Tracking down a pair of classic endurance racers in Australia
It's not often you stumble across even just one Porsche from those glory days when the Stuttgart marque ruled the world of sports car racing, to come across two under one roof – in Australia – suggested to Richard Holdsworth it might just be his lucky day
The legendry 956 and its successor, the 962, form part of the Dutton Collection in Melbourne, Australia, and fall under the watchful eye of Jeff Dutton. Jeff is known world-wide as a man with a penchant for wonderful cars – cars from the great times of the 1980s and 1990s that now rub shoulders with the latest Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini and, of course, Porsche.
Duttons was established way back in 1911 by Albert Octavius Dutton and they were coachbuilders of repute. Today, it is a far cry from those early days in the motor industry of Australia when canny operators saved duties by importing bare chassis for companies like Duttons to build the bodies. What has that got to do with 2020? The bodies Albert built were on the best chassis: Rolls Royce, Hispano, Isotta Franchini. They were the crème de la crème, and that is what Duttons is all about today.
And in terms of the Porsche marque, Duttons have been involved from the very start. The Dutton family could see the potential and with the company’s expertise, Duttons was soon appointed by the Australian Porsche importers as the official body repair shop for the up and coming brand.
Today’s showroom has the very latest kit from
Stuttgart, be it two- or four-door models, SUVS and Gts, and the advanced hybrids. But to the Porsche die-hard the eye falls on the legendary race cars that Porsche built in the 1980s, cars that swept the board and put the company on the map. And Duttons has two – a 956 and the car developed from it, the 962.
Turn the clock back to the early 1980s – Porsche had tilted their cap at Formula One, an era best left forgotten although at a later date the company supplied the Tagporsche engine to F1 Mclaren with success, helping Mclaren to 25 Grand Prix wins, two Constructor's titles and three World Driver’s Championships. But it was time to make a mark on something they knew a lot more about: sports car racing. A Porsche Board decision saw the development team sharpen its pencils ready to design a whole new racing sports car. Porsche’s 936 had been successful when it arrived on the scene in 1982 but the introduction of Group C was the challenge to take up in the world of sports car racing.
In June 1981 new designs began to take shape in the Porsche R&D department. This was to be the 956. The prototype was completed on 27 March 1982, and was immediately tested on the company’s Weissach track by Jürgen Barth. It impressed, not least by the down force produced by the aerodynamic design which, even today, sets the mind boggling; Russell Kempnick, the lucky owner/driver of the 956 at Duttons confided, 'The car just sticks to the ground. You just can’t believe it will get round
the next corner. But it does…'
A monocoque aluminium chassis for the 956 was a first for the company as was the dual-clutch transmission that would was tested and soon be seen in future Porsche racing sports cars, and eventually production cars. What was not new was the engine. The 956 used the turbocharged, 2.65-litre flat-six engine, designated the Type 935/76, that had been seen in the successful 936. It was air-cooled, with water-cooled cylinder heads, and delivered approximately 635bhp through a fivespeed gearbox.
The debut of the 956 on the race track – acting as something of a test bed – was the 1982 Silverstone sixhour race. This showed that the car needed a degree of 'tweaking', and the second round of the Championship at the Nürburgring was missed. But at Le Mans the car led almost from start to finish with Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell at the wheel. The Porsche 956 had arrived – the two other factory cars finishing second and third, making for a veritable clean sweep! Privateers wanted to get in on the act, and cars were sold to Joest Racing, Brün, Kremer, Richard Lloyd, John Fitzpatrick and Obermaier Racing, among others.
The American market is vital for Porsche and what better way to show the American buyer that they meant business; thus the 956 was taken a stage further with the 962 which would comply with the IMSA GTP regulations, the International Motor Sports Association championship. The 956 had fallen foul of the IMSA regs on one particular point – the layout meant that driver’s feet were ahead of the car’s front axle centre line. The 962 was re-designed to comply by extending the wheelbase and moving the front wheels ahead of the pedal box. The aluminium monocoque chassis was further strengthened by fitting a steel roll cage. The 2.8-litre flat-six engine now had a single turbocharger in place of the twin K27 turbocharges used in the 956. The twin blower was banned for the North American IMSA championship.
Jaguar was becoming a threat to Porsche’s supremacy and by the middle of 1985, Porsche needed more power, and they turned to the renowned North American Porsche tuner, Andial, to develop a 3.2-litre fuelinjected flat-six engine for the 962. However, it was not until the following year that the 956’s 2.6-litre engine was replaced by the Andial fuel-injected engine of either 2.8 litres, 3.0 litres or 3.2 litres. As such, it would compete in the World Sportscar Championship.
