With Stuttgart triumphing in Formula 1 briefly…
The 1980’s were heady times for Porsche, with
it’s multi-pronged foray’s into single seater racing, a discipline that
Stuttgart wasn’t renown for…
Thee Ronster’, aka Ron Dennis shrewdly enticed
Mansour Ojjeh, owner of TAG Electronics to foot the bill for a brand new
1.5-litre turbocharged engine. Although McLaren’s Nicholson massaged Cossie’
(Cosworth) normally aspirated 3.0-litre DFV V-8’s were still competitive vs.
the turbo revolution in 1982. Obviously the writing was on the wall…
The 90 degrees 1.5-litre V-6 Porsche designed engine,
built to McLaren’s Technical Director John Barnard’s tight packaging specifics,
in order to mate to it’s revolutionary MP4/2 chassis were ultimately
fast-tracked with a hastily converted MP4/1E racecar for the end of the ’83 F1
season, making it’s debut at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The McLaren MP4 was the first carbon fiber
composite racecar to compete in Formula 1, for which the MP4/2 was an evolution
designed specifically for the TAG-Porsch turbo engine, since it’s predecessor
had been built for the aging Cosworth DFV V-8.
Upon the firing of thee “Professor”, aka Alain
Prost from Renault, Dennis immediately snapped up the Frenchman’s services in
favour of Wattie’, aka John Watson. And with Prost joining Niki Lauda, the rest
was History!
And although initially Porsche was weary of
having it’s name upon the engine due to fears of uncompetitiveness. Obviously
this quickly changed, as Prost and Lauda won a total of eleven races, with Prost
outscoring Lauda 6-5. Yet it was Niki “The Rat” Lauda winning the 1984 F1 World
Championship by a solitary point ahead of teammate Prost!
McLaren would also win the first of two,
consecutive F1 Constructors Championships with the TAG-Porsche engine that
season. With the Woking based outfit utilizing updated MP4/2B and MP4/2C
chassis for the 1985-86 Formula 1 season.
Prost would claim His first F1 Drivers titles
in 1985, before clinching a second consecutive crown in ’86. With “The
Professor” ultimately outscoring Lauda 16-6 for wins over the duo’s three years
before Lauda retired from F1.
For ’87, Prost got a new teammate, with ‘lil Stevie
Johnson, aka Stefan Johansson joining McLaren for one year. Yet the once
dominant TAG-Porsche V-6 turbo was nearing the end of it’s lifecycle, especially
with Honda’s V-6 turbo becoming a real threat!
Alas, McLaren could only muster three wins with
it’s MP4/3 in 1987, all by Prost vs. Williams/Honda’s nine. Along with two more
Lotus/Honda victories for a total of eleven by the Japanese rival! In what
would be the final year of competition for the TAG-Porsche lump’.
As McLaren would score 25 wins and seven Poles
enroute to three F1 Drivers titles and two Constructors Championships between
1983-87.
When I think of Porsche and Indy Cars, I
immediately think of the iconic green and white Quaker State March Porsche that
Teo Fabi drove during the late 1980’s. For which I’ve kept an unbuilt Monogram?
1:24 or 1:25 scale plastic model kit forever, which I’d planned to build when I
still had my eyesight! Yet I’m getting ahead of myself.
Porsche actually planned to race at the
Indianapolis 500 in 1980, in a purpose built IndyCar chassis. As Ted Field
commissioned Eagle IndyCar Designer Roman Slobodynskyj to pen His Interscope
IR01.
This single seater chassis was intended to be
powered by a air cooled Flat six turbocharged variant akin to what the Porsche
935 was powered by. And not being a stressed member engine, the IR01 consisted
of a tube frame rear end “cradle” to house the Porsche engine.
Originally running to stock block turbo boost
regulations of 55-inches. Word got out about how fast the racecar was, after
setting an unofficial lap record at IMS sister track Ontario during testing!
With fellow USAC competitors effectively lobbying USAC to reduce the Porsche’s
boost to 48-inches and effectively neutering the Porsche’s “advantage”. With
Porsche quickly pulling the plug upon this effort.
Porsche returned to IndyCar in earnest in the
Fall of 1987, with the project led by the late Al Holbert.
As Porsche introduced it’s own carbon fibre
chassis dubbed the 2708 in 1987. Which made it’s debut at Laguna Seca wit big
Al’ (Unser) at it’s controls, finishing a quiet P24 after retiring on lap-7.
Yet Porsche quicky dropped it’s own 2708
IndyCar chassis for a March 88C customer chassis the following season. With Teo
Fabi scoring six Top-10 finishes and a best of fourth at Nazareth enroute to
tenth overall during Porsche’s first Full season campaign.
As the Porsche North America IndyCar entity
reached it’s zenith during the 1989 CART PPG IndyCar World Series season. Once
again with Teo Fabi as it’s driver.
Yet during Porsche’s most successful season Al
Holbert wouldn’t get to witness Teo Fabi scoring Porsche’s first Pole position
ironically at my Home track of Portland International Raceway during the 1989
Budweiser/G.I. Joes 200. Or Fabi subsequently scoring Porsche’s lone IndyCar
victory also from Pole at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course later that summer.
As Holbert would perish in a private plane
accident after taking off from Columbus, Ohio following the IMSA Columbus
street race on September 30, 1988. With Teo Fabi finishing an impressive fourth
overall in the championship during the ’89 IndyCar season.
Porsche then expanded to a two car entry during
it’s final IndyCar season (1990) with Fabi being joined by “Gentleman John” Andretti,
with the duo racing in white and blue Fosters livery.
Yet John Andretti could only muster tenth overall
in the championship with a pair of fith place finishes at Cleveland and
Vancouver, BC.
With Fabi scoring one Pole at Denver and the
team’s solitary podium, a third place finish at the Meadowlands enroute to P14
in the standings. Before Porsche withdrew from IndyCar at season’s end.
Porsche then made one last, dismal attempt at
returning to formula 1 for the ’91 season, which spectacularly failed! Providing
what Alan Jenkins, then Footwork Arrows Technical Director says was basically a
“reheated”, warmed-over V-12 lump!
Claiming the 3.5-litre normally aspirated V-12
unit was nothing more than two old 90-degrees V-6 turbo motors mated together
minus the turbocharging units.
Yet the Porsche 3500 V-12 motor was reportedly
overweight, lacked Horsepower and suffered from Oil starvation, with Footwork
failing to qualify for half of the races entered that season! Before the team
dumped the Porsche V-12 in favour of customer Cosworth DFR V-8’s instead.
As Porsche has since solely focused upon Sports Car racing, although it’s planned attempt to return to F1 in 2026 as an engine supplier to Red Bull ultimately failed due to Stuttgart wanting a 50-50 partnership with Red Bull. Whilst Seester’ VW owned Audi has bought the Sauber F1 Team, which will become a Full werks’ Audi effort in 2026…
