 The No. 99 HF89 at the1989 Grand Prix of Miami | |||||||||
| Category | IMSA GTPsports prototype | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | All American Racers | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Ron Hopkins, Hiro Fujimori | ||||||||
| Successor | Eagle MkIII | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
| Chassis | Aluminum honeycomb monocoque, with tubular steel roll cage | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Double wishbone suspension, coil-spring over damper | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Double wishbone suspension, coil-spring over damper | ||||||||
| Engine | Toyota3S-GTM 2100 ccInline-4Turbocharged,mid-mounted | ||||||||
| Transmission | Hewland 6Manual transmission | ||||||||
| Fuel | Trick | ||||||||
| Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants |  All-American Racers | ||||||||
| Notable drivers | Willy T. RibbsRocky Moran Juan Manuel Fangio IIChris CordDrake Olson | ||||||||
| Debut | 1989 IMSA Grand Prix of Miami | ||||||||
| First win | 1990 Grand Prix of Heartland | ||||||||
| Last win | 1991 Grand Prix of Greater San Diego | ||||||||
| Last event | 1991 Grand Prix of Greater San Diego | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
TheEagle HF89 and its evolution, theEagle HF90, is a racing car built and entered byDan Gurney'sAll American Racers team, for theIMSA GT Championship. It was raced from 1989 until 1991 in IMSA's premier sports-car racing category, theGTP (Grand Touring Prototype) division. The design was also sometimes called theEagle MkII.[1]
From 1983 until 1988, Dan Gurney's team entered cars in the IMSA GTO and GTU divisions, withToyota Celicas as the basis for their cars.[2] After claiming the driver's and constructors' championships in the GTO division in 1987 with driverChris Cord, and a third place in the division the following year, the AAR team switched to the IMSA GTP division for 1989.[3]
The team used two types of cars; the other chassis was aTOM'SToyota 88C car (anFIAGroup C-based car). Both were powered by aturbocharged, 2.1-literinline-4 engine producing approximately 600horsepower,[4] which was similar to the engines AAR used in their IMSA GTO and GTU cars.
The "Eagle" marque was used by Dan Gurney's AAR team to denote their racing cars, the "HF" comes from the initials of the designers' surnames,Hopkins andFujimori, and89 from the two-digit year of its initial competition. Four chassis were constructed, and two were modified in 1990 and reclassified as HF90.[5]
The car made its debut at the 1989 IMSAMiami GTP race (car #99), but retired from the event with an enginetiming belt malfunction.[6] The team concentrated its efforts on the #98 car; AAR would not enter the HF89 until theLime Rock GTP race. The car then completed its first race with a 5th-place finish at the following event at theMid-Ohio GTP race. The HF89 did not finish any other races that season.
By 1990, the Eagle HF89 replaced the 88C, and chalked up its first win at the 1990 IMSATopeka GTP event, withJuan Manuel Fangio II driving.[7] The team followed up with three more wins:Sears Point, as well as temporary street course races atSan Antonio andDel Mar.[3]
While the team experienced some success in 1989 and 1990 with the HF89 and HF90 evolution, the chassis had a very small margin for setup error - in the words of driverJuan Manuel Fangio II, "When were in the window, the car was good in every way, but out of the window, the car was not right at all."[1] This led the team to prepare a clean-sheet design for 1991 - theEagle MkIII.
In 1991, the HF89 won its final IMSA GTP race with Fangio driving, at the IMSACamel Continental VIII atWatkins Glen.[8] At the following GTP race atLaguna Seca, theEagle MkIII made its race debut with AAR, which would eventually replace the Eagle HF89. The final race for the Eagle HF89 was at the IMSA GT race atPortland, where it finished in third place.
Note: All specifications from"JOHN STARKEY CARS :: GRYFON INC". Archived fromthe original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved2009-02-27.