The cars were designated 962C to identify them from their IMSA GTP counterparts. The engine used dual turbochargers. In 1987, the 3.2-litre version of the engine was then banned under IMSA rules but under threat of Porsche withdrawing from the American race series, the watercooled twin-turbo Porsche engines were allowed back, albeit with minor restrictions.
The Porsche 956 and 962 were the most successful sports racing cars ever. Between them, they enjoyed seven Le Mans overall victories, five Daytona 24-hour wins, six Driver World Championships and four IMSA series championships. The 956 owned by Russell Kempnich – number 956-118 and last to be built, was piloted by Australian Vern Schuppan in the Japanese Sports Car Championship in the years 1984 to 1986 with an enviable record.
In 1984, the car came first in the Fuji 500 race, second in the Fuji 1000km and also second at the Suzuka 1000km. At the World Endurance Championship round held at Fuji the car came home in third place. In 1985 the car won the gruelling Mount Fuji 1000km and in 1986, winning the Fuji 500 mile, Fuji 500km and Suzuka 1000km. At the WEC event held at Fuji in September 1984, Porsche took first three places, Russell Kempnich’s 956 taking third place.
Both the two Porsches that come under the Duttons umbrella have something of a history; the 956 is much travelled, not only around tracks throughout the world, but it has enjoyed several owners and criss-crossed the globe many times before arriving at its happy home in
Melbourne. The last of the 18 customer-built 956s, number 956-118 was sold as an incomplete car to Nova Engineering of Japan in 1984 to replace the Nova-trust Team’s 956 that had crashed earlier in the season.
Many parts were salvaged from the crashed car and Porsche duly obliged by delivering an incomplete car that was hastily built up to race; the team had as its drivers Yoshimi Katayama and the ex-le Mans winner, Australian Vern Schuppan. The team was highly successful in Japan, as can be seen from the races listed earlier.
When FIA regulations excluded the 956, Nova bought a 962 but retained 956-118 and restored the car using many new parts obtained from Porsche, helped by the Brün Motorsports team. In 1990, 956-118 was sold to the American, Chris Macallister of Indianapolis, who ran the car successfully in American GTP events, including the first two Hsr-holbert GTP reunions where it crossed the line second behind a 962. The car then moved on to GTS Motorcars in mid-1997 and later that year another owner, Archie Urciuoli, took the car down to Florida to race.
Now Australia comes into the picture. Vern Schuppan and Rob Sherrard purchased 956-118 and the car thrilled crowds flocking to the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport, a top-ten Classic event in the world. Up stepped today’s owner – Russell Kempnich and with
Russell at the wheel the car showed what it is capable of in numerous historic events in Australia.
In 2011, the car was shipped to Europe to compete in the Group C Championship under the care of Paul Knapton of Xtec Engineering, a Walsall based company that specialises in servicing, maintaining and re-building classic cars for owners world-wide (www.xtecengineering.com). This was almost home from home, with appearances at Spafrancorchamps, Paul Ricard and the Algarve in Portugal. Russell tells me, 'Spa was my first European track and for that reason alone it sticks in the mind. The track is pretty technical and a challenge for a 30-year old car…'. Russell fluffed the rolling start but made up places as the race went on and turned nineteenth on the grid to ninth at the finish. 'It was definitely one of the greatest weekends of my life,' he recalls.
Porsche number 956-118 then underwent another major refurbishment at Xtec Engineering and competed successfully in the 2012 Group C Historic Championship with Russell at the wheel. The combination was rewarded with third place in the C1 class. The 956 was shipped back to Australia courtesy of the Victoria Historic Racing
Register for the March 2013 Classic Festival of Motorsport at the Phillip Island track south of Melbourne. Then it made a guest appearance at the pre-race spectacular for the Australian Formula One weekend at Albert Park.
The European season beckoned again and Russell was at the wheel in 2014 for Barcelona, Spa and the Le Mans Group C 'Legends'. The 956 was then shipped across the Atlantic for a hectic season in the States, including the Daytona Historic 24-hour event
,where the car gained third overall and first in the 1B class with Wayne Park as co-driver. The American carnet expired and the car was returned to Xtec Engineering for a major engine re-build.
The opportunity was also taken to get the chassis crack tested and re-certified for Group C racing. The car was due to be sent back to Australia but before that there were two more events that Russell couldn’t resist, both in Italy: Monza and then the International track at Imola named in
“ONE OF THE GREATEST WEEKENDS OF MY LIFE…”
the memory of Dino Ferrari. And this was followed by what Russell describes as another 'amazing weekend' joining other Classic Group C cars at Le Mans.
