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38-451: The Aston Martin AMR1 was a Group C formula racing car developed in 1989 for car manufacturer Aston Martin . It participated in the 1989 World Sports Prototype Championship and 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans . Following Aston Martin's racing efforts as an engine supplier for Nimrod Racing and EMKA Racing in the early 1980s, it was decided that Aston Martin would develop their own car for

76-524: A 700 hp (522 kW) 6.0 L engine known as the RDP87. The engine was fitted with a 100 litre fuel cell with a 6.5 litre reserve for extra range. With this combination, a total of four AMR1 chassis would be finished in early 1989. With AMR1/01 completed, testing began in preparation for the first race at Suzuka Circuit in Japan. AMR1/01 was involved in an accident during testing at Donington Park and

114-718: A Brooks (now Bonhams)/ Aston Martin Lagonda auction in 2000. The car sold for £133,500. Currently AMR1/04 is used in the Historic Sportscar Racing series in North America. AMR1/05 is currently raced in Europe by owner Paul Whight. Group C It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touring prototypes like Porsche 935 ) and Group 6 two-seat racing cars (open-top sportscar prototypes like Porsche 936 ). Group C

152-510: A few manufacturers (especially Porsche and Lancia ) had dominated sports car racing by simply increasing turbocharger boost pressure, especially in qualifying trim — the 3.2 L Porsche 935 was capable of more than 800 hp. Engines had to be from a recognized manufacturer which had cars homologated in the FIA's Group A Touring Car or Group B GT Car categories. While the consumption requirement meant that cars needed to conserve fuel early in

190-592: A field of 56 cars. During the race itself, the cars were able to run in the mid-pack before AMR1/03 suffered electrical problems and was forced to retire during the first half of the race. AMR1/01 was able to continue on, was able to finish in 11th place overall. Due to a lack of time between Le Mans and the 3rd round of the World Sports Prototype Championship, Aston Martin decided to skip it, returning instead at Brands Hatch where AMR1/04 took home an exciting 4th-place finish in front of

228-556: A recognized manufacturer which had cars homologated in Group A or Group B. Although it was originally expected that C Junior cars would use two-litre normally aspirated engines, in practice most cars used either the 3.5l BMW M1 engine or the new 3.3l Cosworth DFL , but, like in the main class, a variety of solutions was employed by each individual manufacturer. Alba with a small, lightweight turbo, Tiga , Spice and Ecurie Ecosse with Austin-Rover and later Cosworth-powered cars were among

266-619: A sponsor of Supercars team Walkinshaw Andretti United . As well as sponsoring teams, the brand sponsored the German Grand Prix from 1987 to 2006 and the French Grand Prix from 1998 to 2004 [2] . Since 2003, Mobil 1 has been the official sponsor of NASCAR and sponsors the Command Performance Award, which pays a monetary bonus to the highest-finishing Mobil 1 using team. Since 2002, it has been

304-457: A straight line than the AMR1 (with a predicted top speed of 230+ mph), a problem which had greatly hindered AMR1 at Le Mans. However, with the announcement from the FIA that Group C engine regulations were to change to only allow 3.5 litre normally aspirated engines from 1991, There was not the budget available to develop a new engine and Protech was disbanded and closed in February 1990 before

342-456: Is a brand of synthetic motor oil and other automotive lubrication products. Originally developed by the Mobil oil company, it is now globally marketed and sold by ExxonMobil . Mobil 1 engine oil was introduced in 1973. The brand range now includes a variety of engine oils, oil filters , chassis grease , transmission fluids , and gear lubricants . In 1998, Mobil challenged Castrol over

380-547: The IMSA championship, as its GTP class had similar regulations. With costs increasing, the FIA introduced a new Group C Junior class for 1983. This was intended for privateer teams and small manufacturers and it limited cars to a minimum weight of 700 kg and a maximum fuel capacity of 55 liters. With competitors limited to five refueling stops within a 1000 kilometer distance, the cars were effectively allowed 330 liters per 1000 kilometers. As in Group C, engines had to be from

