Photo : D.R - Archives ACO

 

In the mid 70s , the ITUC (International Sports Commission , a forerunner of the present International Automobile Federation - FIA ) decided to split endurance racing into two separate classes for prototypes and GTs. Thus were born the Group 6 and Group 5 categories in Sports and GT racing, also known as " Silhouettes ." For this double new structure, Porsche designed the 936 prototype and also created the 935 based on the legendary 911. Both shared a turbocharged engine . For their baptism at Le Mans in 1976, the 936 won the race with Jacky Ickx and Gijs van Lennep driving , whilst the  935 finished fourth in the hands of Rolf Stommelen and Manfred Schurti .

The World Championship for Manufacturers was now reserved only for Group 5 cars, and the 935 was successfully run by private teams of specialist Porsche preparers . Among them, the Kremer brothers Manfred and Erwin designed their own version , a twin-turbo engined car called the 935 K3. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979 , the only example of the new car ( No.41 pictured) won the race with Klaus Ludwig , a leading expert in Porsches, and the two American brothers , Don and Bill Whittington driving , after a close race in appalling weather . But the 935 that attracts maybe the most attention is number 70 . It is was driven and run by its owner Dick Barbour , Rolf Stommelen , another connoisseur  Porsche driver and actor Paul Newman. Unruffled despite the incessant media pressure , the trio finished second . The first non-Porsche in 5th place was the Rondeau Ford M379 of Jean Ragnotti and Bernard Darniche which was the first prototype in Group 6 to finish after the two  Essex Petroleum  factory Porsche  936s suffered problems. The 1979 edition therefore concluded a triumph for the 935 , which occupied the top three spots at its unique Sarthe success ( in 3rd place were Laurent Ferrier, Francois Servanin and Francois Trisconi in a 935 - a Porsche 934 finished 4th to win Group 4)

To find other stories of the great saga of  Porsche at the  Le Mans 24 Hours , please visit the site at: http://www.porsche.com/microsite/mission2014/ Our Return.

Read also:

Porsche 917/30, the missing link 
The Porsche's victorious at Le Mans (1) : the 917
The Porsche's victorious at Le Mans (2) : the 936
 

Jean -Philippe Doret / ACO

Photo: CIRCUIT OF THE  24 HOURS ( Le Mans , Sarthe ), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS , 10 & 11 June 1979 . The 935 twin turbo K3 began a line of Porsche  victories in the Sarthe, which saw many other winners, and three  in the 90s with the Dauer-Porsche 962LM GT IN 1994, the Joest TWR-Porsche  in 1996 and 1997 and the 911 GT1-98 in 1998.