Since his last Le Mans appearance in 1971, Roger Penske has become one of the most powerful figures in the auto world on the other side of the Atlantic. Penske Corp currently employs 60,000 people across a multitude of activities.

On the motorsport scene, Penske has notched up more than 500 wins in a range of disciplines, including the most prestigious races. In particular, he holds the record for most victories at the Indianapolis 500 (17) and has won all the great classics of American motorsport: Daytona 500 and 24 Hours, Brickyard 400, and many more. In endurance, the 2008 triumph at the 12 Hours of Sebring deserves a special mention. Penske Racing’s Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 prototype, with Timo Bernhard, Emmanuel Collard and Romain Dumas at the wheel, created a major upset in seeing off the LMP1 Peugeot and Audi factory teams.

Penske’s current squad of single-seater drivers includes Frenchman Simon Pagenaud who won the 2016 IndyCar crown for Team Penske. In the wake of his title success, Pagenaud revealed that he was still haunted daily by the 13-second gap that cost him victory in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans (Peugeot 908)! In 2018, the Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya, who races for Team Penske in North American endurance series, made his Le Mans début at the wheel of a United Autosports Ligier. Could the two top-level racers have paved the way to Penske’s return? At the age of 82, does he still think about the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

Do you talk about the 24 Hours with Simon Pagenaud on a regular basis?

Roger Penske: Of course, he wants us to go to Le Mans. His passion and being a Frenchman make him one of the greatest racers in the world, and there is high intensity when we talk about it. It is one of my goals, one goal we haven’t accomplished as a team. We’ve won many other motor races around the world, and I hope that with the new rules package, we will have an opportunity to race at Le Mans.

What kind of feedback did you get from Juan Pablo Montoya after his first Le Mans start last year?

He wanted to do it, he asked me, and I absolutely agreed. Having some of our team members at Le Mans with people who already raced there is important. This is not a case we can test, this is the race of races. Juan was very positive. If we go there, before running a prototype, we would probably run a GT car with our drivers to be sure we understand the race as a team.

Rumour has it that you had a conversation with Jeff Gordon [four-time NASCAR champion and Daytona 500 and 24 Hours winner] about Le Mans. Could you comment?

During the pre-race tests at Daytona [the NASCAR Daytona 500 contested the weekend before Penske’s visit to the Royal Automobile Club], he asked me what the one thing was that I had not accomplished, and I said Le Mans. He replied he would like to be my driver. I also received a text from his former crew chief Ray Evernham saying that he was also ready to come as a mechanic! 

For you, are the Le Mans 24 Hours the ultimate unfinished business or the ultimate challenge for yourself as a team owner, especially regarding Team Penske’s impressive record?

Le Mans is the Number One challenge, the challenge I haven’t been able to achieve. It is a world-class event. I put it up there with the Indianapolis 500. For me, personally and collectively with our team, it would be an amazing opportunity and I hope I will get that opportunity because it is not a one-time, you have really got to be committed to this. I have to be conservative because this must not affect the commitment in the other series in which we compete. This is an iconic race, with world-class drivers and teams, and I think that the new rules package will bring more competition for the leadership.

Special thanks to Louis Monnier, Ben Cussons (Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club) and Roger Penske.

Photo (Louis Monnier, ACO) – A month before Roger Penske spoke at the Royal Automobile Club, his Acura prototypes finished second and third at the 24 Hours of Daytona – the year’s first major international endurance race.