View source for Eagle MkIII

{{Infobox racing car
| Car_name = Eagle MkIII
| Image = [[File:2011 11 26 Toyota HQ-20-37 - Flickr - Moto@Club4AG.jpg|250px]]
| Category = [[IMSA GTP]]
| Constructor  = [[All American Racers]]
| Designer  = John Ward <br /> Hiro Fujimori (aerodynamicist)<ref name="Motor Sport Magazine January 2022 Eagle MkIII">{{cite news|url= https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/sports-cars/was-eagle-mkiii-the-greatest-prototype-you-couldnt-outdrive-it?v=79cba1185463 |title= Eagle MkIII: greatest sports car prototype? 'You couldn't outdrive it' |last= Elson |first= James |work= [[Motor Sport magazine]] |date= 27 January 2023 |access-date= 28 January 2023 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
| Predecessor = [[Eagle HF90]]
| Team =  [[All American Racers]]
| Drivers = {{flagicon|ARG}} [[Juan Manuel Fangio II]] <br/>{{flagicon|USA}} [[P. J. Jones]]<br/>{{flagicon|GBR}} [[Andy Wallace (racing driver)|Andy Wallace]]<br/>{{flagicon|USA}} [[Rocky Moran]]<br/>{{flagicon|USA}} [[Mark Dismore]]
| Technical ref  = <ref name="MulsannesCorner"/>
| Chassis = [[Carbon fibre]] and [[aluminum honeycomb]] composite monocoque with steel [[roll cage]]
| Front suspension = [[Double wishbone suspension|Double wishbone]] with pushrod-actuated inboard spring/damper
| Rear suspension = [[Double wishbone suspension|Double wishbone]] with pushrod-actuated bellhousing-mounted spring/damper
| Length = {{convert|189|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}
| Width = {{convert|79|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}
| Height = {{convert|40|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}
| Wheelbase = {{convert|105|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}
| Engine name =  [[Toyota]] [[Toyota S engine#3S-GTM|3S-GTM]]
| Capacity  = {{convert|2.1|L|cuin|0|abbr=on}}
| Configuration = [[inline-4]]
| Turbo/NA = with single [[Garrett AiResearch]] [[turbocharger]] and [[intercooler]],
| Engine position = [[MR layout|mid-mounted]].
| Gearbox name = Ray Eades/[[March Engineering|March]]
| Gears = 5-speed + reverse
| Type = [[Manual transmission|manual]]
| Weight = {{convert|832|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} 1992<br> {{convert|914|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} 1993
| Fuel = [[Elf Aquitaine|Elf]] custom racing fuel (82% [[toluene]])<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/>
| Tyres = [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company|Goodyear]] Eagle<br>[[BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik|BBS]] wheels, 13x17 front, 15x17 rear
| Debut = [[1991 Grand Auto Supply Camel GT]]
|First_win=1991 G.I. Joe's/Camel Grand Prix
|Last_win=1993 The Checker Camel Phoenix Grand Prix
|Last_event=1993 The Checker Camel Phoenix Grand Prix
| Races = 27
| Wins = 21
| Cons_champ = 2 {{smaller|([[All American Racers]], [[1992 IMSA GT Championship season|1992]] & [[1993 IMSA GT Championship season|1993]])}}
| Drivers_champ = 2 {{smaller|([[Juan Manuel Fangio II]], [[1992 IMSA GT Championship season|1992]] & [[1993 IMSA GT Championship season|1993]])}}
| Teams_champ = 2 {{smaller|([[All American Racers]], [[1992 IMSA GT Championship season|1992]] & [[1993 IMSA GT Championship season|1993]])}}
| Poles = 18
| Fastest_laps = 16
}}
The '''Eagle MkIII''' is a [[sports prototype]] racing car built by [[All American Racers]] in 1991 to [[IMSA GTP]] specifications. Powered by a [[turbocharged]] Toyota [[Toyota S engine#3S-GTM|inline-4 engine]], the car was campaigned in the [[IMSA Camel GT]] series by [[Dan Gurney]]'s [[Toyota]]-sponsored AAR team from 1991 through to the end of 1993.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/> The Eagle MkIII won 21 out of the 27 races in which it was entered and is considered one of the most successful and technologically advanced designs of the IMSA GTP era — "a car that proved so overwhelmingly dominant that the class for which it was created has now been assigned to history", according to ''[[Racer (magazine)|Racer]]'' magazine.<ref name="MulsannesCorner">[http://www.mulsannescorner.com/ToyotaEagleMkIII.html Toyota Eagle MkIII], Mulsanne's Corner</ref><ref name="RacerAAR">[http://allamericanracers.com/aar-eagle-mkiii-gtp/ Eagle MkIII GTP], quoted from [[Racer (magazine)|RACER]] magazine</ref>
== Precursors ==
