Kremer K8 Spyder
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The Kremer K8 Spyder was a sports car prototype that was used in sports car races from 1994 to 1998.
Development history and technology
The Kremer brothers had already built up the Kremer Racing racing team in the 1970s , which, following initial successes in German motorsport, established itself internationally in the 1990s. The K8 Spyder was the successor to the Kremer CK7 . As with the CK7, with the K8 Spyder, Kremer followed the concept of taking a Porsche 962 as the basis for a racing vehicle and converting it to meet his own needs. The K8 Spyder was basically a roofless 962. Since the doors of the closed 962 were no longer used during the conversion, the driver sat elevated in the low cockpit and was exposed to the airstream largely unprotected. This was remedied by a windshield around the cockpit. The engine was given a fairing that towered over the pilot to protect him in the event of a rollover. As engine the smaller version of the 3-liter was Porsche - Turbo -motor used.
Three chassis of the K8 were built. The car made its debut in the 1994 Le Mans 24-hour race . Gulf Oil was won as a sponsor and the five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell , his compatriot Robin Donovan and the German Jürgen Lässig were signed up as drivers . The K8 was the only LMP1 Spyder in the field. The trio came in sixth overall.
Racing history
In 1995 the greatest success was achieved with the K8, when the quintet Jürgen Lässig, Giovanni Lavaggi , Marco Werner , Christophe Bouchut and Oscar Larrauri won the Daytona 24-hour race . In Le Mans were two K8 at the start; Bouchut, Thierry Boutsen and Hans-Joachim Stuck's car reached sixth place, the second K8 was canceled.
The aging K8s were also used at Le Mans in 1996 , 1997 and 1998 , but without great success. In its last modification, the K8 won the Monza 1000 km race with John Nielsen and Thomas Bscher in 1997 .
