# Sauber C8

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Racing car model

Sauber C8 Category Group C Prototype Constructor Sauber Motorsport Designer Peter Sauber Predecessor Sauber C7 Successor Sauber C9 Technical specifications Chassis Light alloy monocoque Suspension (front) double wishbones, coil springs over shock absorbers, torsion bar stabilizer Suspension (rear) double wishbones, coil springs over shock absorbers, torsion bar stabilizer Length 189 in (480.1 cm) Width 78 in (198.1 cm) Height 42.1 in (106.9 cm) Axle track 63 in (160.0 cm) Wheelbase 106.3 in (270.0 cm) Engine Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0 L Turbo 90° V8 Twin KKK turbos Mid, longitudinally mounted Transmission 5-speed Manual Weight 870 kg (1,918.0 lb) Fuel Bosch Motronic MP 1.2 Fuel Injection Tyres Dunlop, Goodyear Competition history Notable entrants Sauber Racing Kouros Racing Team Noël del Bello Notable drivers John Nielsen Dieter Quester Max Welti Henri Pescarolo Christian Danner Mike Thackwell Debut 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans Races Wins Poles F/Laps 7 1 0 0 Teams' Championships 0 Constructors' Championships 0 Drivers' Championships 0

The **Sauber C8** was a [Group C](/source/Group_C) [prototype](/source/Prototype) race car introduced in 1985 for the [24 Hours of Le Mans](/source/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans) as the first in a partnership between [Sauber](/source/Sauber) and [Mercedes-Benz](/source/Mercedes-Benz).

## Design

Mercedes decided not to put forth the money for a full effort on their own until they had time to develop the production-based M117 5.0L Turbocharged V8. Therefore, Mercedes turned to Sauber to create a chassis for them and initially to run the team before Mercedes took on a larger role. Sauber chose to evolve the previous [C7](/source/Sauber_C7) prototype for the C8, although modifications were needed to house the larger V8 instead of the C7's previous Inline-6.

## Racing history

In its debut at the [1985 24 Hours of Le Mans](/source/1985_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans), Sauber was able to qualify 17th. However, an accident at the [Mulsanne Straight](/source/Mulsanne_Straight) with [John Nielsen](/source/John_Nielsen_(racing_driver)) at the wheel caused enough damage that the car was not able to participate in the race.[1] The team promised to appear at a few more races in the [World Sportscar Championship](/source/World_Sportscar_Championship) season, but never showed.

For 1986, the team became known as Kouros Racing Team, and the C8 was entered in the full season of the [1986 World Sportscar Championship season](/source/1986_World_Sportscar_Championship_season). For the first two races the C8 showed promise, with an 8th and a 9th. However, later in the season two C8s were entered in the [1986 24 Hours of Le Mans](/source/1986_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans) where neither car finished. For the [1000km of Nürburgring](/source/1000km_N%C3%BCrburgring), the team was able to achieve its first victory[2] with drivers [Henri Pescarolo](/source/Henri_Pescarolo) and [Mike Thackwell](/source/Mike_Thackwell),[3] made all the more important by being won in front of the [Mercedes-Benz](/source/Mercedes-Benz) executives in attendance. With this victory the Kouros Racing Team was able to end the season 5th in the teams championship.

In 1987, the Kouros team switched to the newer [Sauber C9](/source/Sauber_C9), while C8 chassis #2 was sold to privateer French team Noël del Bello, which entered the [1987 24 Hours of Le Mans](/source/1987_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans) and [1000km of Nürburgring](/source/1000km_N%C3%BCrburgring), but failed to finish either race. Noël del Bello continued into 1988, but failed to finish any of the races it entered again.

### Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Class No. Team Drivers Laps Pos. Class Pos. 1985 C1 61 Sauber Racing John Nielsen Dieter Quester Max Welti — DNS DNS 1986 C1 61 Kouros Racing Team John Nielsen Mike Thackwell 61 DNF DNF C1 62 Kouros Racing Team Henri Pescarolo Christian Danner Dieter Quester 86 DNF DNF 1987 C1 42 Noël del Bello † Pierre-Alain Lombardi Gilles Lempereur Jacques Guillot 4 DNF DNF 1988 C1 42 Noël del Bello Racing † Bernard Santal Noël del Bello Bernard de Dryver 157 DNF DNF

† Privateer team

## See also

- [Mercedes-Benz motorsport](/source/Mercedes-Benz_motorsport)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Hold Onto Your Jaws: A Sauber Mercedes C9 Has Hit The Market @ Top Speed"](https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/hold-onto-your-jaws-a-sauber-mercedes-c9-has-hit-the-market/). *Top Speed*. 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2021-08-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["The five coolest cars at the 2019 Monza Historic"](https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/historic/2019/9/the-five-coolest-cars-at-the-2019-monza-historic/). *www.goodwood.com*. Retrieved 2021-08-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Sauber's half centenary"](https://www.historicracingtechnology.com/2020/05/saubers-half-centenary/). *Historic Racing Technology*. 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2021-08-08.

v t e Sauber Motorsport Founder Peter Sauber Notable personnel Mariano Alperin Alessandro Alunni Bravi Andrea Benisi Jörn Becker Mattia Binotto Ruth Buscombe Dirk de Beer Lucia Conconi André de Cortanze Giampaolo Dall'Ara Elliot Dason-Barber Rémi Decorzent Gabriele Delli Colli Jost Capito Alessandro Cinelli Alex Chan Steve Clark Jacky Eeckelaert Luca Furbatto Eric Gandelin Craig Gardiner Brendan Gilhome René Hilhorst [ja] Nicolas Hennel Monisha Kaltenborn James Key Mike Krack Axel Kruse [pt] Urs Kuratle Josef Leberer Amiel Lindesay Jose Manuel López Tim Malyon Jan Monchaux Matt Morris Seamus Mullarkey Francesco Nenci Steve Nichols Tom McCullough John Owen Steven Petrik Pascal Picci [pt] Xevi Pujolar Willy Rampf Leo Ress [ja] Simone Resta Sergio Rinland Iñaki Rueda Paul Russell Tony Salter Marco Schüpbach Andreas Seidl Loïc Serra Erik Schuivens Mark Smith Julien Simon-Chautemps Stefano Sordo Lee Stevenson Willem Toet Mario Theissen Frédéric Vasseur Pierre Waché Ben Waterhouse Jonathan Wheatley Max Welti Ian Wright Jörg Zander Beat Zehnder Christoph Zimmermann Notable drivers Karl Wendlinger Heinz-Harald Frentzen Johnny Herbert Jean Alesi Nick Heidfeld Kimi Räikkönen Felipe Massa Giancarlo Fisichella Jacques Villeneuve Robert Kubica Sebastian Vettel Kamui Kobayashi Sergio Pérez Nico Hülkenberg Marcus Ericsson Charles Leclerc Zhou Guanyu Valtteri Bottas Gabriel Bortoleto Former drivers See category Sportscars C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 SHS C6 C7 C8 C9 C11 C291 C292 Formula One cars C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 As BMW Sauber F1.06 F1.07 F1.08 F1.09 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 As Alfa Romeo C38 C39 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 Related Audi in Formula One Alfa Romeo in Formula One BMW in Formula One Sauber Academy

v t e Mercedes-Benz sportscar racers 1925–1931 Monza SSK 1952–1955 W194 300 SLR 1985–1991 (built by Sauber) C8 C9 C11 C291 C292 1997–1999 CLK GTR CLK LM CLR 2010–present SLS AMG GT3 AMG GT3 AMG GT4 AMG GT2

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sauber C8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauber_C8) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauber_C8?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.