| Category | CART IndyCar | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Penske Cars Ltd. | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Nigel Bennett | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
| Suspension (front) | pushrod | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | pushrod | ||||||||
| Engine | Ilmor-Chevrolet 265A V8 90° turbocharged Mid-engined, longitudinally mounted | ||||||||
| Transmission | manual | ||||||||
| Fuel | Methanol, supplied by Mobil | ||||||||
| Tyres | Goodyear Eagle | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants | Penske Racing | ||||||||
| Notable drivers | 3 Rick Mears 5 Emerson Fittipaldi 17 Paul Tracy |
||||||||
| Debut | 1991 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
The Penske PC-20 was a CART Penske Racing car which competed in the 1991 and 1992 seasons. In 1991, it raced in all seventeen events, scoring 3 wins, two with Rick Mears, and one with Emerson Fittipaldi, placed 4th and 5th at the season's end respectively. The most remarkable success of the PC-20 was the 1991 Indianapolis 500 win by Mears, his 4th win at the Brickyard. The car was designed by Nigel Bennett, his 4th car designed for Penske Racing.[1]
Contents |
The PC-20 debuted at the 1991 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix, qualifying 6th and 7th with Fittipaldi and Mears respectively. In the race Mears scored a 3rd place, while Fittipaldi retired with drive shaft failure. After a 4th place finish in Long Beach with Mears, and a 3rd place finish at Phoenix with Fittipaldi, the PC-20 scored its biggest win at 1991 Indianapolis 500. In qualifiyng, Mears clinched his 6th pole at Indy 500 (224.113 mph[2]). Mears battled with Michael Andretti during final stages of the race, who led Rick Mears by 15 seconds when a caution flag flies on lap 182. Andretti was able to make it to the pits for fuel under the yellow, while Mears lined up as the leader. Andretti then completed a daring pass around the outside of Mears into turn 1 on the restart. Exactly one lap later, Mears repeated the move on Andretti, passing him on the outside of turn one to re-take the lead. Another caution does not alter the result as Mears powered away again to his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 Victory,[3] tying A.J Foyt and Al Unser, Sr. During the rest of the season, the Penskes weren't able to compete with Michael Andretti dominance, who clinched the title with 8 season wins.[4] Nevertheless, Fittipaldi won at Detroit, and Mears scored a win at Michigan 500, as confirmation of the PC-20's competitive form on long ovals.[5]
In 1992, the PC-20 chassis was used by Penske Racing, as a third car for Paul Tracy in early stages of season (Tracy was driving the #4 car in second half of the season as replacement for injured Mears), and for entire season by Bettenhausen Racing, with Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. and Stefan Johansson sharing the #16 car, with two 3rd places by Johansson as best results.
| Year | Team(s) | Engine(s) | Tyres | ## | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | Rk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Penske Racing | Ilmor-Chevrolet 265A | G | AUS | PHX | LNG | IND | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIC | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LAG | ||||
| 3 | Rick Mears | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 20 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 145 | 4th | ||||
| 5 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 19 | 17 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 21 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 140 | 5th | ||||
| 17 | Paul Tracy* | 21 | 7 | 25 | 6* | 21st* | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Penske Racing | Ilmor-Chevrolet | G | AUS | PHX | LNG | IND | DET | POR | MIL | LOU | TOR | MIC | CLE | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LAG | |||||
| 7 | Paul Tracy** | 4 | 59** | 12th** | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bettenhausen Racing | Ilmor-Chevrolet | G | 16 | Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. | 13 | 11 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 24th | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Stefan Johansson | 3 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 11 | 47 | 14th |
*Paul Tracy started also in Long Beach for Dale Coyne Racing, scoring no points.
**Only results with PC-20 chassis are shown. Tracy raced in a total of 11 events in 1992 season, scoring 59 points and 12th final place.
|
||||||||||