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Category | IndyCar | ||||||||
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Constructor | Porsche | ||||||||
Designer(s) | Hans Mezger | ||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||
Chassis | Blend of moulded aluminium and composite carbon | ||||||||
Length | 4,660 mm (183 in) | ||||||||
Width | 2,010 mm (79 in) | ||||||||
Height | 980 mm (39 in) | ||||||||
Wheelbase | 2,800 mm (110 in) - 2,850 mm (112 in) | ||||||||
Engine | Porsche 2.65 litre V8 turbocharged | ||||||||
Power | 750 hp (560 kW) | ||||||||
Weight | 1,550 lb (700 kg) | ||||||||
Fuel | Methanol (Shell) | ||||||||
Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||
Debut | n/a | ||||||||
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The Porsche 2708 is an open-wheel race car made by Porsche to compete in CART Indy car racing, between 1987 and 1990. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
At the beginning of the 1988 season, Porsche took part in the U.S. CART series. The car was completely redesigned, the aluminum-plastic monocoque and the V8 engine developed by Hans Mezger were specially designed for this purpose. The latter was the main element of the vehicle. Methanol was used as fuel, a requirement of the CART regulations.
Al Holbert, who had won Le Mans three times in a Porsche 956 sports car and was fourth in the Indianapolis 500 in 1984, was a test driver but died in a plane crash in September 1988. Another driver was the 1987 Indy winner, Al Unser, who was 49 years old at the time. The Porsche-owned car was disappointed on both high-speed ovals and normal routes. In Indianapolis Teo Fabi and the green and white Quaker State/Porsche, March/Porsche Indy qualified 17th, but retired after 30 laps with problems with one bike.
One of the three vehicles built is on loan to the Cité de l'Automobile - Musée National - Collection Schlumpf in Mühlhausen, but belongs to the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen. One is now part of the permanent exhibition "Success story: Porsche Motorsport" in the EFA Museum for German automobile history in Amerang / Chiemgau.
Most of the CART teams, apart from Penske Racing or AAR Eagle, did not build their own car, but bought a chassis, e.g., B. from Lola, and equipped it with engines from Chevrolet, Ford-Cosworth, Judd, or Buick. Porsche opted for March Engineering, manufacturer of the CART championship car from 1986 and 1987 and a five-time Indy winner with Cosworth engines. The 89 models were adapted to the Porsche engine and called the 89 P, which is why the vehicle ran as the March-Porsche 89 P until the end of its use in 1990. However, during that time, Chevy engines in Lola or Penske chassis were most successful.
Fabi qualified 13th in Indy in 1989, but retired after 23 laps with an engine failure.
In 1990 John Andretti came to the train, which at least started in tenth place. Both now blue cars supported by Foster's managed over two-thirds of the distance of approx. 800 km, but retired due to an accident and gearbox damage.
The involvement in the CART series was discontinued at the end of 1990 and, in retrospect, assessed as not very successful. Similar to the Formula 1 World Championship at the beginning of the 1960s, it was possible to point to a victory - that of Teo Fabi on September 3, 1989, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. However, Porsche soon started a monoposto project again with the naturally aspirated Footwork Porsche FA 12 in Formula 1.
A total of 15 copies of the Porsche 2708 and March-Porsche 89 P were produced. A blue number 4 is in Tübingen [4]
Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles.
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 four valves per cylinder.
Teodorico Fabi is an Italian former racing driver. He competed in Formula One, IndyCar, and sports car racing. He claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Teo is the older brother of former Formula One driver Corrado Fabi.
Chaparral Cars was a pioneering American automobile racing team and race car developer that engineered, built, and raced cars from 1963 through 1970. Founded in 1962 by American Formula One racers Hap Sharp and Jim Hall, it was named after the roadrunner, a fast-running ground cuckoo also known as a chaparral bird.
Team Penske 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 Daytona, the organization has also competed in various other types of professional racing such as Formula One, Can-Am, Trans Am, and Australia's Supercars Championship. Altogether, Team Penske has earned over 500 victories and over 40 championships in all of auto racing. Team Penske is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske. The team president is Tim Cindric.
David Keith Duckworth was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One.
