VIN: 62 Seconds to Immortality - the Rothmans Racing Porsche 956 chassis 003
History of chassis 003
With its record of five major victories from eight race outings, Porsche 956 chassis 003 ranks among the most successful top flight Sports Prototypes ever.
Reserved for use by the Rothmans-backed factory Porsche outfit, chassis 003 made its debut as part of a three-car team at the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours where it was allocated to Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan who qualified second behind team-mates Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell.
Despite some delays to address a misfiring engine, Mass and Schuppan ultimately brought 003 home in second overall behind the highly fancied lead entry of Ickx / Bell. Fellow factory 956 drivers Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood and Jurgen Barth made it a famous 1-2-3 finish for Porsche.
The German manufacturer went on to contest a further three World Sportscar Championship events in 1982, all of which were won by chassis 003. These outings comprised the Spa 1000km (pole position and victory for Ickx / Mass), the Fuji 6 Hours (second place grid slot and victory for Ickx / Mass) and the Brands Hatch 1000km (sixth place grid slot and victory for Ickx / Bell).
At the end of the season, Porsche also took a two-car team to South Africa for the non-championship Kyalami 9 Hours where Ickx and Mass started from pole, set fastest lap and won again in 003.
Although Porsche assembled a batch of new 956s for the 1983 season, two of the four cars campaigned during 1982 continued to race with all the updates ushered in over the close season.
One of these was chassis 003 which ran on two occasions.
003’s first outing of 1983 came at the Le Mans 24 Hours (where it had finished second the year before). On this occasion, 003 was allocated to the trio of Vern Schuppan, Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood who qualified seventh while team-mates Ickx / Bell started from pole and Mass / Bellof lined up third.
Before the end of lap two, Schuppan had moved 003 into second behind team-mate Mass while Ickx was forced to pit for a new nose after an incident with Jan Lammers’ privateer 956.
By dusk, the works Porsches were running in 1-2-3 formation with 003 second behind chassis 008. However, when the lead Mass / Bellof entry began to suffer with a sick engine at around midnight, 003 inherited a lead it would retain until the end. However, it was a close run as late issues with the car’s cooling system resulted in a seized engine with just two minutes to go. Holbert managed to overcome the problem by carrying out a bump start procedure and 003 ultimately crossed the line 62 seconds ahead of the Ickx / Bell machine.
After its successful outing at Le Mans, 003 was wheeled for an on the end-of-season Kayalami 1000km, but on this occasion Holbert and Schuppan failed to finish owing to ignition trouble.
003 subsequently posted another DNF at the 1984 Imola 1000km (when it ran with a PDK gearbox and went out on lap two with clutch failure). A week later the car was set to contest the Nurburgring DRM event with John Watson behind the wheel, but another clutch failure (this time in practice) meant it never took to the grid.
Chassis 003 was subsequently retired from frontline competition duty, after which it was sold to Vern Schuppan (along with chassis 008).
Schuppan retained the car until 1996 at which point it was sold to New York collector Aaron Hsu who had it restored and then sold it on in 1999.
Notable History
Rothmans Porsche
20/06/1982 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (J. Mass / V. Schuppan) 2nd oa, 2nd C class (#2)
05/09/1982 WSC Spa 1000km (J. Ickx / J. Mass) 1st oa, 1st C class (#1)
03/10/1982 WSC Fuji 6 Hours (J. Ickx / J. Mass) 1st oa, 1st C class (#1)
17/10/1982 WSC Brands Hatch 1000km (J. Ickx / D. Bell) 1st oa, 1st C class (#11)
06/11/1982 IND Kyalami 9 Hours (J. Ickx / J. Mass) 1st oa, 1st C class (#3)
29/05/1983 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (S. Bellof / J. Ickx / J. Mass) T-car (#3T)
19/06/1983 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (V. Schuppan / A. Holbert / H. Haywood) 1st oa, 1st C class (#3)
10/12/1983 WSC Kyalami 1000km (A. Holbert / V. Schuppan) DNF (#3)
02/09/1984 WSC Spa 1000 km Spa (-) T-car (#-)
16/09/1984 WSC Imola 1000 km (J. Ickx / J. Watson) DNF (#1)
23/09/1984 DRM Nurburgring (J. Watson) DNS (#6)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com
