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OC: Hi everyone. I've decided to make a serious effort to a TL, based on motorsport. There aren't many TLs there (Except for the superb TL by TheMann), so I decided to add one on my own. This one is mainly about the now-defunct World Sportscar Championship, which prevails ITTL.


Prologue:

The FIA-based Group C regulations for the World Sportscar Championship proved to be very popular, not only with the manufacturers, but also with the fans. World Sportscar events had sometimes more attendance than contemporary Formula One Grand Prixs, and the Le Mans 24 Hours became the yearly highlight of the motorsport season. During this era, some of the fastest sportscars ever built raced on tracks around the globe, such as the Porsche 956/962 or the Jaguar sportscars. These cars were often powered by small, turbocharged engines that were able to produce up to 1000 bhp. Even though the fuel consumption rules for the WSC restricted the use of full horsepower, the numbers were still impressive.

In 1989 then, the FIA decided the switch to single engine formula. From 1990 on, 3,5l-engine that were naturally aspirated (Similar to those in Formula One) became mandatory. But the development of the new cars didn’t quite catch on yet. The only manufacturer to develop a car for 1990 was Peugeot, with their Peugeot 905. Other manufacturers such as Jaguar, Mercedes or Porsche were hesitant, especially since the German manufacturers had plans to enter Formula One. Since both the Formula One and the World Sportscar Championship were to use the same engine formula, the manufacturers had to decide on which horse they were going to bet.

Mercedes decided to develop a new Group C-racer, but with a 5l-turbo, instead of a new engine. Since the old Group C-cars were eligible for 1990 (And also for 1991), this was not a big problem. But it also meant that Mercedes had to develop a new 3,5l-car sooner or later. If they were going to stay in the World Sportscar Championship at all...
Porsche on the other hand had direct ambitions for a Formula One entry. Rumours said that they were going to team up with the Footwork-team. Plans to build an engine were already under way, but all in a sudden the Porsche board of directors nixed the Formula One program.[1] They argued that Porsche couldn’t really afford a Formula One program, when the company was in financial dire straits. But there was an engine in development after all, which wasn’t supposed to collect dust. So with the new WSC-regulations in mind, they decided to modify their “Porsche 3512” for the use in the World Sportscar, and probably also the IMSA GT Championship.

While the 1990 season was underway, the Porsche 3512 was finished and ready for testing. But practical problems arose. The engine didn’t quite fit into a Porsche 962. So the cars had to be modified too. But the question was, would Porsche grant additional funds for the modification of the 962’s? Yes they would, but the Porsche board made clear that there wouldn’t be a works entry into the WSC. Instead, the new 962’s were solely for customers. There were in fact many privateer teams, which used Porsche prototypes. Joest Racing, Kremer Racing, Brun Motorsport and many more were already using Porsches in various championships. When they heard about the new prototype coming from Porsche, they were delighted and started ordering these. Even though the 3,5l-version of the Porsche 962 (called the “962/91”) was not cheap, most teams had enough sponsorship money to afford the new sports-prototype.

By winter 1990, the Porsche 962/91 was finished. It had a new 3,5l-engine, and since fuel consumption was no longer an issue (3,5l-cars weren’t limited on fuel consumption), this car also featured improved aerodynamics. Even though the front featured a normal front splitter, the rear featured a large, twin-tier rear wing. The purpose of the wing was simply to increase downforce, and to make the 962 competitive against the prototypes of Mercedes (Who decided to build a new 3,5l-sportscar), Jaguar and Peugeot. The 962 was after all more than six years old. The initial testing at the Hockenheimring proved to be successful, with test driver Bernd Schneider giving the car a positive feedback. Even though the car wasn’t really fast on the straights (yet), the car proved to be incredibly steadfast in corners and chicanes. And since most European circuits featured many corners and such, this was a huge advantage for the 962/91. While the car could be lucky if it manages to complete the full 24 hours in Le Mans (Porsche technicians already admitted, that the engine had to be improved over 1991), it certainly could complete a normal World Sportscar round over 500 kilometres. And with Joest, Kremer and Brun buying the 962/91, the 1991 World Sportscar Championship saw a new (or rather old) major player returning on the front bench...

[1]That’s the POD of my ATL. Porsche decides to nix its F1 program, instead of entering F1 as IOTL.
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