The 79th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1995. Sanctioned by USAC, it was part of the 1995 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season. Jacques Villeneuve won in his second start. After dominating the 1994 race and the 1994 IndyCar season, Marlboro Team Penske failed to qualify for the race. Two-time and defending Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. and two-time winner Emerson Fittipaldi (bumped) could not get their cars up to speed. A noticeable period of decline followed for the team until 2000 when Gil de Ferran won the CART championship, and subsequently the team returned to Indianapolis in 2001.
The 78th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 1994. The race was sanctioned by United States Auto Club (USAC), and was included as race number 4 of 16 of the 1994 PPG IndyCar World Series. For the second year in a row, weather was nary a factor during the month. Only one practice day was lost to rain, and pole day was only partially halted due to scattered showers. Warm, sunny skies greeted race day.
The 74th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 27, 1990. Dutchman Arie Luyendyk took the lead with 32 laps to go, and earned his first-ever victory in championship-level competition. It was the second consecutive year the Indy 500 was won by a foreign-born competitor, the first time that had occurred since 1965–1966. Luyendyk completed the 500 miles at an average speed of 185.981 mph (299.307 km/h), a record that stood for 23 years until 2013. In reference to the long-standing speed record, the 1990 race had often been referred to as "The Fastest 500."
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1920 after two initial attempts in 1905 and 1916. The series is self-sanctioned by its parent company, INDYCAR, LLC., which began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with CART's successor, the Champ Car World Series and the history and statistics of both series, as well as those from its predecessors, were unified.
The 1987 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 9th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 16 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Bobby Rahal was the national champion, winning his second-consecutive title. The rookie of the year was Fabrizio Barbazza. The 1987 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Al Unser won the Indy 500, his record-tying fourth victory at Indy.
The 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 10th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Danny Sullivan was the national champion, winning for Team Penske. The rookie of the year was John Jones. The 1988 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Rick Mears won the Indy 500, his third victory at Indy.
The 1989 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 11th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Emerson Fittipaldi was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Bernard Jourdain. Fittipaldi became the second driver after Mario Andretti to win the Formula One World Championship and the CART championship.
Truesports was an automobile racing team founded by Jim Trueman based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team is best known for winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and back-to-back CART championships in 1986 and 1987. The team won 19 points-paying Indy car races.
The 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the seventeenth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of U.S. American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 17 races, beginning in Miami, Florida on March 5 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 10. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Jacques Villeneuve. Rookie of the Year was Gil de Ferran. This was the last season before the formation of the Indy Racing League by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner, Tony George, and the last time the United States Auto Club-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 would appear in the Series.
The 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 16th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART under the name "IndyCar". The season consisted of 16 races. Al Unser Jr. was the national champion, his second CART title, and the rookie of the year was Jacques Villeneuve. The 1994 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Al Unser Jr. won the Indy 500 from the pole position, his second career victory in that event.
The Cosworth GBA is an extremely powerful turbocharged V6 racing engine, designed and developed by Cosworth, in partnership with Ford, for use in Formula One, from 1986 to 1987. The customer engine was raced by both Lola and Benetton. In the registration lists it appeared under the designations Ford TEC or Ford TEC-Turbo. The GBA was the only supercharged Formula 1 engine that Cosworth and Ford had in the so-called turbo era, and at the same time the last new development to be used before turbo engines were banned in 1989. The Cosworth GBA competed in 1986 and 1987. Only available to selected Formula 1 teams, it did not score a win in a Formula 1 World Championship round.
The Ilmor-Chevrolet 265-A is a turbocharged, 2.65 L (162 cu in), V-8 Indy car racing engine, designed and developed by Ilmor, in partnership with Chevrolet, for use in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series; between 1986 and 1993.
The Porsche Indy V8 engine is a 90-degree, four-stroke, single-turbocharged, 2.65-liter, V-8 Indy car racing engine, designed, developed and produced by Porsche, for use in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series; between 1980 and 1990. The engine was used in March chassis cars.
The March 89C, and its derivatives, the 89P and 89CE, are open-wheel race car chassis, designed and built by March Engineering, to compete in the 1989 IndyCar season. The 89C chassis only won one race, and took two pole positions, all with Teo Fabi. It was powered by numerous engines, including the Cosworth DFX turbo engine, the Porsche Indy V8 engine, and the Alfa Romeo Indy V8 engine.