The 1991 season was to be a 1990 repeat for the title, but this time Nissan won thanks to its consistency. Unlike the other seasons, the Japanese manufacturer had to face a very strong opposition. Jaguar, Toyota, Porsche and Intrepid were all strong contenders and won races. It was by far the most competitive season ever and a welcome new found appeal for the spectators. Five manufacturers would fight it off during the season. Chevrolet, Jaguar, Nissan, Porsche and Toyota. Rules evolved to diminish the available horsepower allotment, but the 1991 cars were faster, however. This was due to an evolution of downforce. Better races were to be produced, and it resulted in a better television coverage, which, of course, was a good thing. But better cars involved better drivers and bigger funding. The private teams were getting eased out of the GTP scene, with literally factory cars starting each race. This fact was obvious from the beginning of the season, which took place at Daytona, as per usual. Only forty six cars would show up at the start. It was the slightest figure ever to be recorded at the Floridian speedway. Three Nissans were entered, but they were not NPT90 models. They were R90s, which were legal for that very race. The cars were entered in LM class. Arie Luyendijk and Julian Bailey drove one car, with Geoff Brabham, Chip Robinson and Derek Daly at the wheel of the second one. Bob Earl, Steve Millen and rookie Jeremy Dale had their own car, too. The undefeated team had to face a host of opponents. TWR was fielding one single car, with Davy Jones, Scott Pruett, Raul Boesel and Derek Warwick sharing the wheel of the Jaguar XJR12. Porsche had seven cars, with 962s and one 966. Most of the cars were European entries, with Joest Racing and Dauer Racing entering two cars. Bob Wollek, Paolo Barilla, Bernd Schneider and Massimo Sigala drove car #6, while Henri Pescarolo, Frank Jelinski, John Winter and Hurley Haywood were at the wheel of car #7. The Andretti family, Mario, Michael and John were on the #0, and the Unsers were to drive #00, Al, Al Jr, Bobby and Johnny gearing for a great inter-dynasty fight!
Mario, Michael and John Andretti shared this Dauer Racing Porsche 962 to finish fifth overall.
Copyright Mike Birch
Dyson Racing had a standard car driven by Rob Dyson, James Weaver, John Paul Jr and Tiff Needell. The last Porsche entered was the familiar Wynn's car, driven by John Hotschkis, Jim Adams and Chris Cord. A new car, which was an evolution of the 962, was to be seen for the first time here at Daytona. It was an open car, no less than a chopped roof 962, and dubbed 966. The car was, of course, unique and prepared by Gunnar Racing. Derek Bell was partnered by his son, Justin, and Jay Cochran. A remarkable fact was that it would be signed up by every willing fan, in order to support the US troops, who were having some hard times in Iraq. A $1 fee was requested for that and 1200 people indulged in. AAR entered two cars, which were HF90 models. Juan Fangio, Willy T Ribbs and Andy Wallace would be serious contenders for the win. Rocky Moran, Mark Dismore and PJ Jones were great outsiders. Two Spice SE90Ps were entered by Tom Milner. They would prove less efficient, as you could surmise, as they were semi-pro cars. Brian Bonner, Jeff Kline, Derrike Cope and Les Delano in the first machine, with Michael Brockman, Scott Sharp, Tim McAdam and Steve Phillips in the second one. They were attractive, though. The Lights class was also interesting, but a new entry was to throw its domination on the field. The Comptech Team had a brand new car, which was powered by a strong Acura engine. Coupled with a very efficient Spice chassis, the duo should rapidly prove quite unbeatable in terms of speed. Parker Johnstone, Doug Peterson and John Cameron were all Acura specialists and up to the task.
The new Spice SE90P Acura entered by Comptech Racing proved unbeatable at Daytona. Parker Johnstone, Doug Peterson and John Cameron easily won their class.
