Lloyd’s banker
With the chassis of 106B wrecked, a replacement was needed. 106B2 went on to race in Liqui Moly livery
Attention at the 1986 Brands Hatch 1000Kms for the 956 of Bob Wollek and Mauro Baldi
McKLEIN
When Jonathan Palmer careered into the barriers at Spa’s Pouhon corner at the beginning of September 1985, it left the Richard Lloyd Racing team with a problem. Given the bespoke nature of its ‘106B’ 956 it couldn’t simply order a new tub from Porsche like its privateer rivals, and that meant RLR missed the Brands Hatch 1000Kms on September 22.
Most team personnel agree the honeycomb tub was disposed of to a local Northamptonshire scrap metal merchant. A replacement tub was built up by Bob Sparshott and the new ‘106B2’ appeared at Fuji for the 1000Kms race in October, but the race weekend was hit by terrible rainstorms, and Lloyd withdrew its precious new car from the race like the rest of the European entrants.
As it didn’t travel to Malaysia for the final round, Fuji remains the only time B2 appeared in Canon livery. The car then raced throughout the 1986 World Sportscar season under the new team name of Liqui Moly Equipe, securing another famous Brands Hatch 1000Kms win, before being forcibly retired at the end of the season when the 956 was outlawed due to the driver’s feet being beyond the line of the front axle.
Dire conditions at the ’86 Fuji 1000Kms – and the last outing for the 956 in Canon colours
DPPI
It was then given a quick smarten up back at the factory before joining Lloyd’s private collection. It was seen in public on rare occasions before being auctioned after Lloyd’s death – where it failed to sell.
Current owner Patrick Morgan, founder of Dawn Treader Performance, then agreed a private sale including a significant archive of material from the RLR years. Since then Morgan has undertaken a long-term restoration of the car through his engineering business to better-than-new condition, and plans to demo the Canon-liveried car in selected events.