VIN: the John Fitzpatrick Racing Porsche 956 chassis 114
History of chassis 114
In 1982, the brand new Porsche 956 was reserved for works use.
Customer deliveries started for the 1983 season and a dozen units were sold. Another six new cars were delivered in 1984, four of which were to the uprated 956 B specification.
One of these was chassis 114 which joined the John Fitzpatrick Racing stable alongside another two 956s (chassis 102 and 110) plus a 962 (chassis 105).
For 1984, John Fitzpatrick secured backing from Skoal tobacco. Chassis 114 became the team’s favoured entry for their highly rated driver partnership of David Hobbs and Thierry Boutsen.
Hobbs and Boutsen’s best World Championship result with 114 was second at the 1984 Nurburgring 1000km. Hobbs also shared the 956 with Rupert Keegan and Franz Konrad to place second at the Mosport 1000km.
Arguably the car’s biggest achievement in its first season was third overall at Le Mans where Hobbs partnered Philippe Streiff and Sarel van der Merwe.
John Fitzpatrick retained chassis 114 and 102 for the 1985 season. His other 956 (110) had been sold to Paul Vestey after the 1984 Le Mans 24 Hours. Fitzpatrick also replaced the 962 with a fresh example for the 1985 Le Mans.
Sponsorship for most of the 1985 campaign came from RJ Reynolds Tobacco and the Fitzpatrick cars typically appeared in the white and red colours of either Carltons 100s or American 100s.
Fourth at Le Mans for Hobbs, Jo Gartner and Guy Edwards was undoubtedly the highlight of 1985. Franz Konrad and Andrew Miedecke also took a fourth place finish at the Shah Alam 800km World Championship race in Malaysia.
1986 was the last year the 956 was legal to race on safety grounds.
John Fitzpatrick went into the season with just one 956 (114) as chassis 102 had been written off at Silverstone in May 1985. Chassis 114 shared garage space with 962 chassis 112 which raced at Le Mans and did a solitary IMSA event.
The 956 spent most of its final season in a white and blue livery with backing from Danone foods. It appeared under the Danone Porsche Espana banner for drivers Emilio do Villota and Fermin Velez.
Their best results were third in the Nurburgring 1000km and fourth at Le Mans (where they were joined by George Fouche). Derek Bell also made a one-off appearance in 114 at the Norisring.
After the 1986 season, John Fitzpatrick sold his entire operation to Jochen Dauer.
Chassis 114 was later sold into the Porsche collection of Henry Pearman.
Notable History
John Fitzpatrick Racing
White and triple-tone Green livery: Skoal Bandit Porsche Team
23/04/1984 WSC Monza 1000km (T. Boutsen / D. Hobbs) DNF (#33)
13/05/1984 WSC Silverstone 1000km (T. Boutsen / D. Hobbs) 8th oa, 8th C1 class (#33)
17/06/1984 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (D. Hobbs / P. Streiff / S. van der Merwe) 3rd oa, 3rd C1 class (#33)
01/07/1984 DRM Norisring (T. Boutsen) 1st oa, 1st C1 class (#34)
01/07/1984 IND Norisring Trophy (T. Boutsen) DNF (#34)
15/07/1984 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (T. Boutsen / D. Hobbs) 2nd oa, 2nd C1 class (#33)
05/08/1984 WSC Mosport 1000km (D. Hobbs / R. Keegan / F. Konrad) 2nd oa, 2nd C1 class (#33)
02/09/1984 WSC Spa 1000 km Spa (T. Boutsen / D. Hobbs) DNF (#33)
16/09/1984 WSC Imola 1000 km (T. Boutsen / D. Hobbs) DNF (#33)
23/09/1984 DRM Nurburgring (T. Boutsen) 3rd oa, 3rd C1 class (#3)
02/12/1984 WSC Sandown Park 1000km (T. Boutsen / D. Hobbs) DNF (#33)
White livery
28/04/1985 WSC Monza 1000km (J. Gartner / K. Acheson) 16th oa, 10th C1 class (#33)
12/05/1985 WSC Silverstone 1000km (J. Gartner / D. Hobbs) DNF (#33)
White & Red American 100s / Carlton 100s livery
16/06/1985 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (D. Hobbs / J. Gartner / G. Edwards) 4th oa, 4th C1 class (#33)
29/06/1985 DRM Norisring (F. Konrad) 10th oa, 9th C1 class (#33)
30/06/1985 IND Norisring Trophy (F. Konrad) 11th oa, 10th C1 class (#33)
06/10/1985 WSC Fuji 1000km (J. Gartner / M. Roe) DNF (#33)
01/12/1985 WSC Shah Alam 800km (F. Konrad / A. Miedecke) 4th oa, 4th C1 class (#33)
White & Blue Danone Porsche Espana livery
20/04/1986 WSC Monza 360km (E. de Villota / F. Velez) 10th oa, 10th C1 class (#33)
04/05/1986 WSC Silverstone 1000km (E. de Villota / F. Velez) 5th oa, 5th C1 class (#33)
01/06/1986 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (E. de Villota / F. Velez / G. Fouche) 4th oa, 4th C1 class (#33)
White livery
29/06/1986 WSC Norisring 200 mile (D. Bell) 11th oa, 10th C1 class (#33)
White & Blue Danone Porsche Espana livery
20/07/1986 WSC Brands Hatch 1000km (E. de Villota / F. Velez) DNS (#33)
03/08/1986 WSC Jerez 360km (F. Velez / E. de Villota) 8th oa, 5th C1 class (#33)
24/08/1986 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (E. de Villota / F. Velez) 3rd oa, 3rd C1 class (#33)
15/09/1986 WSC Spa 1000km (F. Velez / E. de Villota) 11th oa, 11th C1 class (#33)
White & multi-coloured Multicheck livery
23/11/1986 IND Kyalami 500km (G. Fouche) DNF (#33)
Sold to Jochen Dauer
Later sold to Henry Pearman
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photos copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
