VIN: Bellof's Last Ride - the Brun Motorsport Porsche 956 chassis 116
HISTORY OF CHASSIS 116
Chassis 116 was the second 956 purchased by Brun Motorsport. Acquired for the 1984 season, it joined the team’s existing car, chassis 111, which had been raced successfully throughout 1983. In early 1983, team boss Walter Brun had taken over the GS-Sport team and re-branded the operation under his own name.
For 1984, chassis 111 and 116 often ran alongside each another in selected rounds of the World Sportscar Championship and Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM). The Brun machines also contested the big money Norisring Trophy non-championship event.
That season, 116 variously appeared in white Swatch, Warsteiner and Eterna liveries and a white and blue Schiesser colour scheme, but most frequently ran in striking orange paint with Jagermeister backing. On occasion the car was piloted by Walter Brun himself as well as Vern Schuppan, Leopold von Bayern and Harald Grohs, but Hans-Joachim Stuck and Steffan Bellof did the lion’s share of driving.
In its ten outings during 1984, chassis 116 most famously won the 1000km World Sportscar Championship race at Imola (Stuck / Bellof), a DRM race at the Nurburgring (Bellof) and an Interserie contest at the Nurburgring (Stuck). The car also scored a trio of third place finishes: it bagged the final podium spot at the Spa 1000km World Sportscar Championship race (Stuck / Grohs / Brun) and Bellof was third on the car’s two same-day outings around the Norisring for the DRM-qualifying event and stand-alone Trophy race.
Remarkably, chassis 116 only failed to finish on one occasion when a minor accident saw it retire from the Nurburgring 1000km mid-season.
Brun Motorsport retained both chassis 111 and 116 for its 1985 campaign. That year, 116 appeared with Jagermeister and Schiesser backing.
In its first ten outings of the year, Stuck took 116 to four Interserie wins (at the Nurburgring, Wunstorf, Zeltweg and Erding) and Bellof won the Norisring DRM race. Bellof also scored a fifth in the non-championship Norisring Trophy.
Unfortunately, the 1985 World Sportscar Championship was not such a happy hunting ground. Brun and von Bayern failed to start at the Mugello 1000km after an accident in practice while Bellof and Thierry Boutsen ran out of fuel in the Hockenheim 1000km three months later.
However, these failures were put into context when chassis 116 met its demise at the Spa 1000km on September 1st. Having just take over from Thierry Boutsen, Bellof was involved in a massive accident while attempting to set up a pass on the works Porsche 962 of Jacky Icky through the left kink of Eau Rouge. By moving to the left, Bellof’s car created sufficient draft that Ickx’s car was pulled over towards 116. The two cars touched and Ickx span backwards into the barriers while 116 ploughed directly into the barriers and caught fire. Bellof, a rising star in F1 and Sportscar racing, died of massive internal injuries and chassis 116 was destroyed.
Notable History
Brun Motorsport
13/05/1984 WSC Silverstone 1000km (W. Brun / V. Schuppan) 11th oa, 11th C1 class (19)
17/06/1984 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (W. Brun / L. von Bayern / B. Akin) 4th oa, 4th C1 class (#9)
01/07/1984 DRM Norisring (S. Bellof) 3rd oa, 3rd C1 class (#1)
01/07/1984 IND Norisring Trophy (S. Bellof) 3rd oa, 3rd C1 class (#1)
15/07/1984 WSC Nurburging 1000km (H.J. Stuck / H. Grohs) DNF (#9)
29/07/1984 WSC Brands Hatch 1000km (S. Bellof / H. Grohs) 5th oa, 5th C1 class (#19)
02/09/1984 WSC Spa 1000 km Spa (H.J. Stuck / H. Grohs / W. Brun) 3rd oa, 3rd C1 class (#9)
16/09/1984 WSC Imola 1000 km (H.J. Stuck / S. Bellof) 1st oa, 1st C1 class (#19)
23/09/1984 DRM Nurburgring (S. Bellof) 1st oa, 1st C1 class (#1)
07/10/1984 INT Nurburgring (H.J. Stuck) 1st oa, 1st Div.1 class (#22)
07/04/1985 INT Nurburgring (H.J. Stuck) 1st oa, 1st Div.1 class (#18)
14/04/1985 WSC Mugello 1000km (W. Brun / L. von Bayern) DNS (#20)
21/04/1985 INT Hockenheim (H.J. Stuck) 2nd oa, 2nd Div.1 class (#18)
05/05/1985 INT Wunstorf (H.J. Stuck) 1st oa, 1st Div.1 class (#18)
26/05/1985 INT Zeltweg (H.J. Stuck) 1st oa, 1st Div.1 class (#18)
09/06/1985 INT Erding (H.J. Stuck) 1st oa, 1st Div.1 class (#18)
29/06/1985 DRM Norisring (S. Bellof) 1st oa, 1st C1 class (#1)
30/06/1985 IND Norisring Trophy (S. Bellof) 5th oa, 5th C1 class (#1)
14/07/1985 WSC Hockenheim 1000km (S. Bellof / T. Boutsen) DNF (#19)
04/08/1985 INT Nurburgring (H.J. Stuck) 5th oa, 5th Div.1 class (#18)
01/09/1985 WSC Spa 1000km (T. Boutsen / S. Bellof) DNF (#19)
Destroyed in Steffan Bellof’s fatal accident at Spa
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com