From 1989 through 1991, AAR campaigned the [[Eagle HF89]] (also known as the MkII<ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/>), the team's first in-house, race-ready IMSA GTP design. While some success was had with the HF89 and its HF90 evolution, the chassis had a very small margin for setup error — in the words of driver [[Juan Manuel Fangio II]], "When we were in the window, the car was good in every way, but out of the window, the car was not right at all."<ref name="IMSAGTPCars">Martin, J.A. & Fuller, M.J. ''Inside IMSA's Legendary GTP Race Cars: The Prototype Experience''. [[Motorbooks]], 2008.</ref> It was clear to the team that a clean-sheet design was needed to significantly advance the chassis and provide the best platform for competing against the Nissan and Jaguar factory entries.
== Design and development ==
Two veteran AAR designers were tasked with leading the design of the MkIII chassis. John Ward focused on the tub and mechanical aspects of the car, while Hiro Fujimori was responsible for aerodynamics and styling —<ref name="Motor Sport Magazine January 2022 Eagle MkIII" /> hence, the car was internally codenamed WFO 91 for '''W'''ard, '''F'''ujimori and '''O'''thers, 1991. Team members nicknamed the project "Wide F'n Open".<ref name="MulsannesCorner"/> The design parameters given to the team were not groundbreaking and the designers looked to avoid risky, cutting-edge solutions wherever possible; rather, for reliability's sake, the mantra was to make the chassis simple while taking full advantage of proven technologies. However, there was one significant technological advance planned: the MkIII would be the first [[carbon-fiber]] monocoque manufactured in-house by AAR.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/>
"What we did with the MkIII was to address just about every weakness of the MkII," Gurney said. "It was not a styling exercise; everything was driven by functional considerations, and it was really a clean sheet of paper from virtually every standpoint."<ref name="DanGurneyEagle">Zimmerman, J. ''Dan Gurney's Eagle Racing Cars: The Technical History of the Machines Designed and Built by All American Racers''. David Bull Publishing, 2007.</ref>
One of the primary flaws with the HF89/90 had been a persistent lack of front grip; combined with overwhelming amounts of rear downforce, this created an intractably imbalanced car with a significant tendency to [[understeer]]. On slow, twisty circuits typical of American racing, this was a major competitive disadvantage.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/> Thus, on the MkIII, the team first focused on creating more front downforce. This led to the inclusion of an integral front [[diffuser (automotive)|diffuser]] in the nose to stabilize underbody airflow and create a low-pressure zone directly under the front wheels. This was a break from the tradition of GTP and [[Group C]] cars, which had almost exclusively adhered to a single underbody with one set of tunnels running from front to rear.<ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/>  Working in tandem with the standard [[ground effect (cars)|ground effect tunnels]] under the rear of the car, the nose diffuser would balance front and rear grip while minimizing drag.<ref name="MulsannesCorner"/>
[[File:IMSA GTP "EAGLE" ^99 - Flickr - Moto@Club4AG (2).jpg|thumb|left|The cockpit of an Eagle MkIII]]
To test and refine the design, a 20%-scale [[wind tunnel]] model was built, accurately replicating not just the car's external features but internal components as well — detailed down to the car's wiring, air ducting and engine bay plumbing. Several different nose concepts were modeled and discarded before settling on a final design.<ref name="MulsanneTunnelModel">[http://www.mulsannescorner.com/windtunnel.html John Hutnick on the MkIII's wind tunnel development], Mulsanne's Corner</ref> In an effort to conceal the innovative nose air extractors, the bodywork immediately behind the front wheels was painted black.<ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/>
Racing car designer and aerodynamics expert Michael Fuller wrote that "the most striking feature of the MkIII was the single nose air inlet that channeled air through massive ducting to midmounted water, water-to-oil and turbo intercooler radiators."<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/> By using a single aperture to feed several cooling systems, surface turbulence and drag created by air inlets was minimized. This contributed to a clean, uncluttered design that provided for smooth airflow to the rear wing, enhancing its efficiency. The front cross-section of the monocoque was also minimized as much as possible within the rules, in order to reduce drag.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/>