Copyright Kirk Hoffman, courtesy Racingsportscars
Essex Racing relied on the Kudzu, which was still Buick powered. Charles Morgan, Tom Hessert and Jim Pace drove the car. Erie Scientific had a similar car, but it was Mazda powered. Frank Jellinek, John Grooms, Michael and Peter Greenfield had strong hopes in such a race. HDF Motorsports fielded a Spice Buick for Michael Dow, Andrew Hepworth and Hendrick Ten Cate. RJ Racing fielded a Tiga GT288 Buick with Tommy Johnson, Rob Robertson, John Sheldon and Stephen Hynes. The last entry was the Californian based Carlos Bobeda Racing, who had a Tiga GT288 Chevrolet. Michael Sheehan, Kaming Ko and Charles Monk shared this car. The next class was the GTO cars. Roush Racing was back again with Ford Mustangs instead of Mercury Cougars. Two cars were entered, which were driven by Robby Gordon, Mark Martin and Wally Dallenbach, Dorsey Schroeder, Max Jones and John Fergus. They were supported by another car for Jim Stevens, Tommy Grunnah, Jim Jaeger and Craig Bennett. The main opposition would arise from Mazda, whose quadrirotor RX7s were very potent. They were driven by top class drivers such as Price Cobb, Brian Redman and John O'steen, and Pete Halsmer, John Morton and Calvin Fish.
A mighty Oldsmobile Cutlass was entered by MJ Engineering for Roger Schramm-Boris Said-Peter Cunningham-Mike Nolan-Lou Gigliotti. Morrison Motorsports, backed by EDS and Mobil 1, had a pair of Chevrolet Corvette ZR1s. Those cars were almost stock, and were aimed at gathering data for the next generation Corvette. Usual drivers were John Heinricy, Don Knowles, Stu Hayner and Andy Pilgrim, as well as Scott Lagasse, Tommy Morrison, Doc Bundy and RK Smith. Another Chevrolet Corvette, entered by West Coast Trucks, was entered for Bob Hundredmark, Tom Curran, John Forbes and Ken Fengler. The remainder of the GTO field consisted of Chevrolet Camaros, which were more or less competitive. Richard and Bill McDill, running for the twentieth time or so, were the fastest of them. Anthony Puleo was another regular entrant, he shared his car with Jack Boxstrom, Daniel Urrutia, Grant Hill and Nick Holmes. Three other Chevrolet Camaros were registered, too. The GTU class would provide the traditional Nissan versus Mazda fight, with the former slightly ahead. Leitzinger Racing was dominant since 1990, but things were getting tough when it came to longer enduros. They had opted to enter two cars in order to withdraw the less well placed car by the end of the first hour. Bob shared the car with son Butch, David Loring and Chuck Kurtz. Kryderacing had its own Nissan 240SX, run by Reed Kryder, Alistair Oag, Henry Camferdam and Dennis Krueger. Mazda had only three RX7s and one MX6. Roger Mandeville was back in this class with his usual car, now powered by a 12A engine. Amos Johnson and Kelly Marsh were his co-drivers. Dick Greer fielded his now familiar red car, backed by Wendy's, which he drove with Al Bacon, Peter Uria and Mike Mees. Brad Hoyt drove the last one with Leighton Reese and Mike Gagliardo. The MX6 was entered by Botero Racing for Honorato Espinosa, Miguel Morejon, Felipe Solano and Rob Wilson. A single Porsche 911, driven by Jay Kjoller, Pat Mooney and Steve Volk again had to rely on its legendary reliability in order to have things turn good for her. The practice sessions were run under very wet conditions, and the best times were far away from the existing records. Of course, only the best would appear on top of the field. Surprisingly, however, it was a Porsche 962 that grabbed the pole, with Bob Wollek driving. The Jaguar XJR12 driven by Davy Jones was alongside. They were followed by two Nissan R90Cs, respectively driven by Arie Luyendijk and Geoff Brabham. Parker Johnstone was the fastest qualifier in Lights, while Price Cobb was the fastest in GTO. Bob Leitzinger outpaced the GTU field, as expected. The weather was the main concern for most of the teams until the start. Everybody would run on slick tires at the start, which was given on a dry track. At the start, Bob Wollek maintained his position, followed by Michael Andretti, Davy Jones and Arie Luyendijk. Julian Bailey, in another Nissan, spun in the infield and he had to restart dead last. Bob Wollek would have to run hard to keep his position. He did so but he would lose one lap when he was caught in a new shower. The pace car was back for the first time, and the Jaguar was in the lead. The race would be run under the rain and Justin Bell was to experience the setbacks of an open body car. The car was withdrawn. After three hours and a half, Toyota lost a car when Andy Wallace and Willy T Ribbs lost an engine. Davy Jones lost the lead to Geoff Brabham and Arie Luyendijk, while the two Joest Porsche 962s were in fourth and fifth position. James Weaver had taken the lead for a short while, but he and partner John Paul had to cope with failing brakes and headlights. The Jaguar would steadily