{"id":4329,"date":"2022-08-18T19:17:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T19:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=4329"},"modified":"2022-08-19T15:38:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T15:38:11","slug":"40-years-of-porsche-group-c-jochen-mass-looks-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=4329","title":{"rendered":"40 years of Porsche Group C: Jochen Mass looks back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1982, Porsche embarked on one of its most successful adventures in racing. With the 952 and the 962, Porsche would utterly dominate Group C (and IMSA) racing. Forty years later, we look back in a series with Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Bernd Schneider. Today, part 1: Jochen Mass.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jochen Mass (75) never won Le Mans with Porsche. For that, he had to wait until 1989, with Sauber Mercedes. What he did do with Porsche, was win nine races in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the 956\/962<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He won more, Mass was a Porsche factory driver from 1976 on, but we are only looking at the 956 and 962 here. In fact, his dominance was so overwhelming that he and his partner Jacky Ickx simply became known as MIX. This was also how they were noted on the signalling boards on the pit wall. Their teammates Derek Bell and Hans-Joachim Stuck had the better call sign \u2013 BEST \u2013 but inferior results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last time prototypes raced at the Nordschleife, Group C 1982. Winners: Ickx\/Mass aka MIX. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mass helped Jacky Ickx take the drivers\u2019 world championship title in the WEC in 1982 and in 1983. Jochen Mass himself missed out on the title because at times Porsche mixed the crews, and Ickx had better results on these occasions. But in short, in the WEC, MIX was the dominant combination in the first two years of Group C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing Rothmans on board<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps even more important: it was Jochen Mass who got Rothmans on the Porsches. The German driver caught word that Rothmans \u2013 back then sponsor of the Opel rally team in the world championship \u2013 was investigating an entry in the WEC with Lola. He quickly connected the management of the cigarette brand with the management at Porsche. And that\u2019s how iconic liveries get created. Mass himself also was sponsored by Rothmans in his March Formula 1 in the 1982 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cracking jokes with Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere did the corner go?\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first time we drove the Porsche 956 was at Le Castellet in the beginning of 1982,\u201d Mass recalls. \u201cFirst I drove the Porsche 936, until Norbert Singer said: \u2018Enough of that, let\u2019s get you out in the new car. The 956 had so much downforce, suddenly Le Castellet felt like a different circuit to me. After the pits, you had a fast S combination. In the 936, you had to stay focused to get it right. But in the 956, it was simply flat out. As if the corner just wasn\u2019t there. And I felt like this in other corners as well, to a point where I started asking myself: \u2018What circuit am I on here?\u2019. Corners I knew no longer seemed to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Le Mans 1982, scrutineering. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1-2-3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first big test for the 956 came at Le Mans in June. In the race, Porsche would find itself taking the whole podium, in the order of the cars numbered 1-2-3 no less. Of course, Mass found himself in car #2. It would be his best result in the Porsche Group C era. \u201cThe thing is, I never liked Le Mans,\u201d he admits. In 1983, he had a DNF, in 1984 Porsche pulled out the factory entries. 1985 brought 10th place. 1986 brought an accident at 3 in the morning and in 1987 he had to retire early with engine damage in the car he shared with Bob Wollek and Vern Schuppan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jochen Mass at Porsche test track in Leipzig for 40 years Porsche Group C. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Corners I knew no longer seemed to be there<\/p>Jochen Mass<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Jochen Mass always showed extraordinary character. To begin with, his way into racing followed an unusual path. Mass was in the merchant navy for three years before applying with a German Alfa Romeo dealer who also ran a race team. Mass started as a mechanic and impressed with his driving skills\u2026 in the team truck. This led to his first competitive outings in hill climbs in Alfa Romeos. In 1971, Jochen Neerpasch recruited him for Ford\u2019s touring car program. By 1976, he had a works contract with Porsche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DRM champion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1985, Mass had his busiest year in prototype racing. Next to the works drives in the WEC, he was competing with Joest in a 956 in the DRM, the German racing championship. Mass would win the championship that year in the Blaupunkt-sponsored Porsche. He also competed in some races in the IMSA championship in a Busby-entered Porsche 962. Highlight was third place at the Daytona 24 Hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never had to worry about fitness, these cars were so easy to drive,\u201d Mass states. \u201cMonaco in a Formula 1, that was a challenge. But these Porsches were designed for long distances. The seats were padded and I\u2019d even say there was a certain level of comfort. They were fabulous to drive over a long distance. At first, we still raced with just two drivers at Le Mans, but it became clear that we were evolving towards a three driver-situation which would become the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Distrusting carbon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One thing Mass remembers clearly: \u201cThe aluminium monocoques tended to lose stiffness as the miles piled up. This caused some jealousy among the factory crews who got which chassis to compete with. But we had the best technology available at the time. Carbon was appearing, but people were wary at the time. There had been some incidents with carbon in Formula 1 with Lotus, which caused some distrust in this new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norbert Singer adds: \u201cWe did consider carbon at the time. The problem was, the racing and development department at Porsche was still a small department at the time. We simply did not have the people to investigate both options properly. On top of that, carbon demanded a lot of infrastructure. So, we settled upon the aluminium monocoque.\u201d Carbon came later in the life of the 962 with some privately run Group C cars. \u201cI remember it made the cars much more uncomfortable,\u201d Mass says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What a team: Bellof, Bell, Mass, Ickx, Schuppan and Watson in 1984. Photo Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Incredible time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 1987, Porsche let Mass go. Mercedes quickly called and offered him a seat in their Group C project, which would lead to a Le Mans win in 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the end, me and Jacky, we teamed up for eleven years with Porsche. Looking back on the Group C period, I can only say the 956 and 962 have been splendid for all their life, which is rather incredible. Norbert Singer did an excellent job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the 952 and the 962, Porsche would dominate Group C. Forty years on, we look back with Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Bernd Schneider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[650,110],"tags":[651,180,652,155,655,119,654,137,425,426,653],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-4329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epic-stories","category-stories-racing-and-rally","tag-40-years-of-porsche-group-c","tag-daytona","tag-drm","tag-group-c","tag-imsa","tag-le-mans","tag-norbert-singer","tag-porsche","tag-porsche-956","tag-porsche-962","tag-rothmans","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/MASS01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4329"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4426,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329\/revisions\/4426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4329"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fthb-sponsors&post=4329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}