Feature
May Event Roundup
With summer just around the corner, May ramped things up with a great selection of driving and social events, as well as two UK tours.
June 1, 2025
Following the recent sad passing of racing legend Jochen Mass, his legacy will live on at this year's Secret Meet with the car he drove at Le Mans in 1987.
The Porsche 962 was a dominant force in sports car racing during the 1980s and early 1990s. It succeeded the Porsche 956 and was designed to meet IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) regulations while also being competitive in the FIA Group C category. It featured A three-litre flat-six turbocharged engine (in various configurations depending on the regulations and race), a monocoque chassis for improved safety and rigidity compared to the 956, and ground-effect aerodynamics for mind-boggling downforce and handling.
Chassis 962-008 is a notable example, and this is the very car we'll be seeing at Secret Meet 2025. Not only was it the last 962 to be built to race in Rothmans colours, it was also one of relatively few 962s to race with a PDK double-clutch transmission. The double-clutch gearbox is a common item these days, but even in the rarefied world of racing in the late 1980s, it was an unknown, untried and unproven concept.
Initially driven by Derek Bell and Hans Stuck, it podiumed every race it finished in the 1987 season. Then, at Le Mans, it took pole at the hands of Jochen Mass, Bob Wollek and Vern Schuppan. Sadly, it suffered engine failure just 16 in, and its sister car (funnily enough piloted by Derek Bell and Hans Stuck, along with Al Holbert) went on to take overall victory.
It was rebuilt to the new MP1.7-spec of the 1988 works Le Mans cars and repainted in the red and yellow Shell livery, and had greater success at Le Mans with ‘The Three Andrettis’ behind the wheel, taking it to a sixth place finish overall. That race was Mario’s pursuit to complete the holy trinity of racing — The F1 World Championship, the Indy 500 and Le Mans. Graham Hill is still the only driver to have won that trio.
It raced at Le Mans for a third time in 1989, and finally took its first victory at 1,000km of Fuji that year, before being retired after the 1990 season. The car was sold to an American collector who returned it to Shell Dunlop livery, before it was restored to the original 1987 season Rothmans livery it wears today.
