2008 Le Mans Group C

Mark Sumpter took a fine second place in the Group C race at Le Mans on Saturday (14 June) when he raced the Paragon Porsche 962 in the support race ahead of the famous 24-hour race.  

The Paragon Porsche team travelled to France to enter the cars of Sumpter and Andy Purdie in the 40-minute race, the highlight of the Group C Racing season as the Le Mans cars of the 1980s returned to the famous track.    

With up to a quarter of a million spectators present for the main event, it was a big occasion for the team and the drivers, who were both racing at Le Mans for the first time. "It was a big ask for the team to learn all about such a big event," said Sumpter. 

Purdie spent time on his PlayStation to try and learn the track, as qualifying was limited to a pair of 30-minute sessions on the eight-mile track.  "I spent the first session learning the track and I knew I could go faster," said Sumpter, even though he was still second fastest with Purdie third. "Thursday's qualifying was wet so we didn’t go any faster, but we were both really enjoying the circuit," said Mark.    

Sumpter got a good start into the race and slotted into second with Purdie fourth, but Purdie was soon forced to retire when a crown wheel and pinion failed. Sumpter worked clear of third-placed Fredy Kumschick and was chasing race leader Justin Law when he came upon yellow flags after another car suffered a blown engine. "I got caught behind two slower cars and lost six seconds, so that allowed Justin to really get away. Then I lost another eight seconds later in the race with more backmarkers," explained Mark.   

However, second was still a fine result for his first race at Le Mans. "It was brilliant to be on the podium, and even at that time of the morning there was 100,000 people watching the race. It's a huge event! My car was hitting 190mph on the Mulsanne Straight and some of the other cars were reaching 210mph."