When Porsche and Rothmans teamed up for the 1982 World Endurance Championship few would have guessed that this was to become one of the most successful partnerships in the world of motorsport. It also gave us one of the most recognisable liveries along with Gulf, Martini Racing and the JPS Lotus.

With drivers such as Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Stefan Bellof, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan, the sight of a Group C Porsche 965/962 in full flight must have been terrifying for their competitors. In the six years between 1982 and 1987 the Rothmans Porsches won the World Endurance Championship ( which then became the World Sports-Prototype Championship) 5 times and managed 26 wins out of a possible 55. That’s a 47% winning rate.
On top of that the Rothmans cars also won at Le Mans 4 times in 6 years – the Porsche 956/962 actually managed 6 consecutive wins between 1982 and 1987 and then again in 1994.

Porsche and Rothmans also teamed up to tackle the Paris Dakkar Rally winning outright in 1984 with a modified 4WD 911SC and again in 1986 with the 959.

Such was the success of this pairing that even today tributes to the Rothmans Porsche livery can been seen at local racetracks around the world on cars varying from the humble 924 to Cayenne’s set up for serious off road driving.


Warren E.