work its way through the lead, but a series of accidents would occur, and some of the top cars involved were amongst the leaders. Al Unser would hit the wall and his nephew would do the same a little later, destroying the suspension. He littered some debris on the track, and Michael Andretti, followed by Derek Daly, had to pit for repairs after hitting some of them. The pace car had to be back again, and Davy Jones, whose Jaguar was overheating, jumped to his pits for a close scrutineering. Steve Millen had inherited the lead, but he was soon overtaken by Bob Wollek. However, the car would last until mid-race, then the engine broke. James Weaver was soon leading the race, ahead of Henri Pescarolo and Geoff Brabham in the same lap. Unfortunately, the Nissan was to lose some piece of bodywork and lose more ground to the leaders. The race seemed to belong to Porsche, but which one? The Dyson car had to change its battery and lose some time. Joest Racing seemed to have the race packed, but the car finally got into trouble, and pitted with battery problems too. These events allowed Michael Andretti to get closer and take the lead at 9AM. John Winter was not too far, and he could get past the Dauer car when Michael Andretti was unable to restart after a pit stop. Bob Wollek, running as wild as ever, definitively put his car in the lead while Mario and Michael Andretti lost too much time. They would finish fourth overall. The Lights class was not as unpredictable, with the Comptech Spice Acura easily taking the win with a 22 lap margin over its closest opponent. The GTO class could have been a first-time win for a non-Roush car, but it was not to be! Once again, Robby Gordon, Mark Martin, Wally Dallenbach and Dorsey Schroeder powered their car to a GTO win, with a fourth place finish overall.
Robby Gordon, Mark Martin and Wally Dallenbach drove this Ford Mustang to a new GTO win, finishing an impressive fourth overall.
Copyright Mike Birch
The cars legendary unbreakability again proved true. The GTU class again saw a Mazda appear on top, with Dick Greer, Al Bacon, Peter Uria and Mike Mees winning easily over the sole MX6 entered.
The next race was due to take place in Palm Beach, a venue which replaced the now postponed Miami race. Less classy than its counterpart, it attracted a mere twenty two cars. However, it was a very interesting field. Two Jaguar XJR10s were entered by TWR for Davy Jones and Raul Boesel. They would have to face a new opposition in the name of Intrepid Chevrolet. This american car was a sleek machine, powered by a big block V8 6,5L engine. Wayne Taylor was the driver. Jim Miller, who was the team owner, also entered a Spice SE89P Chevrolet, driven by Tom Kendall. Three other Spice Chevrolet were entered, and one car was a works car, driven by Jay Cochran, who was the local entry. Tom Milner had a pair of Spice SE89P Chevrolet, which did not so well at Daytona. Brian Bonner-Scott Sharp and Jeff Kline-Michael Brockman were the two drivers teams. Nissan Performance entered two improved Nissan NPT90s for the usual drivers, who were Geoff Brabham and Chip Robinson. AAR fielded a pair of Eagle Toyotas, now driven by Rocky Moran and Juan Fangio. Three Porsche 962s were entered, plus the enigmatic 966. Joest Racing fielded two cars, with John Winter, Massimo Sigala and Bob Wollek driving one car, and Bob Wollek again, sharing this car with Bernd Schneider. Gianpiero Moretti shared his Gebhardt prepped car with Almo Coppelli. Gunnar Racing had hired Derek Bell and John Paul Jr to drive the open body 966. Jim Adams would drive the Wynn's Spice SE90P Pontiac. The Lights class saw six cars cars show up. Comptech Racing entered a Spice SE90P Acura for Parker Johnstone. Their main contenders would be Spice cars and two Kudzus. Spice Engineering relied on French drivers, in the name of Patrick Bardinon and Pierre Petit. David Tennyson had brought his Denon backed Ferrari powered car. HDF Motorsports had now Mike Sheehan and Jeff Davis drive the Buick powered car. Essex Racing now had two Buick powered Kudzu DG1s, which were visually different, thanks to their different sponsor names. Charles Morgan had a black car while Tom Hessert's car was green. The practice sessions seemed to confirm the fact that Spice cars had really proved and were now cars to be counted upon. Tom Kendall took the pole in Jim Miller's car. he was just ahead of Davy Jones' Jaguar XJR10. During the race, things were to be quite different, with Davy Jones passing Tom Kendall in the first lap, never to be caught again by anybody. He led every lap until the chequered. Tom Kendall was not so happy with his race, and he had to settle for fourth, while teammate Wayne Taylor ended up second, in the Intrepid very first race. Quite an encouraging start for such a car! The Lights class was dominated by Parker Johnstone, as expected. He edged Charles Morgan by one lap at the end of the race.
