Dubbed the C9, the 1987 Sauber racer was again a development of its predecessor. Both cars were run by Kouros Racing, named after the fragrance brand of its sponsor, Yves Saint Laurent, although officially backed by Mercedes-Benz. The rear suspension and the body were brand new, while the engine was a further Mader development. The Saubers made a better impression at Le Mans in 1987, qualifying seventh and eighth. In the opening stages of the race, Johnny Dumfries was running as high as fourth before retiring with a gearbox problem after only 37 laps. The whole STORY HERE. The second car faired not much better, eventually succumbing to its second drivetrain related problems at around midnight. The team managed a mere twelfth in the teams standings, scoring points in only a single round.
Surprisingly Mercedes-Benz was not deterred and dramatically upped their involvement in 1988 to full factory backing. Kouros was dropped as a sponsor, forcing the team to be renamed Sauber Mercedes. As a result, Mercedes used AEG-Olympia for sponsor – AEG being owned by Daimler-Benz at the time. This paid off immediately as a Sauber Mercedes C9 was driven to victory in the Jerez 800 km, one lap clear of the dominant Jaguars. They managed to finish second in the championship behind Silk CutJaguar with five wins for the season. That year’s Le Mans was an even bigger disappointment than the previous editions with both C9s forced to be withdrawn before the start. The combination of higher speeds and higher downforce had increased the loads on the tires too much, causing the rear tires to burst on one of the C9s at very high speed during qualifying. Starting the race was considered too dangerous.
Finally, in 1989, the car was able to achieve great success. Beside replacing the black color scheme for its national plain silver scheme, reducing AEG as a minor sponsor, the older M117 5.0L turbocharged V8 engine was upgraded to the M119, which replaced steel heads with new aluminum and the full four valve head with double overhead camshafts. This bumped the power to 720 bhp and 810 Nm in race spec. The new quad-cam V8 engine was fitted to the proven C9 chassis.
For the fifth Sauber Mercedes attempt, the team again fielded two cars. All of the four difficult previous editions were quickly forgotten as the two cars were placed first and second on the grid. After a trouble free race, the two cars crossed the line in the opposite order, clinching a convincing one-two victory. The winning C9 was driven by Jochen Mass, Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens. The team kept the Le Mans winning form for that season’s World Championship and with seven wins out of eight races (three of which were 1-2 victories), they were crowned World Champions at the end of the season. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a record was set at 247 mph (398 km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight. Mercedes driver Jean-Louis Schlesser would end up taking the driver’s championship that season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW_A9FiNFWk
The C9’s top speed was only beaten by the WM Peugeot prototype, with a speed of 251.1 mph (405 km/h) in the 1988 race. However the WM, optimized for a low drag setup and high straight line speed, suffered from handling problems elsewhere on the circuit and the engine was prone to overheating. Indeed the car’s fastest time was set with tape applied over the ducting for aerodynamic purposes and was withdrawn as soon as a new record was set to avoid an expensive rebuild. The Whole story HERE. In 1990, two chicanes were added onto the Mulsanne straight.
After the string of successes including winning the 1989 World Sports Car Championship, Autosport declared the C9 as their Racing Car of the Year. The C9 would be replaced by the Mercedes-Benz Sauber C11 from the second race onwards of the 1990 season, where it took one final win.
This car, chassis number five, took the 1989 World Sports Car Championship, and is the only model of the six likely to be offered for sale. Three of the other cars belong to the Mercedes Museum, one resides at Sauber and one at a private American collection.
Here is a 360 degrees race of the C9 in GoodWood race. Something very fascinanting.
8. The C111 design study was originally baptized , the C101 project. However, the “0 (zero)” in the middle had to disappear , since this number combination has long been protected by....
Nov 6 2014
1987 – 1989 Mercedes-Benz Sauber C9
Dubbed the C9, the 1987 Sauber racer was again a development of its predecessor. Both cars were run by Kouros Racing, named after the fragrance brand of its sponsor, Yves Saint Laurent, although officially backed by Mercedes-Benz. The rear suspension and the body were brand new, while the engine was a further Mader development. The Saubers made a better impression at Le Mans in 1987, qualifying seventh and eighth. In the opening stages of the race, Johnny Dumfries was running as high as fourth before retiring with a gearbox problem after only 37 laps. The whole STORY HERE. The second car faired not much better, eventually succumbing to its second drivetrain related problems at around midnight. The team managed a mere twelfth in the teams standings, scoring points in only a single round.
Surprisingly Mercedes-Benz was not deterred and dramatically upped their involvement in 1988 to full factory backing. Kouros was dropped as a sponsor, forcing the team to be renamed Sauber Mercedes. As a result, Mercedes used AEG-Olympia for sponsor – AEG being owned by Daimler-Benz at the time. This paid off immediately as a Sauber Mercedes C9 was driven to victory in the Jerez 800 km, one lap clear of the dominant Jaguars. They managed to finish second in the championship behind Silk Cut Jaguar with five wins for the season. That year’s Le Mans was an even bigger disappointment than the previous editions with both C9s forced to be withdrawn before the start. The combination of higher speeds and higher downforce had increased the loads on the tires too much, causing the rear tires to burst on one of the C9s at very high speed during qualifying. Starting the race was considered too dangerous.
Finally, in 1989, the car was able to achieve great success. Beside replacing the black color scheme for its national plain silver scheme, reducing AEG as a minor sponsor, the older M117 5.0L turbocharged V8 engine was upgraded to the M119, which replaced steel heads with new aluminum and the full four valve head with double overhead camshafts. This bumped the power to 720 bhp and 810 Nm in race spec. The new quad-cam V8 engine was fitted to the proven C9 chassis.
For the fifth Sauber Mercedes attempt, the team again fielded two cars. All of the four difficult previous editions were quickly forgotten as the two cars were placed first and second on the grid. After a trouble free race, the two cars crossed the line in the opposite order, clinching a convincing one-two victory. The winning C9 was driven by Jochen Mass, Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens. The team kept the Le Mans winning form for that season’s World Championship and with seven wins out of eight races (three of which were 1-2 victories), they were crowned World Champions at the end of the season. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a record was set at 247 mph (398 km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight. Mercedes driver Jean-Louis Schlesser would end up taking the driver’s championship that season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW_A9FiNFWk
The C9’s top speed was only beaten by the WM Peugeot prototype, with a speed of 251.1 mph (405 km/h) in the 1988 race. However the WM, optimized for a low drag setup and high straight line speed, suffered from handling problems elsewhere on the circuit and the engine was prone to overheating. Indeed the car’s fastest time was set with tape applied over the ducting for aerodynamic purposes and was withdrawn as soon as a new record was set to avoid an expensive rebuild. The Whole story HERE. In 1990, two chicanes were added onto the Mulsanne straight.
After the string of successes including winning the 1989 World Sports Car Championship, Autosport declared the C9 as their Racing Car of the Year. The C9 would be replaced by the Mercedes-Benz Sauber C11 from the second race onwards of the 1990 season, where it took one final win.
This car, chassis number five, took the 1989 World Sports Car Championship, and is the only model of the six likely to be offered for sale. Three of the other cars belong to the Mercedes Museum, one resides at Sauber and one at a private American collection.
Here is a 360 degrees race of the C9 in GoodWood race. Something very fascinanting.
http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/current/goodwood/?csref=MBWorld_goodwood_url_270614#
By Catalin Varvara • MB MotorSports, Sauber 0 • Tags: 1989 sauber c9, 1996 mercedes benz all activity vehicle, le mans, mercedes-benz, sauber c9