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  Penske PC3 Cosworth      

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Country of origin:United States
Produced in:1976
Numbers built:2
Designed by:Robin Herd / Geoff Ferris
Successor:Penske PC4 Cosworth
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:May 22, 2008
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Click here to download printer friendly versionThe switch to the British customer car was immediately successful as Donohue clinched fifth at the car's debut. Two races later it all went terribly wrong for Penske and most of all Donohue as he crashed the 751 in Austria after a tyre burst at 270 km/h. Initially he seemed to have escaped uninjured, but he sadly died a few days later from a brain hemorrhage. Having just lost his principle driver, Penske nevertheless persevered and fielded the brand new Penske PC3 for British driver John Watson in the final race of the season. Although bearing the Penske name, the PC3 was a clever development of the March 751 and bore a close resemblance. Watson used the car in practice, but due to a technical failure was forced to switch to the old PC1, which was in the paddock as a demonstrator, for the race. He finished in a lowly ninth, but his performance earned him a Penske Formula 1 drive for the following season.

The bugs were ironed out of the PC3 and Penske looked completely ready for its second full Formula 1 season. Despite Penske's and Watson's best effort, the team could still run no higher than in the mid-field. Fifth was again the best the Penske could manage. During the Swedish Grand Prix Penske debuted the PC4, which was again fully developed in Poole by Geoff Ferris. It was an obvious improvement, but due to a first lap crash this was not reflected in the result. Success finally came in France where Watson placed the PC4 on the podium. Ironically Watson claimed his and Penske's first victory at Zeltweg, where Donohue had perished a year earlier. The bearded driver had already qualified on the first row and clinched the well deserved win with a gap of over ten seconds. Unfortunately the now beardless Watson only managed to score one more point and Penske ended the season in a joined fifth.

Just over two seasons of struggling, tragedy and rare success were enough for Penske and he returned to the United States. Back home he continued where he had left off by winning everything that he set his mind to. Over seventy years old now, he is still the driving force between Team Penske, which is active in NASCAR, IRL and the ALMS, needless to say with great success. The Penske Formula 1 cars were sold to his partner Gunther Schmidt and raced under the 'ATS Penske' banner in 1977 with a number of top ten finishes as best results. It is safe to say that Penske does not look back at his time in F1 with great pleasure and probably not for the lack of his usual success, but more so for losing his principle driver and close friend. The current Penske Racing facility still features murals depicting Donohue driving many Penske entered machines.

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  Article Image gallery (32) Chassis (2) Specifications