Sauber C9

A Sauber C9 on display in the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

Sauber-Mercedes C9 rounding Becketts corner at Silverstone during the 1987 Silverstone 1000 km

The Sauber C9 (later named the Mercedes-Benz C9 or Sauber Mercedes C9) was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1987 as a continuation of the partnership between Sauber as a constructor and Mercedes-Benz as an engine builder for the World Sportscar Championship. The C9 replaced the previous Sauber C8. For its debut season in 1987, the cars were run by Kouros Racing, named after the fragrance brand of its sponsor, Yves Saint Laurent , although officially backed by Mercedes-Benz. The team managed a mere twelfth in the teams standings, scoring points in only a single round. For 1988, 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. They managed to finish second in the championship behind Silk Cut Jaguar with five wins for the season. Unfortunately at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team suffered an embarrassing setback when they were forced to withdraw due to concern over their Michelin tires.

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 aluminium. The C9 was able to win all but one race in the 1989 season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. During qualifying for Le Mans, the C9 recorded a speed of 247mph (398km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight, a record. Mercedes driver Jean-Louis Schlesser would end up taking the driver's championship that season.

The C9 would be replaced by the Mercedes-Benz C11 for 1990.

Le Mans Results

• 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • #61 - Kouros Racing - Mike Thackwell, Henri Pescarolo, Hideki Okada - DNF
  • #62 - Kouros Racing - Chip Ganassi, Johnny Dumfries, Mike Thackwell - DNF

• 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • #61 - Team Sauber Mercedes - Mauro Baldi, James Weaver, Jochen Mass - Withdrawn
  • #62 - Team Sauber Mercedes - Klaus Niedzwiedz, Kenny Acheson - Withdrawn

• 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • #61 - Team Sauber Mercedes - Mauro Baldi, Kenny Acheson, Gianfranco Brancatelli - 2nd
  • #62 - Team Sauber Mercedes - Jean-Louis Schlesser, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Alain Cudini - 5th
  • #63 - Team Sauber Mercedes - Jochen Mass, Manuel Reuter, Stanley Dickens - 1st

Reaching 248.0 mph (400 km/h) during the qualifying sessions of the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Sauber C9 has set the fastest top speed ever in the history of the competition under practical racing situation. These dangerous speeds led to the interruption on the huge initial Le Mans Mulsanne Straight with the present two chicanes, from 1990 on.

The C9 has only been surpassed by the WM Peugeot prototype, with a speed of 251.1 mph (405 km/h) in the 1988 race. However the WM car was nearly undrivable elsewhere on the circuit and the engine was soon destroyed from a lack of cooling. Therefore C9 still holds the fastest record on track racing in LeMans until today.

See also

• Mercedes-Benz motorsport