The turbocharged Toyota engine was largely carried over from the HF90, with the addition of a new electronic engine management system. By applying a high level of boost to the 2.1-litre stock-block engine,<ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/> [[Toyota Racing Development]]'s shop in [[Torrance, California]] was able to wring more than 800 horsepower out of what was the smallest-displacement powerplant used in the GTP series at that point.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/> "I was told that (TRD) blew up four dynamometers... (they) didn't spare the horses," Gurney later said.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/>
For its first on-track test in the summer of 1991, AAR took the MkIII to [[Willow Springs Raceway]], a frequent testing ground for the team. It was immediately apparent that the new MkIII was vastly superior to the HF90/MkII. "Why, it just blew off the MkII. It was obvious," Gurney said.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/>
== Racing history ==
=== 1991 ===
The Eagle MkIII made its racing debut late in the [[1991 IMSA GT Championship season|1991 IMSA Camel GT season]], in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio II at the [[1991 Grand Auto Supply Camel GT]] on July 21 at [[Laguna Seca Raceway]] in [[Monterey, California]]. As the MkIII was a yet-unproven design, the team also entered an HF90 chassis for teammate [[P. J. Jones]]. Though a [[pit stop]] penalty dropped Fangio to seventh when the checkered flag fell, he and the MkIII led most of the race by almost a minute, showing dominating speed throughout — an early portent of what was to come.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/><ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/> At the next race at [[Portland International Raceway]] in [[Portland, Oregon]], Fangio captured the MkIII's maiden victory.
=== 1992 ===
The [[1992 IMSA GT Championship season|1992 IMSA Camel GT season]] opened with one of the most competitive fields ever assembled in the series, and it promised to be a pitched championship battle. AAR's two-car effort with the Toyota Eagle MkIII would be pitted against similar two-car entries from a pair of major factory contenders: the four-time defending champion Nissan factory [[Nissan NPT-90|NPT-91]] and the new-to-GTP [[Jaguar XJR-14]], powered by a detuned-for-WSC [[Formula 1]] engine.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/> But as it transpired, neither the Nissan nor the Jaguar would prove to be anything close to a match for Gurney's Toyota-powered Eagle.<ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/> Of the season's 13 races, Jaguar would manage three wins, Nissan one — and the remaining 9 were all Toyota victories, including the final seven in a row.
At the 24 Hours of Daytona, the still-developing MkIII had mixed results. The #98 of P. J. Jones, Rocky Moran and Mark Dismore finished a solid fourth, while the #99 of Juan Manuel Fangio II, Andy Wallace and Kenny Acheson suffered mechanical maladies that left it more than 100 laps down at the race's conclusion.<ref name="WSRP1993">[http://wsrp.ic.cz/imsa1992.html International Motor Sports Association 1992 Results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919190931/http://wsrp.ic.cz/imsa1992.html |date=2007-09-19 }}. World Sports Racing Prototypes</ref>
The Eagle MkIII and AAR would prove to be a victim of their own success — the car proved to be so dominant that Nissan and Jaguar withdrew their factory teams from the series at the end of the season.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/>
=== 1993 ===
Without Nissan and Jaguar, there was little competition for the AAR/Toyota team and the writing was on the wall for the GTP formula — the [[1993 IMSA GT Championship season|1993 IMSA Camel GT season]] was to be the last for the budget-busting prototypes. Only a handful of GTPs contested the full season, but it did not matter — Fangio, Jones and the MkIII clearly outclassed the field. The two drivers combined to win 10 out of the season's 11 races. The only race the MkIII did not win that season, it was not even entered — for reasons never explained to Gurney, Toyota withheld funding for the season's 8th round, at [[Road America]]. This broke the team's IMSA GTP winning streak at 14 consecutive races — however, the MkIII went on to win the season's final three rounds, so AAR refers to the car as winning 17 consecutive races entered.<ref name="IMSAGTPCars"/> At the end of the year, the GTP category was discontinued and Toyota withdrew support. The MkIII had run its last race in earnest.<ref name="DanGurneyEagle"/>
== Racing record ==
{|
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;"
|-
! Year
! No.
