Launch LC1 Race Car

Constructor	Lancia
Type	Group 6 World Sports Prototype Championship
Class	Race Car
Team	Martini Racing
Designed by	Dallara
Substitute	Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo
Replaced by	Launch LC2
Chassis	aluminium monocoque
Motor	4-cylinder in-line Lancia, 1,425 cm³ turbocharged
Transmission	manual gearbox, 5 speeds, rear wheel drive
Length	4700 mm
Step	2500 mm
Weight	665kg
Tyres	Pirelli
Debut	1982

The Lancia LC1 was a competition car (sports prototype type) built by Lancia to compete in the 1982 season of the World Sports Prototypes Championship.

History

Lancia had dominated the two previous editions of the championship with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo, entered among the Group 5 silhouette cars. Still managed by Cesare Fiorio, Lancia Corse had intended to develop its turbo engine, but the new regulations awarded points for the constructors' title only to the newly formed Group C and Group B and put Beta Montecarlo out of action. Lancia did not have a competitive Group C sports-prototype engine, so it aimed only at the drivers' title by taking advantage of the FIA ​​sporting regulations which to fill the field only for the 1982 season, allowed prototypes built according to the old Group 6 regulations to still be deployed (among others), as long as they had a displacement of less than 2.0 litres. Lancia LC refers to two-seat prototypes - racing cars used by Lancia in long-distance races from the 1982 season, following the Group C rules newly introduced by the FIA.

In the 1982 season came in the World Sportscar Championship numerous rule changes in force the previous groups 1-6 by the newly created (and newly regulated) groups A, B and C replaced. In Group C, the fuel consumption of sports cars was limited, the engine design, however, almost arbitrary.

Lancia as brand world champion of the years 1980 and '81 initially had no competitive car due to these changes in the regulations, since the heavily modified Lancia Beta Montecarlo was no longer allowed under Group 5 regulations, i.e., a touring car. The minimum weight of Group C cars was 800 kg, while Group 6 was only 600 kg. Although Group 6 cars were still allowed to race in 1982, they were not subject to the new gasoline limitation, which made them favourites for overall victories, but they were only eligible for points in the drivers' championship, not for the World Championship.

Lancia therefore quickly built parts of the existing Group 5 technology in two based on the rules of the previous Group 6, built by Dallara open sports car with a new lightweight chassis. This chassis was similar to the design of the former Monoposto Formula 1, but was made wider to allow the installation of the prescribed two seats and weighed only 55 kg including roll bar. To further reduce weight, the engine and transmission have now been designed as load-bearing parts for the rear suspension. The Lancia LC1 baptized car reached a weight of 640 kg and was thus 140 kg lighter than the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Group 5, Unlike the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Group 5, the engine on the LC1 is also longitudinal and not transverse to the vehicle axle.

Thanks to the lower weight, the low consumption and the stability of the proven Group 5 engines, he was also - at least theoretically - an absolute winner. The problem that the 1.4-liter 16V four-cylinder turbo engine overheated easier, and never got properly under control.

designed and built by Dallara was built around the 1,425 cm³ engine (equal to 2 litres thanks to the factor 1.4) of the " Montecarlo Group 5 " (but rotated 90° to be mounted longitudinally): with a tub chassis conventional monocoque, it was very light - it weighed 640 kg (25% less than its opponents in Group C), which, combined with a power of around 450 HP, gave it an excellent weight/power ratio. Furthermore, in the Group 6 regulations the miniskirts were allowed to touch the asphalt, ensuring more effective ground effect when braking and cornering. The cars were not subject to the consumption limitations of the "Group C", a fundamental element for example at Silverstone, with its 700 hp it was slowed down by excessive consumption. The gearbox was a Hewland TG 300 derived from Formula 1. The front suspension was a deformable wishbone, with a single upper arm and double lower arms, external spring-shock absorber units and anti-roll bar. At the rear there were deformable quadrilaterals, but they had wider lower arms and external spring-shock absorber units, like at the front; There is an anti-roll bar. The Pirellis, after three years of collaboration with Lancia, were specific to the car both in the race and in qualifying. The bodywork had a long tail that covered the rear wheels, while two versions of the nose were available: a concave one for greater aerodynamic load, for slow circuits, and a convex one for fast circuits.

Performance:
Maximum power (in competition): 430 HP at 8500 rpm (1.5 bar supercharging)
Maximum power (in qualifying): 460 HP at 8500 rpm (1.65 bar supercharging)
Limiter: 9300 rpm

Like the Beta Montecarlo, the LC1 also had Martini Racing colours, associated with the MS cigarette brand. Unpainted aluminium rear wing and matt black wheels. The race numbers 50, 51 and 52 were retained throughout the championship.

Achievements 

The pole position in Monza as well as victories in Silverstone and at the Nürburgring spoke a clear language - one had first the nose ahead of the competitors, who developed completely new vehicles, the Porsche 956 and the Ford C100. The riders were also selected: Riccardo Patrese, Michele Alboreto and Teo Fabi were three active Formula 1 drivers, Piercarlo Ghinzani and the two Germans Rolf Stommelen and Hans Heyer.

The goal was, of course, a success at Le Mans, where the factory Porsche had back in 1981, and should dominate the next few years. In 1982, Lancia, with great financial help from Martini & Rossi, the former Porsche sponsor, came with two cars to the Sarthe. The car with the number 51, driven by Alboreto, Stommelen and Fabi, fell after 92 laps with a defective intercooler. Not much better was the second car with the start number 50, driven by Patrese, Ghinzani and Heyer. After several repairs, the vehicle stopped after 152 driven laps in the Mulsanne with a major engine failure.

The 1982 season 

Cesare Fiorio reconfirmed the drivers from the previous season: Riccardo Patrese, Michele Alboreto, Teo Fabi and Piercarlo Ghinzani.