418-508: The Toyota team. At the time of the end of the 1989 season, Protech was already beginning development of the AMR2 for 1990. With the intention for this car to race alongside another two AMR1's in the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans . The AMR2 combined the chassis of the AMR1, a newer and more powerful 6.3L Version III V8, and an evolved, more aerodynamic body design. The AMR2 was promised to be faster in

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456-633: The WM - Peugeot recorded the highest 405 km/h (252 mph) during the 1988 event — the FIA revolutionized the class by attempting to turn it into a formula series to replace the C2 category (after they proved to be unreliable at endurance races) . The new formula restricted the performance of cars built to the original rules (such as the Porsche 962 used by many privateers) and benefited teams using F1-sourced 3.5 L engines — these latter teams being effectively

494-568: The World Sports Prototype Championship . Thus in late 1987, a partnership between Peter Livanos, Victor Gauntlett, Richard Williams and Ray Mallock - through his shareholding in Scottish racing firm Ecurie Ecosse would be formed, creating a new company known as Proteus Technology Ltd. (Protech). The team would develop and run the AMR1 project, competing for the first time during the 1989 season. Richard Williams

532-486: The "endurance" aspect of the competition as well. Ford (with the C100 ) and Porsche (with the 956 ) were the first constructors to join the series. The traditional turbocharged boxer engine in the 956 was already tested in the 1981 version of the Group 6 936. Eventually, several other makes joined the series, including Lancia, Jaguar , Mercedes , Nissan , Toyota , Mazda and Aston Martin . Many of these also took part in

570-723: The 1982 season until 1985, when the series was reformed as the ADAC Supercup . Under the new Supercup series, only Group C cars would be allowed to compete. This series lasted until 1989. In Great Britain, the Thundersports championship combined a variety of cars with the C Junior (later C2) class of cars. This too was later replaced with a C2 only series known as the BRDC C2 Championship, and lasted until 1990. The European Interserie championship also allowed Group C cars to compete, although they did not use

608-588: The 2002 and 2003 seasons. Mobil, from 1985 to 1993 , was title sponsor of Peter Brock 's Holden Dealer Team and Advantage Racing that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship and in the 1986 European Touring Car Championship . Brock, from 1985 until his death in 2006, appeared in advertising for Mobil 1, including an international campaign that ran in the United States in 2000. Since 1994 , Mobil has been

646-576: The British crowd, then following it up with an 8th-place finish at the Nürburgring . For the 6th round of the year, the World Sports Prototype Championship again returned to British soil. Aston Martin therefore decided to run two AMR1s at Donington Park , debuting newly built chassis #05. The two cars were able to finish 6th and 7th. Both cars raced again at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps where Aston Martin suffered their only other failure to finish in

684-720: The GT1 category, the Dauer 962 Le Mans , and won the race after transmission problems by a leading Toyota 94C-V . The 962 was subsequently banned; the Toyota was later given a special dispensation to race in the Suzuka 1000km , and a few C1 racers were allowed to compete in the newly formed Japanese GT Championship — this would be its final year of competition. Many of the modified open top Group C cars continued to compete until they wrecked, broke, or retired out of competitiveness; notable among these

722-606: The North American IMSA Grand Touring Prototype series ( GTP ). The roots of the Group C category lie in both FIA Group 6 and particularly in the GTP category introduced by the ACO at Le Mans in the mid-1970s. GTP was a class for roofed prototypes with certain dimensional restrictions, but instead of the more usual limits on engine capacity, it placed limits on fuel consumption. The FIA applied

760-488: The chassis AMR2/06 could be completed. AMR2/06 was later built up from left over parts and fitted with an AMR1 body. Aesthetically AMR2/06 looks exactly the same as an AMR1 even with the same Mobil 1 livery. Shortly before closure of Protech, plans for another racing car were put in place. For a 1991 Aston Martin AMR3, this time to be designed by Tony Southgate . But Aston Martin were forced to drop out of motor racing due to

