When Penske won in Formula 1

Some great bands only get together for really special occasions. Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour put their differences aside to reunite the classic Pink Floyd line-up for Live 8 in 2005, while Robert Plant was persuaded to squeeze back into his leather trousers for a one-off Led Zeppelin reunion to celebrate the life of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun in 2007.

If Roger Penske was a rock star he would surely have fronted one of the biggest bands in the world before enjoying a successful solo career during which he teamed up with a series of other legends for interesting, and commercially rewarding, side projects.

These days he might be well into his seventies, but through his NASCAR and Indycar programmes, not to mention his multi-billion dollar business empire, he's still as active as ever.

So when an email landed in my inbox announcing that Penske would be the Motorsport Industry Association's guest of honour at its most recent dinner, it seemed like a great opportunity to get 10 minutes with one of motorsport's most successful team owners.

And then, completely by chance, John Watson rang. A few calls and emails later and Wattie was on the MIA's guestlist and the first meeting between the man who scored Penske's only Formula 1 win - in Austria in 1976 - and 'the Captain' since 1994, was on.

Watson: "I remember the last time. Roger invited Murray Walker and myself over to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, to see an oval race, which was super-close to Reading where the team was based at that time."

Penske: "I think it's amazing. We had been close to each other at different times, but it is hard to believe that we haven't connected. It's a shame that as much time that I have been spending over here that I haven't had more time to connect."

The story of the 1976 season has been a hot topic this year thanks to Ron Howard's highly successful Rush motion picture. But the story of the Watson/Penske win at the Osterreichring that year has barely been mentioned.

A younger Penske in 1976 © LAT

Penske: "In Austria that was a combination of probably three years of hard work and getting a driver who understood us as a team and had the talent to be the best. It was ironic that Mark [Donohue] passed away in Austria in an accident, and a year later we were back, and won the race."

Watson: "Penske came into F1 in 1974 with the PC1 and Mark. In '75 I was driving for John [Surtees], and I think we had missed a couple of grands prix. At that point drivers could walk around a lot more freely - you could walk into somebody's garage and talk.

"I wasn't sure what Mark wanted to do, in terms of staying in Europe or staying in F1. I thought he would want to do more back in the States, so it was indicated that if there was an opportunity would I be interested? "Following the tragedy of Austria '75, contact was made and then I ended up driving for Roger's team at Watkins Glen at the end of '75 and for the full '76 season. For me, it was the best opportunity that I'd had in my career to date.

"During that first race at the Glen, I went down to do the warm-up in the PC3 when something happened in the car and we couldn't repair it. And the spare car was PC1, which I think I had only ever sat in it, but never driven. The seat didn't fit me particularly well. And at the end of the race I had a pain in my right-side ribs.

"We were staying on after that race to do some testing with the PC3, but I was in real pain all through that test. Years later I was having a medical and the doctor said, 'When did you break your ribs?' 'Never,' I said. 'Yes you have, you've got two broken ribs!' But that's what you did, jump in the baby, get out there and ride it."

Penske: "I did not make that decision out of hand. We wanted to hire the best we could and John was that man. We have always been really careful with the types of people we hire in the team, because the driver becomes part of your family. And even though you might pay a driver, at the end of the day, that becomes secondary to the ingredients that connect him to the team. And we felt that John would fit that role."

Watson: "Nobody really understood aerodynamics back then, certainly not in the way they do today, and nobody realised how much influence the tall airbox was having on the rear wing. We lost the balance of the car when the regulations changed, and in effect Roger commissioned Geoff Ferris to start building PC4. When it was launched initially it came out with a full-width sort of Ferrari-style front wing. We never could really get it to perform satisfactorily.

Watson leads at the start in Austria © LAT

"Roger would look down the paddock and say, 'Well that's working and that's working'. And he said, 'Why don't you put a spacer in between the gearbox and the engine?' So we lengthened the wheelbase, and split the front wing and suddenly the car was transformed and it became a really nice car to drive and very competitive.

"In those days we ran Goodyear tyres and making two that had the same circumference was a real skill. The top teams always had the best set of balanced tyres. But we had a really fantastic set of tyres in Austria and that's partly why the car performed so strongly there. "PC4 was a good car that really was setting the whole team up for a competitive 1977 season."

