Porsche WSC-95/LMP1-98
The Porsche WSC-95 was a Le Mans Prototype built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing for Porsche and run by Joest Racing.
The origin of the car comes from the chassis Jaguar XJR-14 Tom Walkinshaw had at his disposal and never ran in 1992. Then these were modified to run in the IMSA GT Championship, the cabin was removed to comply with the regulations of the WSC category. For the Type-935 engine turbo was used from the 935]] 80s it was more powerful than its contemporaries. Unfortunately for WSC regulations changed in 1995 and Porsche canceled the project. Reihold Joest Porsche persuaded to give him the prototype to your computer and run them at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the approval of Porsche Joest invested in building a second car in addition to slight modifications of existing regulations to meet an LMP1. Porsche agreed to assist with the development of the car if Joest paid services. After the success of the WSC-95 Le Mans victories in 1996 and 1997, Porsche took Project. Both chassis were many revisions to the bodywork. Type 935 engine was also updated to 3.2 liters uploading. Now as an official project, the cars were named as Porsche LMP1-98.
Both WSC-95 were completed just in time for Joest Racing in the test session of Le Mans in May. The car showed its pace marking the fifth and tenth best times, easily beating the Porsche 911 GT1 official. Weeks later, showed his attributes when the # 8 marked the pole position and the # 7 was seventh. While the 911 GT1 had its points taking the fourth and fifth. During the race # 7 led most of the race followed by the 911 GT1 officers. The # 8 succumbed to mechanical problems caused by a crash within hours of the end. Finally the # 7 Davy Jones, Alexander Wurz and Manuel Reuter victory followed by a 911 GT1 lap took advantage.
Stefan Johansson driving a Porsche WSC 95.
Originally Joest Racing was going to run just to Le Mans in 1996, but decided to return for 1997 with a car. Before Le Mans decided to run on the opening day of the International Sports Racing Series at Donington Park, where they dominated. Returning to Le Mans showed his pace once again and took pole position. While still competing against the 911 GT1 officers as the Mclaren F1 GTR, Nissan who had entered and were eager to carry the victory general. Not like last year the 911 GT1 suffered problems both official and private. The end came in a close fight between the Mclaren F1 GTRs and WSC-95 Joest Racing once again taking the victory by a lap. Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen won this time. Now realizing the potential of the old WSC-95 against their 911 GT1, Porsche improved chassis taking them both to new and more competitive LMP1-98. Unfortunately at the time, not just trying to improve their Porsche 911 GT1 and LMP1-98, but were also new Nissan and Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and BMW rivals. They continued running with Joest Racing and showed that his pace was now low against new competitors, taking ninth place in the qualifier. In the race despite the LMP1-98 showed its pace, did not survive the career total. The first suffered electronic problems after 107 turns while the second body part broke for a spin and was unable to continue after 218 laps.
One last appearance was in the Petit Le Mans in the United States. Along with a 911 GT1, both cars showed great performance but the LMP1-98 that would achieve the second place was beaten by a Ferrari 333 SP with seconds left in the 10 hour race.
The LMP1-98 was retired after 1998, Porsche planned to build a Le Mans prototype for 2000. Subsequently Porsche was canceled and did not return to prototype racing until 2005 with the debut of the Porsche RS Spyder.