Sauber SHS C6
The Sauber SHS C6 was a sports car prototype of group C, which was developed in winter 1981/1982 with Sauber Motorsport.
Development history and technology
The development of the Sauber SHS C6 was originally commissioned. This order came from the Swiss plastic and body companies Seger & Hoffmann. Seger & Hoffmann had already delivered for the BMW M1 Procar series of body parts and plastics had made the complete plastic body made of Kevlar for Sauber Group -5- M1. This order background was also reflected in the type designation. The SHS stands for Seger -Hoffmann - Sauber. The C license has always been for the first letter of the first name of Peter Sauber's wife Christine.
Sauber did this job very handy, but this funded entry into the World Sports Car Championship in 1982. During the design work Peter Sauber turned to the Technical University of Stuttgart, where aerodynamics engineers worked on the development of the Porsche 956. About the agency came clean to Daimler -Benz and their young chassis engineer Leo Rees. With support from Stuttgart, where Sauber also could use a wind tunnel, the race car has been developed. As part of the design work itself Seger & Hoffmann withdrew from the project; the reasons for the literature can be found in anything.
The shapely race car built on too little output; which was apparent after the first tests. A striking feature of the car was the delta wing in the rear. The chassis of the C6 was almost completely taken over by Group 5 BMW M1 and optimized by Leo Rees and adapted to the requirements of the technical regulations of the Group C. But weak point of the prototype was the engine. Like some other teams and from the absence of alternatives was enlarged to 3.9 -liter V8 engine by Cosworth used, which debuted in its original form in 1967 in the Lotus 49 Formula 1. The engine was rebuilt with new pistons and connecting rods on a long-haul version, generated in the vehicle but enormous vibrations. Before all the electronics in the C6 suffered under constant shaking, leading to increased defects.
Racing history
At Sauber two chassis were built. One remained at first Clean and was later sold to the Swiss racing driver Walter Brun. The second was delivered at the beginning of the season at the German racing team GS- tuning.
The racing debut of the C6 was held at the 1000 - km race at Monza in 1982. The Clean - unit carriage drove Walter Brun and Siegfried Müller. In the GS- tuning C6 sat Hans- Joachim Stuck and Hans Heyer. The factory cars fell out due to a broken radiator after 14 laps, the GS- tuning car stopped seven laps later with a defective fuel pump. Also at the third round to German Racing Championship 1982 on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring, there was a failure in the factory car; Walter Brun had an accident after four rounds.
In the 1000 - km race at Silverstone there was the first finish. During the Stuck/Heyer-C6 failed again, this time by ignition loss - the vibrations had damaged the electronic ignition system sustainable - managed the works cars at least the 13th overall. However, with a gap of 32 laps on the winning Lancia LC1 of Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese. Also in the 24- hour race at Le Mans, there was a double failure. For Walter Brun and Siegfried Müller, the failure came on the evening of Saturday, as the starter after a pit stop had no function. Hans -Joachim Stuck, who drove the C6 with the number 20 together with Dieter Quester and Jean -Louis Schlesser, stopped after 76 laps on the track, because the vibrating motor had knocked out a bearing.
The best finish of the year was the fourth place of Hans Heyer in the DRM race at Hockenheim. In the World Sportscar Championship in 1982 was the most successful race was the 1000 - km race at Mugello. Müller and Brun were in the GS- Tuning- C6 Fifth.
1983, the SHS C6 was replaced by the C7.
Two years later, in 1985, was again reported a SHS C6 in the 24- hour race at Le Mans. The Frenchman Roland Bassaler chassis had acquired 82- C6-02 and put the car in the years to sporadically at a sports car race. The problematic Cosworth engine it replaced by a BMW 6-cylinder turbo engine. The race at Le Mans finished the trio Bassaler, Dominique LACAUD and Yvon Tapy at the 23rd place overall. So you had no chance of a class win in the C2 class. The best placement of the Basal reached was the 12th place in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1986.
As the Frenchman brought his C6 in the 24- hour race at Le Mans in 1993 at the start, the chassis was already 12 years old. Bassaler and his co-driver Patrick Bourdais, the father of Sébastien Bourdais, and Jean -Louis Capette fell after 166 laps after an accident.