Mirage GR8
The Mirage GR8 was a sports car prototype that was used in sports car races in 1975 and 1977.
prehistory
In 1974 the American Harley Cluxton from Phoenix ( Arizona ) bought a Gulf GR7 , with which Vern Schuppan won a handicap race in Elkhard Lake that same year. After the end of the Gulf involvement in sports car racing and the closure of the Gulf Research Racing Team , John Horsman , the racing director of Gulf Research, tried to persuade the American to buy another racing car. The two Gulf GR8s , which finished first and third in the overall standings in the 1975 Le Mans 24-hour race , were up for grabs.
Since Cluxton was not particularly enthusiastic about the idea at first, Horsman had the two racing cars completely dismantled in January 1976 and mothballed with Maurice Gomm in Old Woking. In March, after tireless sales talks, Horsman succeeded in convincing Cluxton of the sensible investment in the two racing cars. Horsman, who was racing director at John Wyer for many years , recruited former technicians, mechanics and pit staff from John Wyer Automotive for Cluxton's racing team, Grand Touring Car Inc. , to build a powerful racing team. The French mineral oil company Total could be won as a new sponsor to finance a race in Le Mans.
Le Mans 1976
The two GR8s were called Mirage again after the sponsor Gulf was discontinued . The vehicles were completely served and equipped with new V8 engines from Cosworth . The two regular Wyer drivers Derek Bell and Vern Schuppan were also signed up as drivers by the Cluxton team. Then there were the two Frenchmen Jean-Louis Lafosse and François Migault .
After extensive test drives at Silverstone , the team came to Le Mans well prepared. The race turned into a duel between the Alpine A442 and the works Porsche 936 . Right from the start, the Mirage could not keep up with the fast pace of the Alpine and Porsche works cars, but drove steadily and evenly. After the failure of all Alpines and some technical defects at Porsche, both Mirages were in second and fourth place on Sunday morning. The Bell / Schuppan car, however, was already more than 20 laps behind.
Shortly before the end of the race, there was another unrest when Mirage, who was eight laps behind the Porsche of Jacky Ickx and Gijs van Lennep, who was in second place, slowly lost the rear fairing. Lafosse overlooked all pit signals and Horsman feared a possible disqualification when the French finally pitted two laps before the end. The rear end was fixed and a few minutes later Lafosse drove the GR8 in second place. Bell and Schuppan finished fifth overall in the second GR8.
1977 and the Renault engine
The team got a new motor partner for the 1977 24-hour race. Renault race director Gérard Larrousse offered the Mirage team the Renault turbo engine and the team gratefully accepted. In order to be able to integrate the 2-liter-6-cylinder engine into the vehicle, the rear of the GR8 had to be converted.
Derek Bell had left the team for Alpine, and the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jarier joined the team and became Vern Schuppan's new partner. The second vehicle was driven by Michel Leclère and Sam Posey . The race had one of the most exciting races in Le Mans history. The Leclère / Posey car broke down after just two hours after a defect in the fuel pump - it was the first breakdown of a GR8 (Gulf and Mirage) at Le Mans. One hour before the end, the Schuppan / Jarier-GR8 was in second place. However, 16 laps behind the works Porsche 936 of Jacky Ickx, Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood . The Porsche was standing in the pits with a damaged cylinder and the big question was whether the Porsche technicians would get the 936 running again. Because the regulations stipulated that regardless of the lead, a vehicle had to cross the finish line in order to be scored. The entire Renault-Alpine team - the works cars had long since retired - had gathered in the Mirage Box when the Porsche with Barth at the wheel was pushed out of the box a few minutes before the end of the race and two laps around the slowly with the engine smoking Drove to victory. Vern Schuppan and Jean-Pierre Jarier finished second in the GR8.
After three successful years of racing, the GR8 was replaced by the Mirage M9 in 1978 .
literature
- John Horsman: Racing in the Rain . Bull Publishing Ltd., Phoenix 2006, ISBN 1-893618-71-4 .
