The London Historic Trophy 2026 will bring Group C machinery back to Brands Hatch from June 19-21, 2026, with 13 cars from five manufacturers due to take part in demonstration runs across the weekend.
The programme will be one of the headline elements of the event, reviving an era closely tied to the Kent circuit. Group C cars raced at Brands Hatch eight times between 1982 and 1989, producing winners from Porsche, Jaguar and Sauber-Mercedes.
For the London Historic Trophy 2026, the cars will run on Saturday at 13:05pm and Sunday at 12:40pm. The line-up is set to include Porsche 956 and 962 machinery, Jaguar XJR sports-prototypes, Sauber-Mercedes C9 and C11 entries, Nissan R90CK and NPT-90 cars plus two Spice GTP prototypes.
Porsche will be represented by four chassis at the London Historic Trophy 2026. The group includes 956 chassis 101, the first customer 956, which was entered by Kremer and driven by names including Alan Jones, Mario Andretti and Keke Rosberg. It finished third at Le Mans in 1983. The Porsche presence will also incorporate 962 chassis 007, one of two lightweight Rothmans Works cars built for 1987; 962 chassis C04, a rare Chapman honeycomb aluminium-chassis car that raced in the US; and 962-RLR 201, which gave Damon Hill his sole Le Mans 24 Hours start in 1989.
Jaguar’s role in the London Historic Trophy 2026 will cover both its American and World Sportscar Championship programmes. The XJR-5 chassis no. 11 represents the Group 44 era and Jaguar’s return to Le Mans after a long absence. TWR’s XJR-8 chassis J12-C-387 brings the purple 1987 championship-winning period into view, while XJR-12 chassis J12-C-990 has Brands Hatch significance, having won there in 1988 as an XJR-9 before later development.
Sauber-Mercedes will provide one of the central stories of the London Historic Trophy 2026. Kenny Acheson is due to drive a Sauber-Mercedes C9, the model in which he won the 1989 Brands Hatch 1000km with Mauro Baldi. That season also brought Acheson victory at Spa and second place at Le Mans. The C9 will be joined by C11 chassis 89.C11.00, the development car for the model that dominated the 1990 World Sportscar Championship.
Nissan’s Group C effort will also feature at the London Historic Trophy 2026. The R90CK, represented by chassis no. 3, recalls the manufacturer’s 1990 Le Mans campaign, when Mark Blundell put a Nissan on pole. The NPT-90 chassis no. 4 reflects Nissan’s IMSA success in America, where Electramotive-developed cars helped Geoff Brabham to four consecutive titles between 1988 and 1991.
The line-up is completed by two Spice prototypes. SE89P chassis no. 003 was built for US GTP racing and used a Chevrolet V8 developed by Pratt & Miller. SE90P chassis no. 009 was supplied new to John Hotchkis and carries Wynn’s colours, with Pontiac-branded small-block V8 power.
More details on the London Historic Trophy 2026 at Brands Hatch can be found here.