The next race took place at Sebring, for the second enduro of the season. A sign of the times, perhaps, was the fact that there were no more entry at Sebring than at Daytona. Another similarity was the weather, which was as bad than at the first race. It was a good field, though. Nissan was really willing to catch up a somewhat false start in the season. They entered two cars for Geoff and Gary Brabham, who teamed up for the first time, and Derek Daly. The second car went to Chip Robinson, Bob Earl and Julian Bailey. AAR also had two strong teams with Juan Fangio and Willy T Ribbs on one car, and Rocky Moran and Andy Wallace at the wheel of the second one. Porsche could count on two strong teams, Joest and Momo. Bob Wollek, Bernd Schneider and Massimo Sigala were in #6 and Henri Pescarolo, John Winter and Frank Jelinski drove #7. Gianpiero Moretti shared his car with Stanley Dickens and Helmut Mundas. Two new cars were to show up : Morris Shirazi had purchased Rob Dyson's car. He would drive it with James Weaver and John Paul. René Herzog had Hurley Haywood and Wayne Taylor drive his Alucraft 962. A lonely Jaguar XJR12D was entered for Kenny Acheson, John Nielsen, Davy Jones and Raul Boesel. Three Spices were entered, with two cars from Tom Milner's stable. Brian Bonner, Scott Sharp and Jeff Kline shared one car while the second one went to Tim McAdam, Jeff Purner and Fred Phillips. John Hotschkis had opted not to bring his Porsche and had Jim Adams and Chris Cord as co-drivers. A Fabcar Chevrolet was a welcome addition to the GTP ranks, it was entered by Milner Racing and driven by Les Delano, Craig Carter and Andy Peterey. The Lights class would feature another battle between Spice and Kudzu. Comptech epitomized evil in the eye of the opposition and entered one car for Parker Johnstone and Doug Peterson. Almo Coppelli and Jay Hill were valuable challengers at the wheel of their Buick powered Spice Engineering car. HDF Motorsport fielded a SE89P for Michael Dow, David Tennyson and Ken Knott. Carlos Bobeda entered the same machinery for himself, Andy Evans and George Robinson. Bieri Racing was back to the track after a short stint. The team fielded two cars, a Spice and a Tiga, both Ferrari powered. Martino Finotto, Ruggero Melgrati and Firmin Velez drove the Spice while Uli Bieri and John Graham were behind the Tiga. An old Tiga GT288 Buick was fielded by RJ Racing for Tommy Johnson, Rob Robertson and John Sheldon. Two Kudzu DG1 Buick, entered by Essex Racing was in the hands of Charles Morgan and Jim Pace. Tom Hessert and Costas Los shared the second one. The GTO class was the home of the powerful big bangers, but the American cars were getting challenged by Nippon ones. Roush Racing had three cars, with Robby Gordon and Max Jones, Dorsey Schroeder and John Fergus, and Jim Stevens, Jim Jaeger and Don Walker on a semi-works car. CCR also was back with two Nissan 300ZXs, Steve Millen, Jeremy Dale and Johnny O'connell running the two cars. They would use the usual tactics, consisting of withdrawing the worst placed car after one hour. Mazda Motorsports was getting stronger, and Price Cobb, John O'steen and Brian Redman were drivers you could count upon. Pete Halsmer, Calvin Fish and John Morton were the same caliber. Morrison Motorsport again fielded a pair of Chevrolet Corvettes with Scott Lagasse, Don Knowles and Stu Hayner in one car, and Andy Pilgrim and RK Smith in the other one. A bunch of Chevrolet Camaros could be seen, with Anthony Puleo being the strongest amongst them. Ken Bupp and Rob Peters had another similar car. The GTU class seemed to become dominated by the Leitzinger Nissan 240SX. Team owner and David Loring would set their grasp on the class right from the beginning. The closest Mazda RX7 was Dick Greer's car who was three seconds per lap slower. The second Nissan was just ahead of this car. Brad Hoyt and Leighton Reese were amongst the starters, as well as EJ Generotti, Paul Tavilla and Guy Church on a local dealer entry. Two Porsche 911s were to be seen. Alex Job was co-driven by Chris Kraft and Jack Refenning in a very reliable car, while Jay