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1989 Group C
ALD C289 Sports Prototype
Chassis # C289-02
Regarded by many as a modern 'golden age' of sports car racing, the FIA's Group C category for closed prototypes lasted from 1982 to 1993. Rather than being based on engine
capacity and weight, the traditional parameters of motor racing formulae, Group C placed a limit on the amount of fuel permitted but otherwise allowed constructors virtually a free hand in design. As interest in the
class grew, the world's major motor manufacturers joined the fray with Ford, Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lancia, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all fielding works entries. As costs inevitably increased,
the C2 class for smaller manufacturers and privateer teams was introduced, which placed further restrictions on fuel consumption. The Cosworth DFL V8 and BMW M1 inline 'six' were the most popular engines among
the C2 contestants, which included Alba, Tiga, Spice, Ecurie Ecosse and ALD.
ALD was the creation of Louis Descartes, a keen motor racing enthusiast who had begun his career in the French Hill Climb Championship driving such diverse cars as a Renault 8
Gordini and a Lola. The director of a public relations company from Levallois-Perret in Northwest Paris, Descartes formed his own racing team, 'Automobile Louis Descartes' (ALD) in 1984.
Jean-Paul Sauvee was recruited to design and build a new Group C2 car for the team. Based around a conventional sheet-aluminium monocoque with triangulated front and rear
suspension, the first ALD was powered by an ex-Schnitzer BMW M1-style, M80 3.5-litre 440bhp six-cylinder engine. The ALD '01' made its debut at Le Mans in 1985 driven by Louis Descartes himself, Jacques
Heuclin, (the mayor of Seine-et-Marne) and Daniel Hubert, who had designed the car's bodywork. As a small private constructor, one of the last in sports car racing, the team did well to make the finish of the
24-hour race.
Between 1986 and 1988, ALD continued to develop the original car and produced chassis '02', '03' and '04'. All were BMW-powered and most of the C2 WEC/WSC rounds were entered.
In 1989, chassis numbers '05' and '06' were built as customer cars for Didier Bonnet while a new works car was constructed this time using a carbon-fibre/honeycomb chassis powered by a 3.3-litre Cosworth DFL V8.
Designated 'C289', the car represented a quantum leap forward technologically and was campaigned in all the WSC rounds of 1989 including the 24 hours of Le Mans.
In 1990 with the demise of the C2 class, a 3.5-litre Cosworth DFZ was installed and once again the team undertook all rounds of the championship. With four fulltime employees, a plastics
moulder and a dozen volunteers, Descartes and his team's return on their huge investment of effort, enthusiasm and cost was always likely to be small against the likes of the works teams of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche,
Jaguar, Nissan and Toyota. Although adept at attracting a myriad small sponsors, Descartes was never able to secure a really large backer to finance his efforts on a long-term basis. Drivers of the calibre of Francois
Migault were ALD regulars but often, less experienced, paying-drivers also had to be taken aboard in order to help fund the team and results were hard to come by.
ALD C289 chassis # 02 - believed the carbon-fibre only example manufactured despite the nomenclature - was campaigned throughout 1989 with competitor number '177', taking in
the entire World Sportscar Championship plus Le Mans, and similarly in 1990 as '106' (Le Mans) and '35' (WSC). ALD then built a new Cosworth-powered car for Philippe de Henning and 'Gigi' Taverna to drive in the
WSC and sold C289 # 02 at the end of 1991. Finally powered by a 3.0-litre Peugeot engine, C289 # 02 returned to Le Mans for a third time in 1992 when it was driven by Caradec, Touroul and Pachot. The car was
then kept by its owner until being sold in 2001.
Competition History for C289 # 02
World Sportscar Championship
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