{"id":4536,"date":"2022-08-23T17:09:18","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T17:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=4536"},"modified":"2022-08-23T17:11:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T17:11:28","slug":"40-years-of-porsche-group-c-bernd-schneider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taziomagazine.com\/?p=4536","title":{"rendered":"40 years of Porsche Group C: Bernd Schneider 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<\/a> later, we look back in a series with Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Bernd Schneider. Today, part 3: Bernd Schneider.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s this guy in Mercedes overalls doing here? Testifying what a great car Porsche 962 still was when it neared the end of its career. Bernd Schneider (58) is still a rookie compared to the other ambassadors, but there is no denying the German-built an impressive career as a five-time DTM champion, all with Mercedes. No one did better. From 226 starts in the DTM, he scored 43 victories. Again, a record that still holds today. And of course, Schneider was a certainty in Mercedes endurance program with the CLK GTR. Even today, he remains an ambassador for Mercedes. Hence the overalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Kremer calls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Less well known is Bernd Schneider\u2019s history with the Porsche 962. The German was at one point a semi-works driver, after Erwin Kremer and the 962 had come to his rescue when his career was stalling. \u201cI was in Formula 1 with Zakspeed in 1988. It wasn\u2019t the happiest of times for me, we did not qualify often. In 1989, the Yamaha Zakspeed project was underway, but by then I had last faith. I was trying to quit, but Erich Zakowski wouldn\u2019t let me. I was on three-year contract, he reminded me. And then in March, the whole Zakspeed operation folded. Naturally, all the other seats were gone by then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cThat\u2019s when the call from Kremer came. Kremer was one of the famous privateer teams running Porsches in Group C. Kremer Porsche had suffered a couple of severe accidents with Manfred Winkelhock and Jo Gartner. But I found a great team, and Erwin Kremer really had it in for me. On top of that, the Porsche 962 perfectly suited my driving style. Because of my Formula 1-experience, Porsche asked me to do some test work with the Porsche-engined Footwork Arrows F1, making me half a factory driver.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

More downforce than F1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Porsche 962 by the end of the eighties was no longer the dominating force. But it was still a fast car, with up to 900 hp on tap. I really enjoyed driving it. As my teammates were a bit slower than me, they were the ones doing the fuel-saving and I could go for it (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

I hit a top-speed of 221 mph on the straight, the first ever to do so at the Glen<\/p>Bernd Schneider<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Schneider was surprised by some aspects of the Porsche 962. \u201cWe did not have the same downforce in Formula 1. When I took the Eau Rouge corner in Spa in the 962, I could do it flat-out. That didn\u2019t happen in a Formula 1. It was not easy, but the car gave you the confidence to do it. The experience I had with aerodynamics and the locked differential in the 962 helped me. In the slow corners, it was a matter of hanging on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Cracking 221 mph at the Glen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1990, Schneider drove one of the carbon chassis 962s Thompson Industries had built on behalf of Kremer. He managed to score fourth in the WEC-round in Montreal, and win an Interseries race in Most with it. For 1991, Schneider moved to the Joest team. With a Porsche 962C, he participated in the IMSA championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if the tracks were dangerous, I loved driving in the USA. One of my best memories in the 962 came at Watkins Glen, where I took pole position. But it wasn\u2019t so much that I took pole that made people come to me. On my fastest lap, I had hit a top speed of 221 mph (353 kph) on the straight, the first ever to do so at the Glen. People came up to me to say: \u2018So you\u2019re the guy who clocked 221 mph on the straight?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Tangling with Reuter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next to the IMSA championship, Schneider also competed in the Interseries. In 1991, he would be crowned champion. \u201cI had a great fight with Manuel Reuter at Zeltweg in Austria, where I had bagged pole position with an average speed of 248 kph (155 mph). Manuel and I touched in the race and did two 360-degrees spins. Manuel cut a tyre in the process, I went on to take victory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1993, Bernd Schneider appeared one last time in a Joest-entered Porsche 956 at Sebring. But by now his DTM campaign with Mercedes was going full-steam ahead. Without Porsche, it\u2019s questionable if Schneider\u2019s career would have looked the same.<\/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":4548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[650,110],"tags":[651,675,679,677,681,680,676,119,683,137,376,678,682],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-4536","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-bernd-schneider","tag-erich-zakowski","tag-erwin-kremer","tag-interseries","tag-joest","tag-kremer-porsche","tag-le-mans","tag-manuel-reuter","tag-porsche","tag-watkins-glen","tag-zakspeed","tag-zeltweg","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t