Roger Penske might be far from a household name in Britain, but there’s a good reason he will be one of the featured guests at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
With his team Penske having won multiple Indycar and Nascar titles and set to serve as a factory team for Porsche for their return to endurance racing in 2023, the American is perhaps the most influential person in motorsport outside of racing. Formula 1.
He is also one of the most respected. Imagine if Ferrari or Mercedes bought the rights to the F1 World Championship: there would be accusations of bias and conflict of interest everywhere. Yet in 2019, Penske bought not only the Indycar series, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well; and instead of questioning that decision, rival team leaders widely celebrated it, believing it would revitalize both the series and the legendary circuit.
d the legendary circuit. A lot of it comes from respect for his passion for motorsport. Until he stepped down in 2020 to avoid conflicts of interest, the captain had always been chief strategist for one of his Indycar drivers – despite being 74, worth around $ 2 billion. of dollars and the chairman of a company employing about 65,000 people, with activities also in automotive logistics and truck rental dealers. He even almost bought the dying Saturn brand from General Motors in 2009.
Before going into business, Penske was an accomplished runner. But her strength was in managing a team, not in leading it. And his success isn’t limited to the American series: his company also won the Australian Supercar title last year and raced in F1 in the 1970s.
John Watson’s victory with a PC4 at the 1976 Austrian GP remains the last time an American team won in F1 (although the car was built in Poole).
In essence, it’s hard to think of a company that has competed in such a wide range of series with such success. And that’s because of Penske’s leadership. He’s a true legend, and he’s forged such a vast career that only an event like Goodwood could properly celebrate him.
Those of you with tickets will be able to enjoy an impressive cohort of Penske cars coming up the hill, including the McLaren M16B which claimed its team’s first of its team’s Indy 500 victories in 1972 and the controversial PC23, which was using a bespoke stock block Mercedes V8 to dominate the 1994 race.
There will also be a Nascar in attendance, as well as a lineup of F1 cars, including winner Watson, and Ford boss Jim Farley will drive the Australian Supercar-winning Mustang.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-09 05:01:24
