The Penske PC1 was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racing car developed and raced by

Penske Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Da ...

during the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and

1975 Formula One season The 1975 Formula One season was the 29th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 List of Formula One World Constructors' Champions ...

s. The car was designed by Geoff Ferris, and was raced by drivers

Mark Donohue Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victory. Donohue is probably best kno ...

and John Watson. The PC1 entered and competed in 12 Grands Prix, and was replaced by the Penske PC3 in the 1976 season.

Development

Penske Racing (later renamed to

Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...

) was formed in 1968 by American motorsport entrepreneur

Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937), also known as "the Captain", is an American auto racing team owner, businessman, and former professional driver. Penske is the owner of Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and ...

. The team remains the last American team to win a

Grand Prix (the

1976 Austrian Grand Prix The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 15 August 1976. It was the eleventh race of the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 54-lap race was ...

). In 1973, Penske purchased the facilities of small racing car manufacturer McRae Cars Ltd in Poole, Dorset in the UK. McRae Cars had been founded by New Zealand racing driver and constructor Graeme McRae, a designer and competitor in the F5000 racing formula. Starting with just six employees, Penske appointed his then Porsche

Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974, and again from 1977 to 1987. The Can-Am rules were deliberately simple and placed few limits on the entries. This led to a wide variet ...

team manager, Swiss Heinz Hofer, as F1 manager, and Geoff Ferris as chief engineer/designer. Rounding-out the F1 team was Karl Kainhofer, Penske's long-standing chief mechanic and engine builder, who joined the UK operation in mid 1974. By late summer in 1974, the team unveiled their first car, named the PC1, an aluminium

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

chassis built around a

Ford Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had f ...

3.0-litre

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

and a

Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

FG 400 gearbox. Penske Racing entered Formula One at the

1974 Canadian Grand Prix The 1974 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on 22 September 1974. It was race 14 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Niki Lauda ...

held at

Mosport Park Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-Race track, track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville in Clarington, Ontario, Canada, approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of To ...

, Ontario, using seasoned driver

, who had driven for Penske in

Indycar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

before being elevated to team manager of the US Penske operations. Donohue had retired from motorsport at the end of the 1973 season, but returned to full-time competitive driving for Penske in Formula One. Donohue had previously raced in Formula One in a Penske-sponsored

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

in 1971, competing in two races, the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix () is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports car event, before alterna ...

and the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

Racing history

1974

The PC1 made its debut at the

with Donohue qualifying 24th and finishing 12th. Donohue retired from his and Penske's home race at the subsequent

1974 United States Grand Prix The 1974 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 6, 1974, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 15 of 15 in both the 1974 World Championship of Drivers and the 1974 Inte ...

held at Watkins Glen after qualifying 14th, failing to finish the race due to rear suspension failure. The Penske team scored no World Championship points during the 1974 year.

1975

Roger Penske planned a full season with the PC1 for 1975, but it turned out to be a difficult season for the Penske team and a tragic one for Donohue. The first race of 1975 was the

1975 Argentine Grand Prix The 1975 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Buenos Aires on 12 January 1975. It was race 1 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the twelf ...

and Donohue finished seventh. Donohue retired from the

Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix (), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix (), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos neighborhood, Cidade Dutra, São Paulo. The in ...

because of a handling issue. The

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, South Africa, East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Ri ...

saw Donohue finish eighth. Donohue retired from the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...

when he and Alan Jones ( Hesketh) crashed after hitting oil dropped onto the circuit by the car of

Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (; born 29 January 1950) is a South African former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to . Scheckter won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and remains the only Afric ...

( Tyrrell). The

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the wo ...

saw Donohue abandon the race after he had an accident. Donohue finished 11th at

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix () was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp ( Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, Sweden. The first race to hold ...

saw Donohue finish fifth. The American finished eighth at

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. The

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championship. It is one of the oldest ...

saw Donohue retire from the race due to transmission failure. The PC1 was retired after the French Grand Prix, and Penske entered a March 751 for the next three races. Donohue badly crashed the 751 in the final practice session of the

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix () is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, and –. It returned to the Formula One calendar in , where it has remained since then. It was first held at ...

and suffered severe concussion. He regained consciousness briefly at the circuit, but fell unconscious again at the hospital. An emergency operation to relieve pressure on his brain was unsuccessful, and he died from his injuries. A track marshall was also killed in this accident. The Penske team chose to miss the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

, returning for the

. For this race the March 751 was abandoned in favour of the team's newly developed Penske PC3 driven by Northern Irish driver John Watson. Watson used the car in practice sessions and qualified 12th, but technical problems with the car forced him to switch to the spare PC1 for the actual race. Watson finished ninth in the PC1. The Penske team scored two World Championship points during the 1975 year.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Non-Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{F1 cars 1975 Penske Formula One cars