{"id":493870,"date":"2014-06-01T00:14:08","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T07:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=10267"},"modified":"2024-12-27T12:48:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T12:48:03","slug":"ats-penske-pc4-cosworth-v8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/ats-penske-pc4-cosworth-v8\/","title":{"rendered":"Hans Heyer Favorite Racecar \u2013 ATS\u2008Penske PC4 Cosworth V8"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hans Heyer got his one big chance to race in Formula One with the ATS-run Penske PC4 in the 1977 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Photo: Maureen Magee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve raced in more than 1,000 races, although my 1,000th was just a bit of fun with Kris Nissen. I\u2019ve driven many, many cars in that time. So, the greatest racecar I ever drove\u2014even for just a small time\u2014was the ATS Penske PC4. It was the same car in which John Watson won the 1976 Austrian GP. My father had banned me from formula racing as I\u2019d had a big accident, and he said formula racing was far too dangerous for me and he didn\u2019t ever want to see me in a formula car again.<\/p>\n

This ban on racing formula cars didn\u2019t bother me, as I was busy driving sports and touring cars, so it made no difference to my racing life. I think it was my racing success in touring cars that led to the offer of a drive in Formula One. Gunther Schmidt of the ATS team asked if I\u2019d like to race in the 1977 German GP. Of course, I wanted to do this, but I remembered my father\u2019s ban. I asked him about the drive and he made some big trouble for me. My father contacted Gunther Schmidt, he wanted to make sure the ATS car was safe for me to drive. Schmidt confirmed it was a good safe car for me to drive and I was allowed to take up the offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n