Kjoller's attractive yellow and red car was an eye-catcher, if not very fast. Patrick Mooney and Steve Volk co-drove the car. A welcome BMW 325, obviously lacking horsepower, driven by David Russell, Cameron Worth and Mike Graham, showed up too. The practice sessions saw Nissan qualifying first, with Geoff Brabham driving, but Porsche would come in second, with Bob Wollek still the fastest of the German horde. Heavy rains would plague the event, which was the first time in twenty six years. At the start, it was all Porsche with Bernd Schneider leading Frank Jelinski and Geoff Brabham. Davy Jones was third, followed by the two Nissan NPT90s. Bernd Schneider, running very strong, soon built a wide gap over his pursuers, but he would spin after six laps. He was passed by Frank Jelinski but the beginning of the race belonged to Joest. Things seemed to straighten out, with Geoff Brabham and Chip Robinson sandwiching Davy Jones while the Toyotas were trailing behind them. Parker Johnstone and Ruggero Melgrati were dicing together, with the best GTO cars close behind. During three hours, it would be a Porsche domination, with the two Joest cars running faster than everyone else, but losing ground in the pits. Unfortunately, Bernd Schneider would pit with a faulty gearshift. With John Winter at the wheel of the second car, the two Nissans now led the race. With a weather now getting worse, Massimo Sigala would pit twice in a row, and he had to switch to rain tires, and back again to slicks, losing two laps. The Lights class, which was dominated by Parker Johnstone, would a big change when the Spice Acura broke its gearbox. Martino Finotto grabbed the lead, just ahead of the works car. The GTO class was dominated by the two Nissan 300ZXs in the early stages of the race, but Mazda took over just after. The rain then turned very bad, and a string of accidents'was to happen shortly afterwards. An unbelievable collision took place between the Bieri Racing cars, which were destroyed. A thirty minute yellow caution was set. The race restarted but two other caution period would ensue, due to car accidents. The race was an endless procession while the race director did not know wether he had to redflag the race or not. Nissan cars were really lucky because time was by their side. The race would restart, but it was still over, as the gap between the Nissans and their followers was too wide, and the Porsche driven by Bob Wollek, Bernd Schneider and Massimo Sigala remained third.The two last small events that happened late in the race did not matter to the leaders.
The Jaguar XJR12D did not run very well at Sebring and the car finally came in fifth overall. Davy Jones, John Nielsen and Raul Boesel drove it.
Copyright Mike Smith, courtesy Racingsportscars
Only the Jaguar could gain on the preceding cars, and Davy Jones finally overtook the Spice Chevrolet driven by Brian Bonner. The Lights class was finally won by the Kudzu driven by Charles Morgan and Jim Pace, who took advantage of a very peculiar situation to beat Spice. Robby Gordon, Max Jones and Dorsey Schroeder finally took the GTO class. They again defeated the CCR Nissan 300ZX driven by Steve Millen, Jeremy Dale and Johnny O'connell. To no one's surprise, Bob Leitzinger and David Loring dominated the GTU class, ten laps ahead of the Porsche 911 driven by Alex Job, Chris Kraft and Jack Refenning. Mazda was only third, with Brad Hoyt and Leighton Reese the best of the rotary power. At the end, a very disappointing race which was actually run 8 hours(caution periods spanned 4 hours!)
(to be continued)
Tim Selby and Earl Roe had one of their best results at Mid Ohio in 1982, finishing 20th overall and 3rd in GTU.
The Porsche 914/6 serial #914 0430 538, as it appeared in 1985. You can see the remarkable paint scheme.
Robby Gordon, Mark Martin and Wally Dallenbach drove this Ford Mustang to a new GTO win, finishing an impressive fourth overall.
The Jaguar XJR12D did not run very well at Sebring and the car finally came in fifth overall. Davy Jones, John Nielsen and Raul Boesel drove it.
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