Lancia LC2 — BrandWiki

The Lancia LC2 (sometimes referred to as the Lancia-Ferrari) 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 prototypes.[1]

More powerful than their primary competition, the Porsche 956s, the LC2s were able to secure multiple pole positions during their three and a half seasons with the factory Martini Racing squad. However, deficiencies in reliability and fuel consumption hampered the LC2s' efforts for race wins against the Porsches. LC2s earned three race victories over their lifetimes 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.

Development

In 1982, the new Group C 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 km for every 60 L of fuel.[2] 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.[3] Besides the fact that the LC1 had an open-cockpit, the turbocharged straight-four 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.[4] 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

Racing history

1983

The LC2s made their debut at the beginning of the 1983 season, being run under the Martini Racing name and painted in the Martini & Rossi colours, as well as initially using Italian Pirelli radial tyres.[1] 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.[18] 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

External links

ランチア・LC1

World Sports Racing Prototypes - Lancia Chassis Numbers
Gurney Flap - 1985 Lancia LC2 interior and exterior photos and history.

References

Lancia LC2 - Into the Lion's Den Auto Italia, August 2004, retrieved 2007-12-04^
An Encapsulated History of Sports Car Racing Mulsanne's Corner, retrieved 2008-03-25^
Lancia LC1 Group 6 Spider 1982 Racing Vintage, retrieved 2008-03-28^

1984

The revised LC2s appeared once again at the 1000 km of Monza to start the 1984 season, with suspension redesigned to work with the Dunlop tyres.[1] Lancia opened the season with a podium finish,[21] followed by another pole position on the fast Silverstone Circuit for the 1000 km of Silverstone led to a fourth-place finish.[21] For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, both cars qualified on the front row in the absence of the Rothmans Porsche team, with Bob Wollek's pole time of 3:17.11 being some 11 seconds faster than the fastest Porsche 956's from Joest Racing who occupied the second row. Wollek and Nannini led at mid-race after battles with the Kremer Porsche of Vern Schuppan (the defending race winner) and Alan Jones, only for problems with the gearboxes on both cars to lose the team their lead.[1] Wollek and Nannini at least proved the potential reliability of the LC2 by completing the full race distance and finishing in eighth position, with Nannini setting the races fastest lap of 3:28.90.[21] The team also ran a private entry LC2 in the race for drivers Pierluigi Martini, Xavier Lapeyre and Beppe Gabbiani. This car crashed heavily in qualifying, with most observers believing it would require a new chassis to be repaired. As changing a chassis was prohibited by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the car was repaired in time to qualify and race, though rumours persisted that Lancia had broken the rules and used a new chassis to replace the original.

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 in Japan, returning for the South African round at Kyalami where Patrese and Nannini led home a 1-2 finish.[21] Although the LC2 earned its second win, none of the leading Porsche teams attended the event in protest of the countries Apartheid laws. Unable to challenge further for the Constructors or Drivers Championships, the team did not attend the final round of the year at Sandown Park in Melbourne, Australia. 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.[12]

1985

1985 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.[1] 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.[22] For the 1000 km of Monza, the LC2s were nearly four seconds ahead of the closest Porsche in qualifying,[22] 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.[1] 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.[22] Although the LC2s did not take pole at Le Mans, they led 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.[22] A fuel pump failure also dropped the team out of contention at the Hockenheimring.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] 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.