Penske: "We were a small, dedicated group and we thought that we could survive in the very difficult environment of F1 at that point. It was obvious that we had a very competitive car, but the question was, living in America and trying to race in F1 in the US and trying to hold a job that I had at that point and the family was maybe a little more than I could do.

"But the by-product of all of that was Penske Cars in Poole. Penske Cars became a foothold for us up to, I think, 1999. We built six Indy 500 winners out of that shop. In fact in many cases it was the unfair advantage we had. Everyone would have a March or have a Lola or whatever it was in those days, and we could build something that was better because we had the capability.

"I certainly feel that John was instrumental in kicking off our career. And I can say that we won in every sport and every discipline, and John was the one who delivered the Formula 1 win for us."

Watson: "The thing with Roger was that he was on a path, a direction, a career, where motorsport was a tool for his commercial aspirations. I think he set standards in F1. I might be wrong, but I think when people like Ron Dennis saw what Roger did from a presentation perspective, it inspired him to go on and do what he has done.

"To be around somebody as dynamic and as inspirational, as ambitious and as driven, I mean I don't know if any of those qualities rubbed off on me, but to be around somebody like that is an opportunity for you to develop as a person not just as a racing car driver.

"When Roger came to a grand prix it was precious time he was taking out of a very busy commercial schedule. And on the weekends when there wasn't a grand prix he was going somewhere else.

Watson celebrates on the podium © LAT

"The thing is with Formula 1 is that it's very much a European formula. And while we were racing in the States it was mainly seen as a European championship. Everything was run out of Poole.

"So I would drive up and down between every grand prix and go and have a chat, talk about what we had done and what we might do for the following race. It was a family.

"The one thing about Roger was that he was just one of the team. You were quite likely to see him in a garage with a broom if he thought something looked untidy!"

WHAT WATTIE DID NEXT - 1977

For 1977, Formula 1's governing body decided that all teams should be two-car entries. With his business interests in the States demanding so much of his time, Penske felt unable to give Formula 1 the attention it required and the programme was curtailed in late 1976.

It left Watson without a ride just months ahead of the start of the season. But all was not lost...

"I got a call from Roger, which was in the middle of the night UK time," he recalls. "I think it was one of the most difficult decisions that he ever had to tell a driver. It was a shock to me.

"We were just at the cusp of a technological explosion, but we didn't realise at the time. Colin Chapman was just getting the idea of how ground-effect was going to be applied. So it was going to be a massive expansion in terms of operation, which therefore meant a massive expansion in funding.

"I say this because this is what I understand; I think Roger's team gave his sponsors very good value for money.

"And suddenly you have got to up your game, double the size of your team, and it meant there was going to have to be a minimum of three cars - two race cars and one spare - or maybe four cars depending on the status of drivers employed.

"That realisation probably led to the decision to say, 'Right, stop now and quit while we are ahead'. It would have been hard, I think, for Roger to run the team from North America.

"It was a huge disappointment to me. The following morning I got on the phone to Heinz Hofer who was down in Poole. At that point the principal objective was to try to get me into another seat. I think there might have been an opportunity at Shadow.

Watson and Penske reunited © LAT

"But Heinz got on the phone to Bernie [Ecclestone], and said John needs to speak to you about a drive next year - he thought we were taking the piss!

"I had to explain to him what had happened and Bernie still didn't believe us.

"Eventually he said, 'OK, come over to the flat'. So I went over to see Bernie and sat down and eventually I was signed to drive for Brabham.

"But there was a slight issue; for '77 Parmalat were very keen on having an Italian driver, but Bernie never wanted a sponsor to dictate a driver. He wanted to be in control.

"Clay [Regazzoni] was scheduled to arrive in London and Herbie [Blash] was meant to meet him at the airport. So Bernie rang Herbie and said, 'I've signed John. I need you to go to the airport and meet Clay and in the best manner as possible say we are terribly sorry but John signed last night and there is no opportunity for you'.

"It was a typical Bernie deal. He loved it!"

Watson led four races for Brabham in 1977 (below), but failed to win any of them thanks to misfortune. A switch to McLaren for 1979 eventually took him to the brink of the 1982 title, but he fell short by just five points.

Penske has racked up scores of wins and titles in Indycar, NASCAR and sportscar racing in the years since 1977, but despite building its Indycars in the UK until 1999, it has never run a full season of European-based racing again.