1976 PORSCHE 930 TURBO « Gr. 5 » FIA

French registration title We owe this car to Jean-Louis Château, who drove in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on three occasions in 1974, 1976 and 1977, and who, like the greatest manufacturers present at Le Mans, decided to innovate in order to shine! After a lacklustre 1975 edition, the ACO decided in 1976 to play the liberalism card by welcoming Gr. 5 and Gr. 6 and an interesting GTP category; he then slipped into the breach by creating a Porsche 930 Turbo which quickly evolved into a twin-turbo, drawing all the attention of Porsche AG... After taking part in 1974 at the wheel of a Porsche 3.0 RSR prepared by Louis Meznarie, Jean-Louis Château decided to enter his Porsche 911 3.0 Turbo in Gr. 5; with a hybrid body between an RSR and a 934, it had the front and rear wings of the former and the more developed aero of the 934 with a more openwork front spoiler and a rear spoiler, alternating between the original and a spoiler close to that of the 934/5 seen during testing in particular. According to its weight book at Le Mans, the car weighed just 1,027kg on the scales; on paper, it was a formidable weapon, but reliability problems prevented it from playing spoilsport. The trio of Jean-Louis Château, Dominique Fornage and Jean-Claude Geurie retired in the 7th hour due to a gearbox problem... A few years later, the car burned to the ground in a garage fire! In 2021, under the impetus of its owner and the expertise of Sébastien Crubilé (Crubilé Sport), the car will be rebuilt with the agreement of Jean-Louis Château, a close friend of the Crubilé family. The base car is a 1976 Porsche 930 registered in France, purchased by its owner in 2005. Prepared for Classic Endurance Racing by Peter Auto from 2008, the car first competed in Gr. 4. In this initial configuration, the car took part in Le Mans Classic in 2010, 2012, 2018 and 2022 editions; in the meantime, a dozen or so CER starts marked its return to the historic scene before its preparation in Gr. 5 in 2022 for the 2023 edition of Le Mans Classic marking the event’s centenary Having obtained its Historic Technical Passport (FIA class: HTS5) valid until 2032, this unique single-turbo Gr. 5 Porsche 930 Turbo finished 15th in grid 6 during qualifying for the 2023 Le Mans Classic, 13 seconds from pole and 8 seconds behind the first Porsche 935. Timed at 262 km/h on the Hunaudières straight, its performance, grip and great reliability enabled it to cross the finish line at an impressive pace Completely restored this winter at Crubilé Sport, which has been following the car for nearly 16 years, the body has been reinforced, every anchor point and torque and torsion absorbing element has been re-welded; the original engine (6700581) has been completely rebuilt, as have the brakes and running gear; the single-turbo has been retained to ensure its great reliability and easier tuning, but its future owner will be able to upgrade it to a twin-turbo if he so wishes! Sold with a copy of its 1976 Le Mans weight book, a large file of invoices, its old PTHs and its French registration papers, its future owner will be able to take the wheel of it at the start of the greatest races on the historic calendar