It was 1981 and the World Endurance Championship, now (WEC) announced for the following year the opening of category C, along with new technical provisions accompanied by a new regulation in terms of scores, consumption, etc. As expected, Porsche and his prospect saw a promising opportunity in the series, so they quickly got to work.
What came later were victories immortalized in history and in the anecdotes of the drivers involved in the 956 project, who were recently honored at the Porsche Experience Center in Leipzig, Bell. Right there, the German firm met them again with several of the winning cars, authentic legends of the competition, whose achievements are a reference to this day; Among those victories achieved by the different chassis numbers of the Porsche 956, the following stand out:
- Silverstone 1982
- The 1,000 km of the Nürburgring in 1982
- The 1,000 km of Spa in 1982
- 1984 IMSA Championship (Porsche 962)
- 24 hours of Daytona
- 25 hours of Le Mans in 1987.
The history of the 956 on the tracks was also forged in the hands of brilliant pilots of that timeamong them the legendary Derek Bell, who at 81 remembers:
“The Porsche 956 looked very elegant, but in reality we worked like crazy”
referring to all drivers who drove the Porsche 956/962, all of them brilliant and legendary:
- Jochen Mass
- Hans-Joachim Stuck
- bernard schneider
- Helmut Schmid
- Norbert Singer
- Tim Bernhard.
“The 956 is the most successful racing car in Porsche history. He dominated everyone and was an undisputed winner for an incredible 12 years.”