Penske PC27-Mercedes - McLaren Hall - Donington Grand Prix Museum, Leicestershire
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member SMacB
N 52° 49.642 W 001° 22.009
30U E 610035 N 5854315
Wind tunnel scale model of the PC27, the last car from the Penske factory in Poole in Dorset and raced in the 1998 Champcar season by # 2 Al Unser Jnr. and # 3 Alex Riberio.
Waymark Code: WMXR0Q
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/17/2018
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Outspoken1
Views: 0

"1999 I Penske PC27-Mercedes.
Racing cars used to be about big, fat, slick rubber tires and engine grease. In the last couple of decades, Formula 1 has become all about aerodynamics. Although wings have been clamped onto Formula 1 cars since the late 1960s, today their development has become a science, the main tool of which is the wind tunnel. All teams now either own or rent wind tunnels, and some team's staff use them 24 hours a day, seven days per week. To develop the car aerodynamics, teams spend an average of about $50 million to build a wind tunnel at their factory. It is one piece of equipment that separates the big budget teams at the front of the grid from the small budget teams at the back of the grid. As with airplane wind tunnels, a car wind tunnel is a massive tube joined at each end and with fans producing airflow. From an operating room beside the tunnel, a team's aerodynamics engineers monitor a model of the Formula 1 car and study the computer signals that define the way it reacts. Rather than moving the model - most are half the size of the real car, but some use full-scale models - the wind moves over the car wings as if the car were traveling at a given speed.

This is the actual wind tunnel model used by Team Penske."

SOURCE - info board

"The Penske PC-27 was a CART racing car designed by John Travis and manufactured by Penske Cars in Poole, Dorset. The design was based around the team's 1997 car, the PC-26. It competed in the 1998 CART season and, as the PC-27B, in part of the 1999 season; in 30 races, its best finish was second at the 1998 Budweiser 500k in Japan. The PC-27 was the last CART racing car built by Penske, before the team switched permanently to customer chassis.

1998

The PC-27 made its debut at the first race of the 1998 season, the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, Unser Jr retired with a broken transmission and Ribeiro finished 17th. Both drivers finished the Budweiser 500k, The American second and the Brazilian ninth. Both drivers retired at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Unser Jr had contact with Hélio Castroneves and Ribeiro with an oil leak. The Brazilian failed to qualify for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota and the American finished 15th. Both drivers retired at the Rio 400, Unser Jr with engine failure and Ribeiro with a broken transmission. For the second race in a row, both drivers retired. it was the Motorola 300, the American had contact and the Brazilian with a broken transmission. Both drivers finished the Miller 200, Unser Jr 3rd and Ribeiro 18th. The American retired with a broken transmission at the ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix and the Brazilian finished 16th. Both drivers finished the Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco/Havoline, Unser Jr finish fifth and Ribeiro 15th despite stopping with three laps to go with a broken transmission. The American finished 17th despite stopping with four laps to go with a broken shift linkage at the Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Star Bank and the Brazilian retired with a broken transmission, Unser Jr finished 17th despite a collision with Gualter Salles at the hairpin at the Molson Indy Toronto and Ribeiro retired with a broken transmission. Oil leaks put both drivers out of the U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota. Both drivers finished the Miller Lite 200, the American sixth and the Brazilian tenth. Both drivers retired at the Chicago Tribune Presents Texaco/Havoline 200, Unser Jr had contact with Patrick Carpentier and Ribeiro with engine failure. Both drivers finished the Molson Indy Vancouver, the American fifth and the Brazilian seventh. The second race in a row both drivers finished a race, The Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Texaco/Havoline 300, Unser Jr sixth and Ribeiro 14th. The third race in a row both drivers finished a race, The Texaco Grand Prix of Houston, the American seventh and the Brazilian 17th. The fourth race in a row both drivers finished a race, The Honda Indy 300, Unser Jr 22nd and Ribeiro 13th. Both drivers retired at the final round of the 1998 season, the Marlboro 500 presented by Toyota, the American had contact and the Brazilian with an oil leak.

1999

The team modified the PC-27 into the Penske PC-27B and Unser Jr stayed with the team but Penske ran one car for most of the 1999 season. The first race of the season was the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, Unser Jr crashed and broke his leg. He was replaced by Brazilian Tarso Marques for the Firestone Firehawk 500K and finished 14th, The Brazilian retired at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach after a collision with Hélio Castroneves and Scott Pruett. Unser Jr returned for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota but retired with a crash. Two PC-27B's were entered for the American and the Brazilian for the Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200, Marques ninth and Unser Jr 12th. Before the Motorola 300 Unser Jr used the Lola B99/00, Marquez continued to use the PC-27B but retired with a crash. The team ran the B99/00 for the next five races. (Miller Lite 225 Presented by Kmart, Texaco/Havoline Presents Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200, Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar, The Chicago Tribune Presents Texaco/Havoline 200 and the Molson Indy Toronto.) so, the PC-27B returned at the U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota with two PC-27B's entered for Unser Jr and American Alex Barron, Engine failures put both drivers out of the race. The team ran the B99/00 for the next five races. (Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit, Miller Lite 200, Target Grand Prix Presented by Shell, Molson Indy Vancouver and the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring The Shell 300.) so, The PC-27B returned at the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston with only Unser Jr and finished 15th. Mechanical problems put the American out of the Honda Indy 300. Two PC-27B's were entered for Unser Jr and Barron for the final round of the 1999 season, The Marlboro 500, Unser Jr finished seventh and Barron retired when he crashed."

SOURCE - (visit link)
Where is original located?: The McLaren Hall - Donington Grand Prix Museum [WMXR0W]

Where is this replica located?: The McLaren Hall - Donington Grand Prix Museum

Who created the original?: Team Penske

Internet Link about Original: https://www.fanmercedesbenz.com/mercedes-benz-penske-pc27-1998/

Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1998

Visit Instructions:
Post at least one photo of the replica.
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