1987 Sauber Mercedes C9

I took these photographs at the Donington Park Museum on my last visit there in September 2014.

It's a 1987 Sauber Mercedes C9 which competed in the World Sportscar Championship in 1987, 1988 and 1989. The car was a development of the Sauber C8 and had a 4,973cc Mercedes-Benz V8 engine. The board at the side of the car gives this information:

1987 Sauber Mercedes C9

The Sauber C9 (later named the Sauber Mercedes C9 or Mercedes-Benz C9) was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1987 as a continuation of the partnership between Sauber as a constructor and Mercedes-Benz as an engine builder for the World Sportscar Championship. The C9 replaced the previous Sauber C8. For its debut season in 1987 the cars were run by Kouros Racing, named after the fragrance brand of its sponsor, Yves Saint Laurent, although officially backed by Mercedes-Benz. The team managed a mere twelfth in the teams' standings, scoring points in only a single round. For 1988, Kouros was dropped as a sponsor, forcing the team to be renamed Sauber Mercedes. As a result, Mercedes Benz used AEG-Olympia for sponsor – AEG being owned by Daimler-Benz at the time. They managed to finish second in the championship behind Silk Cut Jaguar with five wins for the season. Unfortunately at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team suffered an embarrassing setback when they were forced to withdraw due to concern over their Michelin tyres.

Finally, in 1989, the car was able to achieve great success. Beside replacing the black colour scheme for its national plain silver scheme, reducing AEG as a minor sponsor, the older M117 5.0L turbocharged V8 engine was upgraded to the M119, which replaced steel heads with new aluminium. The C9 was able to win all but one race in the 1989 season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. During the qualifying for Le Mans, the C9 recorded a speed of 247 mph (398 km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight, a record. Mercedes driver Jean-Louis Schlesser would end up taking the driver’s championship that season.

The C9 would be replaced by the Mercedes-Benz C11 for 1990.

Towards the end of the 1990 season an up-and-coming young German driver, Michael Schumacher, joined the team, and with Jochen Mass won the last race of the season in Mexico City. He drove for the team in 1991 and also made his debut in Formula One that year in a Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix, later joining the Benetton F1 team.