798-409: The discovery that Castrol was processing conventional oil and calling it synthetic. At the time, Mobil 1 was still created using a true synthetic basestock, which is more expensive. Mobil lost the advertising "complaint", and, as a result, the definition of 'synthetic oil' including Group III heavily refined to the point of considering it synthetic. In response, Mobil allegedly downgraded their process to

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836-566: The economic instability of the company at the time. It would be the last racing car produced by Aston Martin for fifteen years until the launch of the DBR9 in 2005. A total of five AMR1 chassis were built. AMR1/01 is now owned by the Aston Martin Heritage Trust. AMR1/03 had also been sold on the open market, selling for €294,250 ($ 359,987) at auction in 2004 AMR1/04 was the first AMR1 to reach auction, selling at

874-537: The large manufacturers alone, as the new formula cars were more expensive than the C1 cars. What followed was the quick downfall of Group C, as the new engines were unaffordable for privateer teams like Spice and ADA . A lack of entries meant the 1993 Championship was canceled before the start of the first race. However, the ACO still allowed the Group C cars to compete (albeit with restrictions) at 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nevertheless,

912-1129: The less expensive process. Lubes N' Greases magazine reported shortcomings in the ability to pass the tests that the original Mobil 1 formula was able to. Mobil 1 is an official recommended motor oil for Porsche , Bentley and all General Motors brands ( Buick , Cadillac , Chevrolet (including Corvette ), Baojun , Wuling Motors and GMSV) for automobiles only. Mobil 1's relationship with Toyota Group covering Toyota , Lexus , Daihatsu , Hino Motors , Perodua and Ranz started in 1974 ( Perodua from 1993) by providing original motor oil lubricants and other fluid components for all across Toyota Group cars and brands. All Toyota Group genuine factory-fill motor oils are jointly-developed by Toyota and Mobil 1. All Hino trucks and buses are also utilizing Mobil Delvac 1 lubricants for Hino-powered diesel engines. Formula One team Williams had Mobil sponsorship from 1978 to 1988, as well as 2009. In 1987 it switched to Benetton , until 1992. Team Lotus also used Mobil 1 in 1994. From 1995 until 2016, Mobil 1 sponsored McLaren for motor oil and other fluid components. Mobil 1

950-431: The most competitive in this class. The low cost of these cars even led to the notion of their use in national championships, such as the short-lived British BRDC C2 Championship . Group C Junior was formally renamed Group C2 for 1984. By 1989, the Group C series popularity was nearly as great as Formula One . When C1 cars were found to be breaking over the 400 kilometres per hour mark at Le Mans ' Mulsanne Straight —

988-453: The primary sponsorship in 1998, and later Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish Jr. took it as well. Penske's IndyCar operations also had Mobil 1 sponsorship from 1991, until the deal was ended after the 2010 season. Since 2011, Stewart-Haas Racing has carried the Mobil 1 sponsorship among their various teams. Toyota Racing Development -supported NASCAR teams also use Mobil oil since 2011. Mobil 1

1026-403: The race still witnessed protests against the new state of affairs, as spectators placed cloth banners in fences expressing their feelings . The 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans was the last one in which Group C cars were permitted. A new category formed especially by race organizers also saw modified Group C cars without roofs. In fact, a former C1 car disguised as a road-legal GT car which was entered in

1064-401: The race, manufacturer support for the new regulations grew steadily with each make adding to the diversity of the series. With the new rules, it was theoretically possible for large naturally aspirated engines to compete with small forced induction engines. In addition, all races were to be contested over at least 1000 km — usually lasting more than six hours — so it was possible to emphasize

1102-679: The same class structure. In Japan, the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship was created in 1983, while the Fuji Long Distance Series also began allowing Group C cars for the first time. It was not until 1989 however that the series concentrated solely on the Group C formula. Both championships lasted until 1992, when they were cancelled along with the World Sportscar Championship. Mobil 1 Mobil 1