! Drivers
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
|-
!rowspan="3"| [[1991 IMSA GT Championship season|1991]]
|
|
| [[24 Hours of Daytona|D24]]
| WPB
| [[12 Hours of Sebring|S12]]
| [[Grand Prix of Miami (sports car racing)|MIA]]
| [[Grand Prix of Atlanta|ATL]]
| [[Heartland Park Topeka|HPT]]
| [[Lime Rock Park|LRP]]
| [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course|MOH]]
| NOR
| [[Watkins Glen International|WGI]]
| [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca|LS]]
| [[Portland Grand Prix|POR]]
| [[Road America|ROA]]
| DLM
|-
| '''98'''
|align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Rocky Moran]]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 19
|-
| '''99'''
|align="left"| {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Juan Manuel Fangio II]]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 7
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 19
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|-
!rowspan="3"| [[1992 IMSA GT Championship season|1992]]
|
|
| [[24 Hours of Daytona|D24]]
| [[Grand Prix of Miami (sports car racing)|MIA]]
| [[12 Hours of Sebring|S12]]
| [[Grand Prix of Atlanta|ATL]]
| [[Lime Rock Park|LRP]]
| [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course|MOH]]
| NOR
| [[Watkins Glen International|WGI]]
| [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca|LS]]
| [[Portland Grand Prix|POR]]
| [[Phoenix International Raceway|PHO]]
| [[Road America|RAM]]
| DLM
|
|-
| '''98'''
|align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[P. J. Jones]]
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 4
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 17
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 10
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 10
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 14
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 7
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 14
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 12
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|
|-
| '''99'''
|align="left"| {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Juan Manuel Fangio II]]
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 11
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 14
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| 14
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 19
|
|-
!rowspan="3"| [[1993 IMSA GT Championship season|1993]]
|
|
| [[24 Hours of Daytona|D24]]
| [[Grand Prix of Miami (sports car racing)|MIA]]
| [[12 Hours of Sebring|S12]]
| [[Grand Prix of Atlanta|AMS]]
| [[Lime Rock Park|LRP]]
| [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course|MOH]]
| [[Watkins Glen International|WGI]]
| [[Road America|ROA]]
| [[Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca|LGA]]
| [[Portland Grand Prix|POR]]
| [[Phoenix International Raceway|PHO]]
|
|
|
|-
| '''98'''
|align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} [[P. J. Jones]]
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|
|
|
|-
| '''99'''
|align="left"| {{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Juan Manuel Fangio II]]
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| 27
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2
|
|
|
|}
|
{{F1 driver results legend 2}}
|}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|Eagle MkIII}}
== External links ==
* [http://allamericanracers.com/aar-eagle-mkiii-gtp/ AAR Eagle MkIII GTP] – official [[All American Racers]] page
* [http://www.mulsannescorner.com/ToyotaEagleMkIII.html Toyota Eagle MkIII] – Mulsanne's Corner
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150222004707/http://wsrp.ic.cz/chassis/chassis_toyota.html Eagle MkIII chassis registry] – World Sports Racing Prototypes
{{Toyota Sportscar Racers}}
{{IMSA GTP Cars}}
[[Category:IMSA GTP cars]]
[[Category:Eagle racing cars]]
[[Category:Cars of the United States]]
[[Category:Toyota Racing Development]]