The 1989, ALD C289 Group C2 Sports Prototype, of Frank Lyons, in front of the National Pits, during the 2022 Silverstone Classic.
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 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 using a carbon-fibre/honeycomb chassis powered by a Cosworth DFL V8.
Size: 4026px × 2341px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., 3, 1989, 2022, 3500cc, alain, ald, c2, c289, c289-02, chassis, classic., cosworth, crew, descartes, dfz, endurance, entry, frank, group, lane, le, louis, lyons, mans, national, pit, pits, prototype, racing, rear, serpaggi, silverstone, sports, times, wing