1140-399: The same concept in its Group C rules. It limited cars to a minimum weight of 800 kg and a maximum fuel capacity of 100 litres. With competitors restricted to five refueling stops within a 1000 kilometer distance, the cars were effectively allowed 600 litres per 1000 kilometers. The FIA hoped this would prevent manufacturers from concentrating solely on engine development; in the late 1970s,

1178-620: The season, chassis #04 having suffered engine failure. However, chassis #05, which had now been upgraded with an even more powerful 720 hp, Version II 6.3 L V8, was able to finish a respectable 7th. For the final round in Mexico, Aston Martin decided to take only chassis #05, where they finished 8th. Ending the season, Aston Martin had finished 6th in the Teams Championship, behind the factory Mercedes-Benz , Porsche , Jaguar , and Nissan teams, although they were able to defeat

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1216-531: The title sponsor of the 12 Hours of Sebring . Since 2008, it has been the title sponsor of the Porsche Supercup . In 2001, Mobil 1 became the primary jersey sponsor of French Ligue 1 football side Sochaux , which was founded and is owned by the Montbéliard -based Peugeot automobile manufacturers. Sochaux has alternated in recent seasons between wearing partner brands Esso and Mobil 1 across

1254-448: Was a lubricants supplier of DTM team Mercedes-AMG from 1995 until 2010 . It supports Porsche and Corvette sports car programs as lubricants provider since 1996. The Bentley Continental GT3 factory cars are also sponsored by Mobil 1 since 2013. Mobil 1 currently providing sponsorship for Lexus -backed 3GT Racing since 2017 season. In motorcycle racing, Mobil 1 also provided lubricants for Spanish MotoGP team Pons Racing in

1292-484: Was also lubricants supplier for Toyota F1 team in 2007 until 2009 when Mobil took over Esso and Exxon lubricants' productions, Brawn GP in 2009 and also Force India in 2009 until 2013. In 2017, Mobil 1 switched to Red Bull Racing and its sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso , that lasted only for 2017 season. NASCAR Cup Series driver Rusty Wallace was sponsored by Mobil from 1987. In 1991, he carried his sponsorship to Penske Racing . Jeremy Mayfield had Mobil as

1330-550: Was damaged beyond repair. Thus Aston Martin was forced to skip the first round, incurring a $ 250,000 fine by FIA's newly amended rule which required C1 cars to enter all round of the season and instead premiered chassis AMR1/01 at Dijon-Prenois , where it finished a disappointing 17th. Although not part of the World Sports Prototype Championship in 1989, Aston Martin next turned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans . Two cars were entered, chassis #01 and #03. The cars were underpowered in comparison to their competitors, qualifying 32nd and 40th in

1368-425: Was named as the organisations managing director and team manager. Ray Mallock was engineering director, with him, Max Boxstrom would be the lead designer and Reeves Callaway, of Callaway Cars Incorporated , would build the engine. The chassis and bodywork designed by Boxstrom would be built by British firm Courtaulds. For the engine, Callaway would use 5.3 L V8 units from the newly launched Virage , ending up with

1406-695: Was the Porsche WSC-95 which won the 1996 and 1997 Le Mans races, using the monocoque of the Jaguar XJR-14 and Porsche 962 mechanicals (engine, transmission, etc.). The FIA's Group C formula was designed primarily for the World Endurance Championship which included the 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, several smaller series also adapted the Group C regulations. The Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft allowed Group C cars to compete alongside various other types of cars from

1444-514: Was used in the FIA's World Endurance Championship (1982–1985), World Sports-Prototype Championship (1986–1990), World Sportscar Championship (1991–1992) and in the European Endurance Championship (1983 only). It was also used for other sports car racing series around the globe ( All Japan Sports Prototype Championship , Supercup, Interserie). The final year for the class came in 1993. Broadly similar rules were used in

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