WM P88
The fastest car ever recorded at Le Mans.
The WM P88 is a Group C sports prototype built by the French team Welter Racing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It holds the top speed record at the Circuit de la Sarthe, having reached 405 km/h, the fastest speed ever recorded there.
Gérard Welter and Michel Meunier, Peugeot designers by day, built their first car in 1969 from a Peugeot 204 convertible, calling it the WM P69. They debuted at Le Mans in 1976 with a closed GTP car powered by a modified Peugeot PRV engine. Built by volunteers, the car performed well in later races but struggled against the Group C cars introduced in 1982. After the 1986 race, Welter and Meunier shifted focus to a single goal: breaking 400 km/h on the Hunaudières straight. This became the Objectif 400 project, an evolution of their earlier cars.
The 1987 WM P87 used an aluminium monocoque with a central reinforcement beam. Box-like structures were added to the nose and sides to support wider bodywork. Suspension was conventional independent on all four wheels. The body was shaped in the Peugeot wind tunnel, where the team tested on Sundays for four months. The wider body covered the wheels to reduce drag, and new ducts routed fresh air from the nose under the front suspension to the turbo intercoolers. Ground effect generated most of the downforce, with longer wheelbase and Venturi channels than the previous model, plus a front splitter and large rear wing for balance. The engine was a 2.8-litre, twin-turbocharged 90° V6 PRV producing up to 850 hp at maximum boost.
For 1988, the WM P88 was built with help from coachbuilder Heuliez. It refined and lightened the P87 by 65 kg, added new rear suspension for larger Venturi tunnels, and used a larger-displacement engine delivering up to 900 hp.
In pre-race testing for the 1987 race, the P87 suffered engine management problems and could not complete two consecutive laps, recording 356 km/h. Once fixed, it reached 416 km/h during an exhibition on a new motorway in June 1987. In the race, poor fuel damaged the engine, forcing retirement. The ACO speed traps recorded 381 km/h, though the team claimed a higher speed from their own measurements.
In 1988 qualifying, the P88 did 387 km/h, but the official radar reading was again lower. During the race, the P87 retired after 13 laps with a broken transmission.
- Constructor
- Welter Racing (Welter-Meunier)
- Class
- Group C
- Engine
- 2.8-liter twin-turbocharged PRV V6 (later enlarged for P88)
- Power
- up to 900 hp
- Top speed
- 405 km/h (official); 407 km/h recorded
- Chassis
- aluminium monocoque with box-like structures
- Notable driver
- Roger Dorchy
Lore & Background
The WM P88 was built for the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans as an evolution of the WM P87, with the help of French coachbuilder Heuliez. It refined and lightened the previous car by 65 kg, equipped new rear suspensions to allow larger Venturi tunnels, and used a larger-displacement engine capable of delivering up to 900 hp. The car's bodywork was modeled in the Peugeot wind tunnel, and it exploited ground effect for downforce, with a front splitter and rear wing for balance.
In qualifying for the 1988 race, the P88 recorded 387 km/h, though the team believed the official radar reading was lower than the car's actual speed. During the race, after spending over three and a half hours in the pits with engine and bodywork problems, driver Roger Dorchy returned to the track. With the turbo pressure raised, he reached speeds over 400 km/h for several laps, with a maximum recorded speed of 407 km/h. Peugeot chose to officially state 405 km/h as the top speed, using it as marketing for their new 405 sedan. The car later retired due to electrical, cooling, and turbo problems.
For 1989, the team fielded a P87 and a P88 chassis, both renamed P489, with minor updates and a different rear wing. The objective shifted to finishing the race rather than setting speed records. One car was damaged by fire in testing; the other started but retired after a high-speed engine failure and subsequent fire. This was Welter-Meunier's final year at Le Mans; the partners dissolved the company at season's end.
Reader's Guide
The WM P88's significance lies in its achievement of the highest speed ever recorded at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a record that still stands. This was the culmination of the Objectif 400 project, a focused effort by a small French team with limited resources to break the 400 km/h barrier on the Hunaudières straight. The car's speed was enabled by extensive aerodynamic work in the Peugeot wind tunnel, ground-effect design, and a highly tuned twin-turbocharged PRV V6 engine. The official top speed of 405 km/h was chosen by Peugeot for marketing purposes, though the car actually reached 407 km/h. The very high speeds achieved by the WM P88 and other prototypes prompted the FIA and ACO to modify the Hunaudières straight by adding two chicanes in 1990, making it impossible to reach 400 km/h there again. After racing, the P88 was placed in the Heuliez collection and was auctioned in 2012 without its record-setting engine, which is believed to remain with Gérard Welter.
Did You Know?
- The WM P88 reached an official top speed of 405 km/h, but actually recorded 407 km/h during the 1988 race.
- Peugeot chose to use 405 km/h as the official speed to market their new 405 sedan.
- The car's engine became a '250mph hand grenade' due to stress, leading to retirement.
- The P88 was sold at auction in 2012 without its record-breaking engine, which is believed to still be held by Gérard Welter.
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