1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR #47
Pilots: J. Gouhier, J. Barth, D. Dupuy
Team: Monaco Media International / Larbre Compétition
Race: 15th overall (1st in GT class) at Le Mans in 1993
Spark - S2072 (resin)
Published 04/03/26
The 1992 24 Heures du Mans, though essentially great for the French (with Peugeot winning), was worrisome for ACO. That year, only 28 cars lined up, yet the grid accommodated 50 cars. Because of that, to increase overall interest, ACO walked out of the WSC, and assumed total control over Le Mans. With less interference from the FIA/FISA, they could make direct contact with manufacturers and competitors. And one of the first manufactures that they called was obviously Porsche. Stuttgart’s last win at La Sarthe was in 1987, and since then was only present through privateers. To make matters worse, at the time, the manufacturer was in financial difficulties. Therefore, when ACO called, Porsche jumped at the opportunity to come back as a factory team. However, they would need a new race car. So, with typical Porsche efficiency, for 1993 they came up with two new cars.
To maximize their chances, Porsche divided their racing division at Zuffenhausen in two teams. One team, led by Norbert Singer, started working on a new turbo-charged 911, based on the 1991 Carrera 4 Leichtbau. The other half, led by Jürgen Barth, began work on a race-version of the 964 Carrera RS. The first (964 Turbo S LM) would be a works car, while the 964 Carrera RSR, would be for privateers. Jürgen Barth’s strategy for the new RSR was simple. He took a 1992 Carrera RS, alleviated as much weight as possible, added a roll cage and tweaked the engine. With racing cams, new valves and higher compression, the 3764 cm³ delivered up to 280 kW (375 hp). However, for endurance races he limited the output to 268 kW. He also used the same 5-speed gearbox of the RS 3.8, geared for 280 km/h of top speed.
The cars were ready in Spring of 1993. Porsche’s factory team got the Turbo S LM, while four different customer teams got the Carrera RSR. One of these teams, Monaco Media International (run by Larbre Compétition) was very special. Jürgen Barth, head of Porsche’s customer racing department, was one of the pilots! Therefore, it’s reasonable to suppose that it was something of a works team also 🤔. If that’s true or not, the official factory team was the favorite, and their nemesis in 1993 was Jaguar. Although slightly slower than the Turbo S, Jaguar’s three XJ220-C were serious adversaries. Right in the beginning, one XJ220-C dropped off, so things looked favorable for Stuttgart. However, on the 79th lap, while in second place in GT, an accident took out the Turbo S LM! With that, the last XJ220-C finished first in class.
So, not a great race for Porsche… Yet, on the following Monday, during the post-race scrutineering, the winning XJ220-C was disqualified, due to an illegal exhaust 🤯! And who was second place in GT? The Carrera RSR #47 (chassis #WP0ZZZ96ZPS496074), earning the GT class win by default. Definitively not the best way to win a race, no doubt, but the underdog coming on top? Just priceless in my book. As I always say, NEVER take Le Mans for granted.
I discovered this Carrera RSR story when I was reading about the factory Turbo S LM. It was a brilliant project by the great Norbert Singer, but Le Mans doesn’t care much about “expectations”. So even with factory back-up, it DNF. And then there was the Carrera RSR, orchestrated by Jürgen Barth. Just as brilliant and in my eyes, but definitively the underdog. And since I’m positive that by now everyone knows I have a soft spot for underdogs…😁
With a story like that, I automatically got interested in the RSR. And just as important, Spark made it in 1:43. Yet, being an older release, I was certain that I would never have one in the W-143 Garage. To my surprise, a couple of weeks ago one popped up on MercadoLivre for a VERY good price. I hit the BIN button lightning fast, and here it is. Model-wise it’s your average gorgeous Spark, so no need to waste time praising it. And history-wise, for a Le Mans nut, this is a MUST HAVE* just because of the spicy story behind it.
*: Of course, being such a gorgeous model also helps. A lot 😁.