Sticker of the Day No.5: Indy 500 Interscope Porsche
Porsche’s planned single-seater racing return with an assault on the 1980 Indianapolis 500 in partnership with American sportscar racer Ted Field’s Interscope team was ill-starred. When news of Hawaiian Danny Ongais’ record-breaking laps of California’s Ontario Motor Speedway behind closed doors in the Interscope IR01 leaked, rivals lobbied rulemaker USAC and Porsche’s flat-six engine’s turbo boost was slashed. Rendered uncompetitive, the project foundered. I went to its European reveal in Stuttgart and treasure this souvenir. Porsche eventually went Indycar racing in ’87, with its own 2708 car. It wasn’t until ’89 that Teo Fabi won races – in a March V8!
