Inch pincher

With partner, Interscope Racing, Porsche entered the 1980 Indy 500 to win it, but a matter of inches dictated it never even made it to the grid

- WOUTER MELISSEN

On 6 December 1979, Porsche’s director of public relations and sports, Manfred Jantke, invited the German media to the Intercontinental Hotel in Stuttgart to announce the plan to compete in the 1980 edition of the Indy 500.

For the German manufacturer’s first foray into American single-seater racing, long-time customer, Ted Field, and his Interscope Racing team was chosen as partner. Porsche would supply the engine and gearbox, while Interscope Racing would design and build a chassis for it.

A few days later, Jantke spread the same message to the American press at an event in New York. However, come May 1980, there was no sign of the promised Interscope Porsche Indy car. It did exist, but it had fallen victim to a combination of Porsche being Porsche and Indy being Indy.

One of the few motorsport arenas in which Porsche had not achieved success, the German manufacturer sent a delegation to the 1977 edition of the Indy 500. It was already decided that Porsche would enter American single-seater racing, but only as an engine supplier to an existing team.

Back burner

During the previous couple of years, Porsche’s Can-Am partner, Penske, had sent regular briefings to Weissach, in particular on the performance of the then dominant Off enhauser four-cylinder engine. But, for a variety of reasons, the dream partnership with Penske at Indy did not materialise, and the project was temporarily placed on the back burner.