Eagle Mk5
The Eagle Mk5 was a Formula 5000 racing car that was used in 1968 and 1969.
vehicle
The Mk5 was originally designed at AAR Eagle for the Formula A held in the USA . Dan Gurney commissioned the designer Tony Southgate to build the vehicle according to the rules of the US Formula 5000 championship. Southgate constructed a vehicle with a narrow monocoque that also met the technical requirements of the USAC championship at the time . With only minor adjustments and a different engine, the car was also able to compete in the Indianapolis 500 mile race . The vehicle was powered by a Chevrolet 5-liter V8 engine .
The Mk5 became the defining vehicle in the US Formula 5000 championship in the late 1960s. In 1968 Lou Sell and George Wintersteen started with the Mk5 for Eagle. Sell won five races of the season and Winterstein two, only once a race win did not go to an Mk5, when Jerry Hansen won in Elkhart Lake on a Lola T140 . Lou Sell won the championship superiorly.
In 1969 Tony Adamowicz won five of the first six races with the Mk5, then the winning streak broke. This was due on the one hand to the lack of further development of the car concept and on the other hand to the emerging competition from the McLaren M10 and the Surtees TS5 . The successes in the first half of the championship were enough for Adamowicz to win the championship for Milestone Racing.