Description
In Issue #28 you will find:
Cover story
Penske Racing
- The early years – Building a motor racing empire
- Track record – Winning on all fronts
- The blue Ferrari – Sunoco Ferrari 512 M
- A perfect combination – Penske and Porsche
- A brief interlude – Penske in Formula 1
- The leading role – Penske in American open-wheel car racing
- Element of surprise – The IndyCar project with Ilmor-Mercedes in 1994
- Slow start – Penske in NASCAR
Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in motor racing, and its rise is primarily the work of one man: Roger Penske. He pursued his goals with passion, near-boundless energy and good business sense. That same approach has seen his list of companies outside of the sporting sphere enjoy similar success. According to the Forbes List, Penske is one of the 400 richest US citizens, with a fortune estimated at around $2 billion. Penske Automotive is the second-largest car dealer in the USA.
Roger Penske was born on 20 February 1937 in Shaker Heights near Cleveland, Ohio. In 1959 he received an engineering degree at Lehigh University. Penske’s father, an executive in the metal industry, encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur. But Penske wanted to be a racing driver.
The racing driver Roger Penske
His first win came in a Porsche at Lime Rock in 1959. Two years later he won his first Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) title. He was considered to be one of the most promising young talents in the country and even took part in two US Grands Prix at Watkins Glen in 1961 and 1962, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. In 1962 Penske converted a Cooper-Climax Formula 1 car into a two-seater sports car eligible for SCCA races. He replaced the 1.5-litre Climax motor with a 2.7-litre engine. Even at this young age, Penske had the ability to wring the rule book dry. At around the same time, he met Mark Donohue for the first time. It was a moment that would turn out to have great significance in both their lives.
Penske also built his own car, the Zerex Special, in which he was able to win a few races. Zerex was a product made by the Dupont Group, which had backed Penske’s project financially. Penske was already a gifted negotiator when it came to finding sponsorship money for his racing. Alongside motorsport, Penske worked for Chevrolet. He became sales manager at the Chevrolet branch in Philadelphia and, aged just 28, took control of the business. At the end of 1964, his business partners convinced him to give up racing and concentrate on his entrepreneurial activities…
Also in this issue…
- Uwe Mahla about the Deutsche Rennsport-Meisterschaft
- Eckhard Schimpf about Bordward in Formula 1
- Jo Ramirez about his time with ATS
- Jean-Marc Teissedre and Thomas Nehlert on Jean Rondeau
- Back on Track – Lotus 18 Ex-Camoradi
- and many more!
The magazine contains a large-sized fold out poster of the cover story including illustrations and technical data of the Penske PC-23 on the back.
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