I came across this very realistic painting of these 2 C9 prototypes Sauber Mercedes in the 1989 edition of the 24 hours race.

I was there and saw car number 61 win the race

In the meantime the track portion painted above has changed slightly. The view is from what was known as Brit’s Hill which basically was a mud hill packed with people. I watched a few starts of the race from that particular spot which no longer exist and has been replaced by a large viewing screen.

The engine had a Group C capacity equivalence of 8.454 litres. The C9 was able to win all but one race in the 1989 season. During qualifying, the Baldi/Acheson/Brancatelli C9 recorded a speed of 400 km/h (248 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight . In spite of this, it was the car of Schlesser/Jabouille/Cudini which occupied pole position on race day. The Sauber C9s would go on to finish first, second and fifth in the race. Mercedes driver Jean-Louis Schlesser would end up taking the driver’s championship that season.