racing car manufacturers Abarth
Abarth
Abarth is an Italian racing car maker founded by Austrian-Italian Carlo Abarth and Italian Armando Scagliarini in Turin in 1949. Its logo depicts a stylized scorpion on a red and yellow background.- History :...
and Dallara
Dallara
Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...
, the latter of which built the aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
and the kevlar
Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
and carbon fibre
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
bodywork in their factory. The LC2 featured a large intake for the radiator
Radiator
Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in automobiles, buildings, and electronics...
s in the center of the nose of the car just as the LC1 had, unlike the contemporary Porsche 956
Porsche 956
The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship...
s which drew all their air from behind and to the sides of the cockpit. This air was also directed through the side bodywork to feed the intercooler
Intercooler
An intercooler , or charge air cooler, is an air-to-air or air-to-liquid heat exchange device used on turbocharged and supercharged internal combustion engines to improve their volumetric efficiency by increasing intake air charge density through nearly isobaric cooling, which removes...
s for the turbochargers. Inlets for the rear brake cooling ducts were also integrated onto the side bodywork of the car, immediately behind the doors. At the rear, a pontoon
Pontoon fenders
Pontoon fenders are a type of automobile fender.Originally the term referred to a design prevalent in the United States in the 1930s where front fenders encased a wheel and terminated in a teardrop point, remaining distinct from the running boards or the body of the car...
-style design was adapted to the fenders with the large wing bridging across the pontoons. The rear diffusers
Diffuser (automotive)
A diffuser, in an automotive context, is a shaped section of the car underbody which improves the car's aerodynamic properties by enhancing the transition between the high-velocity airflow underneath the car and the much slower freestream airflow of the ambient atmosphere...
exited between the pontoons and underneath the wing.
The LC2s were modified over their lifetime, with a multitude of modifications being made each season to the cars' aerodynamics, including adapting brake duct inlets beneath the headlights. The Ferrari V8 was modified in 1984, bringing the displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
back up to 3.0-litres in an attempt to increase reliability and horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
while improved engine electronics
Engine control unit
An engine control unit is a type of electronic control unit that determines the amount of fuel, ignition timing and other parameters an internal combustion engine needs to keep running...
from Magneti Marelli allowed the larger engine to use the same amount of fuel as the previous version. In total, seven LC2s were built under the direction of Lancia, while a further two were built for Gianni Mussato without official backing after the program had ended.
1983
The LC2s made their debut at the beginning of the 1983 season1983 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1983 World Sports Championship season was the 31st season of FIA “World Sportscar Championship” motor racing. It featured the 1983 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested by Group C Sports Cars, Group C Junior Sports Cars and Group B GT Cars in a seven race series which ran from...
, being run under the Martini Racing
Martini Racing
Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968...
name and painted in the Martini & Rossi
Martini & Rossi
Martini & Rossi is an Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company primarily associated with the Martini brand of vermouth and also with sparkling wine . It also produces the French vermouth, Noilly Prat.-History:...
colors, as well as initially using Italian Pirelli
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. SpA is a diverse multinational company based in Milan, Italy. The company, the world’s fifth largest tyre manufacturer, is present in over 160 countries, has 20 manufacturing sites around the world and a network of around 10,000 distributors and retailers.Founded in Milan in 1872,...
radial tyres. The first race of the season was also Lancia's home event, the 1000 km of Monza. The LC2 proved more powerful than the 956s, taking the pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
by nearly a second over Joest Racing
Joest Racing
Joest Racing is a racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest...
's 956. However tyre problems took the leading Lancia out of the lead of the race, and the second team car finished twelve laps behind the winning 956.
Dunlop Tyres
Dunlop Tyres is a British company owned 75% by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and 25% by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which bought the right to sell Dunlop-branded road tyres....
crossply tyres, although the car's suspension had been optimised for the Italian product. Neither car managed to finish a race again until the fifth round, the 1000 km of Spa. There the two Martini Racing LC2s as well as the privateer Mirabella LC2 all finished, but only after suffering various difficulties that dropped them from contention earlier in the race. The LC2s finally ran reliably at the European Endurance Championship round at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
, where Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto was an Italian racing driver. He is famous for finishing runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races...
and Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...
finished fourth. Lancia chose not to participate in the World Sportscar event in Japan, instead running the European Endurance event at Imola
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is an auto racing circuit near the Italian town of Imola, east of Bologna and east of the Ferrari factory in Maranello....
. The choice paid off as Teo Fabi
Teo Fabi
Teodorico Fabi , better known as Teo Fabi, is an Italian former racing driver.-Career:Fabi participated in 71 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on January 23, 1982. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 23 championship points...
and Hans Heyer
Hans Heyer
Hans Heyer is a racing driver from Wegberg, the site of the Grenzlandring, a former high speed race track oval...
earned the LC2 its first victory, although the factory Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
team had not participated in this event. Lancia finished off the season with back-to-back second place finishes at Mugello
Mugello Circuit
Mugello Circuit is a race track in the Mugello region of Italy near Florence. Its length is . It has 15 turns and a long straight.Grand Prix motorcycle racing host an annual event here . Also, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters hold an annual event. The track is property of Scuderia Ferrari which...
and Kyalami
Kyalami
Kyalami is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng province, South Africa. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has hosted the South African Grand Prix many times. In recent years, the area surrounding the circuit has developed into a residential and...
. Even with their difficulties Lancia took second place in the World Constructors Championship, although they earned only 32 points to Porsche's 100.
1984
The revised LC2s appeared once again at the 1000 km of Monza to start the 1984 season1984 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1984 World Endurance Championship season was the 32nd FIA World Sportscar Championship season. It was a series running under the Group C and Group B formulas, running cars in three classes known as C1, C2, and B...