Now back in Australia, Russell's lasting memory of all those European and American tracks and race weekends was 'Tackling that wonderful series of fast corners that make up Eau Rouge is a real challenge. I got a tip from a local and got it right…it is something I will never forget. It was the highlight…'
PORSCHE 962-116
Sharing the Dutton Motorsport garage at Phillip Island back in March is the ex-joest Racing 962, the car that came to fame at the 1988 Le Mans taking third behind the second-placed factory car of Ludwig/stuck/bell and the winning Jaguar XJ-R9 of Lammers/dumfries/wallace. It was driven on that occasion by Dickens/'winter'/jelinski. Porsche 962, chassis number 116, is now owned by George Nakas, a leading figure in the car sourcing and distribution industry in Australia. Like the 956, the Joest 962 has travelled the world including stints in the United States where Australian businessman, Rob Sherrard bought the car to join his collection of iconic cars in the island state of Tasmania – and also to race. Rob shipped the car to Europe and this heralded a number of seasons competing alongside the 956 in Classic events to re-live the car’s glory days on the most famous European circuits.
As with Russell Kempnich’s 956, the 962 was left in the care of Xtec Engineering. The company took the car under its wing for Rob to drive in the European races, carrying out servicing and other work where necessary for the cut and thrust of all-out competition. Principal of the company, Paul Knapton, tells us both the Porsches are extremely well engineered and a pleasure to work with. 'They are very reliable on the race track, as long as they are looked after by the book and prepared accordingly.'
Typical pre-race preparation carried out by Xtec includes gearbox check, change of ratios (if needed for any particular circuit), engine and turbo check, oil change, clutch inspection, attention and adjustment of brakes, wheel bearings and suspension plus overall body inspection. Xtec engineers spend between 30 and 100 hours on each car prior to transport to the race circuit.
The 962 first came to Xtec after the engine suffered problems when competing at Silverstone in the 2007 Historic Group C race weekend. The engine was stripped and re-built and the 962 was back in action again for Spa later that year. Another Aussie came into the picture at this
time. Wayne Park, who is in the retail automotive parts supply industry in Queensland, was also behind the wheel and when Rob Sherrard bought a Mercedes Sauber C9, he took over the driving.
In one memorable race at Monza in 2009 while scrapping with an Aston Martin MR 1, the two cars swapped places as the race progressed and the Porsche was only denied first past the post after the two cars touched on the last bend forcing the 962 to run wide… To say the spectators were on their feet is an understatement!
Another Australian car enthusiast – and keen amateur racer – Peter Harburg, became the new owner of the car putting in a number of seasons racing, including the 2014 Le Mans 'Legends'. Like others, Peter found that competing on some of the famous circuits in Europe including Le Mans, and rubbing shoulders with fellow enthusiast was a time to remember. 'I ran second and third in some races but usually between fifth and tenth… It was an amazing thrill.'
Like Russell’s 956, the Victoria Historic Racing Register was keen for the 962 to appear at the (Australian) autumn Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport weekend and the car was put in a container and shipped to Australia where George Nakas, co-owner of Duttons, became its new owner.
Like his predecessors, George had enjoyed motor racing experience with a variety of race cars including a Porsche Carrera 3.0, a Mclaren M8F and Lola T290.
George was keen to move further up the ladder and when the 1988 Le Mans third-placed 962 came on the market, he couldn’t resist, reaching for his cheque book.
DUTTON MOTORSPORT
Priceless cars from the recent past – including the 962 and 956 Porsches – are part of Dutton Motorsport, with Ben Henson the Motorsport Manager. Ben has been in motor racing for over 25 years in many categories and over most levels, having experience of modern GT, sports, F1 and historic car racing, and being part of teams competing at international events, including Goodwood and Le Mans.
Today, Duttons benefits from the skills and unrivalled knowledge of the world of Classic cars with the presence of Jeff Dutton. Jeff’s title of Senior Classic Car Specialist sees him with a 'hands-on' role as ambassador for the company, travelling the world advising on buying and selling, while offering his unrivalled knowledge on these rare and collectable cars.
There is yet another string to the bow of the Dutton family – Jeff’s wife, Gay, is an artist extraordinaire and her paintings grace the walls of such luminaries as Jac Nasser head of the Ford Motor Company and Ron Walker, Grand Prix Chairman. She has also exhibited at the National Gallery, the Australian Grand Prix Motor Show, National Concours D’élégance and more recently in the new International race track, The Bend Raceway, in South Australia.