The first race was the 1000 km of Monza on 18 April, where the concave-nosed cars qualified on the front row. The Patrese/Alboreto car led the race for four hours, before retiring due to a faulty distributor, and the other car was slowed down twice due to the tires and a puncture in the radiator, which was then replaced. He eventually retired due to the distributor.

At the 6 Hours of Silverstone (16 May), given the layout of the track, the convex nose was used. In qualifying Ghinzani was the best of the team, second behind the Porsche 956 Group C of Jacky Ickx. Patrese and Alboreto led the first part of the race, before stopping in the pits to change tires and repair the tail damaged during an overtaking. Ghinzani and Fabi took the lead for the next 2 hours until the engine broke, leaving the victory to Patrese although his clutch failed towards the end.

For the 1000 km of the Nürburgring on 30 May, which was still run on the Nordschleife , the concave nose was returned to obtain more load. The official Porsche squadron was not participating: busy preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the German brand was represented only by private individuals. Patrese suffered a terrible accident in practice when he went off the road but emerged unharmed. Due to the accident, Fiorio shuffled the crews, which were now Alboreto/Fabi and Ghinzani/Patrese, with the latter driving only for the central part of the race. At the start Ghinzani ran away, but a puncture forced him to the pits and his subsequent comeback, which was interrupted by a broken gearbox. Fiorio then decided to assign Patrese the last shift of driving the other car still in the race, to give him points in the drivers' championship. The victory of the Alboreto/Fabi/Patrese crew led the latter to achieve three victories in three consecutive weekends in the two major FIA championships: on 16 May the 6 Hours of Silverstone, (with Brabham) and the 1000 km of the Nürburgring on 30 May.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans was held on the weekend of 19-20 June and the Lancia Corse team lined up its cars with convex noses equipped with headlights and installing a specific rear wing, with less downforce and greater penetration, in search of maximum speed on the very long Hunaudières straight. Patrese/Ghinzani/ Heyer on the nº50 and Alboreto/Fabi/ Stommelen on the nº51.
After qualifying in fourth and fifth place, fuel pump problems for both cars meant the race got off to an uphill start. Alboreto remained stationary for an hour along the circuit before managing to bring the car back to the pits, while Patrese lost almost an hour in the pits to resolve the problem: after an hour of racing the two Lancia’s were 52nd and 53rd and had covered the just one lap. Alboreto, Fabi and Stommelen continued to race for another seven hours, but retired with an exploded engine while they were 26th. Patrese, Ghinzani and Heyer maintained a frenetic pace for 15 hours, but the turbo betrayed them when they were in 22nd place. The Porsche hat-trick almost completely made up for the deficit in the standings. The championship began again on September 5th: 4 races in 6 weeks.1000 km the Lancia LC1s had to bow to the Porsche 956s, who scored a one-two with Jacky Ickx / Jochen Mass and Derek Bell / Vern Schuppan and left third place to Patrese and Fabi; Alboreto and Ghinzani retired, stopping along the track without fuel due to a faulty fuel gauge.

Two weeks later the 1000 km of Mugello took place, in which the official Porsches did not take part and where the Lancia’s instead dictated the law: first Ghinzani and Alboreto and second Alessandro Nannini and Corrado Fabi, Teo's brother; in third place Bob Wollek, Hans Heyer and Henri Pescarolo in the Porsche 936C of the Joest Racing team.

On 3 October the 6 Hours of Fuji was held in Japan: in testing the performances of the official cars were equal, but in the race the Lancia’s were slowed down by various problems. Ickx/Mass won, with Teo Fabi and Patrese second by two laps. On 17 October the eighth and final race took place: the Brands Hatch 1000km. Porsche already had the constructors' title in its pocket and was not willing to enter the race, but its driver Ickx was still competing with Patrese for the drivers' title and convinced them to compete. Under the downpour that afflicted the race weekend, the Ford C100s stood out in testing , followed on the grid by the Lancia’s of Patrese/Fabi in 3rd place and Alboreto/Ghinzani in 4th  At the start of the race the Fords immediately took the lead and in this initial phase the two American cars ran side by side, with the aim of both staying out of the cloud of water raised by those in front, but the two cars eliminated each other, careening in middle of the track and forcing the race director to suspend it: Ickx had about 6.3 seconds ahead of Patrese .

At the restart Hans Stuck led the race in his Sauber, followed by the Ford C100 of Marc Surer, the Porsche 935 of the British John Fitzpatrick, Ickx, Bob Wollek in the Porsche 936C and by Teo Fabi, while Alboreto was delayed. It stopped raining, but the track was very wet and in the space of a few laps the two cars fighting for the title took the lead, but the Porsche consumed more fuel and an extra refuelling forced it to make up a delay of over a minute on a track that was drying out and whose grip changed from lap to lap. Ickx began a frenetic comeback and passed under the checkered flag with a delay of only 1.6 seconds and then won the race by sum of times with 4.7 seconds of advantage: the first Endurance drivers' world title went to Jacky Ickx (95 points), Patrese second with 87 points.

The 1983 season

The 1983 World Endurance Championship no longer allowed Group 6 cars to compete, so the three-remaining chassis (chassis #1 was destroyed in the Nürburgring accident) of the LC1s were converted to Group C. By regulation the bodywork was transformed into a coupé and the minimum weight was increased from 640 kg to 810 kg, with the same engine as the previous year, thus losing the advantage in terms of agility and weight/power ratio. They were brought into the race by Scuderia Sivama Motors and entrusted mainly to Oscar Larrauri and Massimo Sigala, but, given the poor results the best was 5th at the 1000 km of the Nürburgring, at the end of the season they were restored to their original state and sold to collectors.