40 years on from when Porsche’s 956 made sportscars great again
Endurance racing was at perhaps its lowest ebb before the debut 40 years ago of what was arguably its greatest car. The crucial thing is that Porsche always intended to make its 956 challenger for the new Group C rules in 1982 available to customers. That democratised a branch of the sport that during the preceding few years had been inhabited by a handful of professional teams and a bunch of motley amateurs struggling to get their ageing kit to last six laps, let alone six hours. Michael Cotton was one of the foremost sportscar writers at the time. He lived the era, so who better to tell the story of the 956 and its close relative, the 962, on p16? Our own enduro doyen Gary Watkins then takes over the mantle on p24 to talk to current Porsche GB scholar Adam Smalley about his experience in a famous 956, and on p28 details the restoration of a little-celebrated 962 that marque legend Hans Stuck describes as his favourite car. Moving up to date, there’s now nothing stopping Porsche re-entering F1 in 2026, as Matt Kew details in our lead news story on p4.
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NEXT WEEK 1 SEPTEMBER Belgian Grand Prix The F1 summer break ends
at Spa. Weather
permitting…
COVER IMAGE Gary Hawkins
PIT & PADDOCK 4 F1 2026 rules finally get green light 6 Audi titan Rast makes BMW switch 8 New Acura shown in the flesh 11 Belgian Grand Prix preview 13 Opinion: Matt Kew 15 Guest column: Harry King
PORSCHE 956/962 SPECIAL 16 The story of a gamechanger 24 Behind the wheel of a 1987 legend 28 The restoration of Stuck’s favourite 34 All the stats from the 956/962 career
PREVIEW 40 Silverstone Classic
RACE CENTRE 44 Tanak masters attrition on Ypres 50 Newgarden’s IndyCar oval win 52 World of Sport: Super Formula; NASCAR; Australian Supercars; Indy Lights; MotoGP
CLUB AUTOSPORT 63 Chadwick to make British RX debut 64 Eastwell to return to FF1600 66 Special Brands Vauxhall demo 69 Opinion: Stephen Lickorish 70 National reports: Silverstone; Brands
Hatch; Donington Park; Cadwell Park; Mallory Park; Knockhill
FINISHING STRAIGHT 78 What’s on this week 80 From the archive: 1963 British GP 82 My favourite car: Hans Stuck
SUBSCRIPTION OFFER 14 Special deals for Autosport
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25 AUGUST 2022 AUTOSPORT.COM 3