, with suspension redesigned to work with the Dunlop tyres. Lancia opened the season with a podium finish, followed by another pole position at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
which led to a fourth place finish. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1984 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 52nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 – 17 June 1984. It was also the third round of the World Endurance Championship....
, both cars qualified on the front row and led at mid-race, only for problems with the gearboxes on both cars to lose the team their lead. Bob Wollek
Bob Wollek
Bob Wollek , nicknamed "Brilliant Bob", was a race car driver from Strasbourg, France. He was killed on March 16, 2001 at age 57 in a road accident in Florida while riding a bicycle back to his accommodation after the day's practice sessions for the following day's race, the 12 Hours of...
and Alessandro Nannini at least proved the potential reliability of the LC2 by completing the full race distance and finishing in eighth position. The team took a brief hiatus after Brands Hatch, returning for Imola once again but they were unable to repeat their previous performance, both cars crashing out. Lancia once again skipped Fuji
Fuji Speedway
is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...
, returning for Kyalami where they took a 1-2 finish. Although the LC2 earned its second win, none of the major Porsche teams attended the event. Unable to challenge further for the Constructors or Drivers Championships, the team did not attend the final round of the year. Although the cars were fast, over the year Autocourse
Autocourse
AUTOCOURSE, or Autocourse, is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible.-History:...
concluded that the team had had so many different problems that poor preparation must be the cause.
1985
19851985 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1985 World Sportscar Championship season was the 33rd season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1985 World Endurance Championship which was contested over a series of races for Group C1 and Group C2 Prototypes, Group B GT Cars and IMSA GTP cars...
was a year in which Martini Racing needed to show the potential winning capabilities of the LC2 in order for Lancia to continue to fund a project that had seen limited success thus far. The cars were further revised and were running on Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
radial tyres. The season opened with an LC2 taking pole position at Mugello by 1.7 seconds ahead of the factory Porsche. Although the pole position car's engine did not last, the other team car finished fourth. For the 1000 km of Monza, the LC2s were nearly four seconds ahead of the closest Porsche in qualifying, and led the race early on. However, while Patrese and Nannini were in third place and on the same lap as the leaders, a tree fell across the track and caused the race to be stopped early. On pole once again at Silverstone, one of the LC2s was in the lead of the race until a wheel bearing
Bearing (mechanical)
A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can...
failure in the closing laps forced Nannini to pit, forfeiting the lead. Although the LC2s did not take pole at Le Mans
1985 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 53rd Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the fourth round of the 1985 World Endurance Championship. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, France, on June 15 and 16 1985....
, they lead the race early. Reliability issues again forced the team to drop out of the lead. They eventually finished the race in sixth and seventh places. A fuel pump failure also dropped the team out of contention at the Hockenheimring
Hockenheimring
The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is an automobile racing track situated near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it biennially hosts the Formula One German Grand Prix...
.
Mauro Baldi
Mauro Baldi is an Italian former Formula One driver who raced for the Arrows, Alfa Romeo and Spirit teams.He started his career in rallying in 1972 and turned to circuit racing in 1975 with the Italian Renault 5 Cup...
leading the factory Porsche towards the end of the event. The Lancia were leading when the race organisers chose to end the race out of respect for driver Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof was a racing driver who is famous for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration, at the Nürburgring, setting the time in a Porsche 956 in 1983...
who had been killed in an accident earlier in the event. Even with the shortened race, Lancia were able to celebrate their first victory over the factory Rothmans Porsche team. The following event, the 1000 km of Brands Hatch, saw the LC2s leading en route to a potential win, only to hit one another and finish third and fourth. Once again unable to challenge Porsche in the championships, Lancia chose not to participate in the final two rounds. However they still earned second in the Teams Championship, just ahead of the privateer Joest Racing
Joest Racing
Joest Racing is a racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest...
Porsche.
1986
Seeing some remaining potential in the LC2, Lancia allowed the project to continue into 19861986 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship season was the 34th FIA World Sportscar Championship season. It was a series running under the Group C formula, running cars in two classes known as C1 and C2. An invitational GTP class was also run for IMSA-spec cars...
, but only as a one-car effort. The year opened with a sprint event at Monza, with the speed of the LC2 allowing it to take second place, less than a minute behind the winning Rothmans Porsche. The first endurance event at Silverstone however saw a return of the LC2's reliability problems, as the fuel pump failed and the car was unable to finish. Feeling the cars were still not reliable enough nor fuel efficient enough to compete with the evolved Porsche 962
Porsche 962
The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had...
C, Lancia determined that the project was no longer worth supporting, and Martini Racing pulled out of the championship. Lancia turned their full attention instead to their efforts in the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
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Privateers
Privateer teams initially attempted to carry on with older LC2 chassis. Gianni Mussato unsuccessfully entered two races in 1986 before leaving the championship, returning for one-off appearances in 1987 and 1988. The Mussato car moved to Dollop Racing later in 1988, where it was again unsuccessful and failed to finish any of the races that season. Mussato returned in 1989 with a newly built LC2, but once again the car struggled to finish any races during the season. His team made a final attempt in 1990, running just the 24 Hours of Le Mans1990 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 58th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 16 and 17 1990.-Pre-race:This was the first race after the installation of two chicanes along the Mulsanne Straight in an attempt to slow the prototypes down after speeds of were reached in previous...
, but the outcome was the same. Even into 1991, the Veneto Equipe team turned to the LC2 to contend the World Sportscar Championship. As with all previous privateer efforts the car was unable to compete, failing to even qualify for some of the races, let alone finish them.
External links
- World Sports Racing Prototypes - Lancia Chassis Numbers
- Gurney Flap - 1985 Lancia LC2 interior and exterior photos and history.