The Penske PC3 was a Formula One car used by

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

Team Penske during the

1976 Formula One season The 1976 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1976 World Championship of Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers . The two titles were contested over a sixteen race s ...

, It was designed by

Geoff Ferris Geoff Ferris is a Northern Ireland football manager. He is the current Assistant Manager of Coleraine FC Coleraine Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club, playing in the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of the ...

Development

In 1976 Penske signed a sponsorship deal with

and built a new car, the Penske PC3. Northern Irish driver John Watson was signed to drive the car. which retained some of the design features from its predecessors, the

Penske PC1 The Penske PC1 was a Formula One racing car developed and raced by Penske Racing during the 1974 and 1975 Formula One seasons. The car was designed by Geoff Ferris, and was raced by drivers Mark Donohue and John Watson. The PC1 entered and comp ...

, and the

March 751 March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better success in other categories ...

. The PC3 was a development of the March 751 and bore a close resemblance to it. In total, two cars were constructed with one being driven by Watson.

Racing history

Citibank Team Penske

1975

Penske fielded the brand new PC3 for Watson in the final race of the 1975 season. The United States Grand Prix, Watson used the car in practice, but due to a technical failure was forced to switch to the old PC1, which was in the paddock as a demonstrator, for the race. He finished in ninth position, but his performance earned him a full-time Penske F1 drive for 1976.

1976

The first race of the 1976 season was the

Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...

, Watson retired when a fuel system failure turned into a fire. and finished fifth at South Africa. Watson was eleven laps down and not classified at the

United States Grand Prix West The United States Grand Prix West was a race held at Long Beach, California, as a Formula 5000 race in 1975 and a Formula One World Championship event from 1976 to 1983 held in the same location throughout those years. History There had been a ...

and retired at Spain with engine failure, Watson finished seventh at the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...

and tenth at Monaco. The PC3 was not as good as had been hoped and in the midseason Penske produced a new

Penske PC4 Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president. Holding ...

from the

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix (Swedish: Sveriges 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, S ...

onwards. The Penske team scored 20 World Championship points in 1976, two with the PC3 and 18 with the PC4. Earning them fifth place in the Constructors' Championship.

F&S Properties

F&S Properties bought a PC3 from Penske and entered Dutchman

Boy Hayje Johan Gerard "Boy" Hayje (born 3 May 1949, Amsterdam) is a former racing driver from the Netherlands. He participated in seven Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 29 August 1976. He scored no championship points. After time spent racing saloo ...

for his home race, the

1976 Dutch Grand Prix The 1976 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on 29 August 1976. It was won by British driver James Hunt driving a McLaren M23 on his 29th birthday. The race, contested over 75 laps, was the twelfth round of the 1 ...

but he retired with a broken halfshaft.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) All points scored in 1975 with the

.
18 points scored in 1976 with the

.
1 point scored in 1977 with the

Non-Championship results

(

)

References

{{F1 cars 1976 Penske Formula One cars