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- Racing Car Diecast Museum
- 1F Le Mans 24 Hours
- 1988 Sauber C9 - Mercedes #61 (LM24)
1988 Sauber C9 - Mercedes #61 (LM24)
Hot Wheels Premium 1/64
Track Day Collectors Set (2023)
Series: 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours
Class: C1
Team: Team Sauber Mercedes
Drivers: Mauro Baldi, Jochen Mass, James Weaver
Result: Did Not Start
Hot Wheels released the Sauber C9 as a premium casting. It has 3 releases so far and all of them are based on real cars. Looking at the spoiler, the Hot Wheels casting seems to be based on the Le Mans cars. The sprint configuration of the car had a slightly different rear wing. It is for that reason that I listed this down as the Le Mans entry.
The Sauber C9 was introduced in 1987 and it was not an official factory team yet during that time. It was in 1988 when the cars were fully ran as factory entries, party I believe due to their previous sponsors not renewing the contract. 1988 was a pretty successful year for the team in the championship. finishing 2nd to the Jaguars. In Le Mans however, the Sauber Mercedes team would suffer a massive setback. During a practice session, one of the team's cars suffered a tyre blowout while travelling in the Hunaudieres straight, just before the Mulsanne corner. After some analysis, the team announced that they would be withdrawing their entries. It should be noted that during this time, there were still no chicanes in the Hunaudieres Straight so it was a sensible decision by the Sauber Mercedes team. The team would return with a bang next year though as they would manage to finish 1-2 in the race. They would also dominate the World Sportscar Championship winning all but one race.
