The Penske PC27 is a somewhat improbable choice for Al Unser Jr’s favourite car. A two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time IndyCar champion, he had his greatest successes at the wheel of the Lola T90/00, Galmer G92 and Penske PC23-94 in US open-wheel racing.
By contrast, he went winless in the radical PC27 throughout 1998 and doesn’t have entirely positive memories with it, having broken a leg in 1999’s Homestead season-opener in its modified B-spec. It was a difficult juncture in Unser’s personal and professional life too, amid well-publicised personal problems that he admits make it difficult to properly assess his own performances.
