They made four NASCAR Cup Series starts in 1972 and while they displayed commendable speed Donohue never qualified worse than 11th, including a third-place start at Riverside they failed to finish three of the four races and earned a best finish of 15th at Atlanta. I could see myself helping to develop the Formula One car, setting it up and then having some younger hotshot driver take over. Except I knew it wouldnt last, recalls Penske Racings timer/scorer Judy Stropus. [11] Earlier that year, co-driving with Hansgen, Donohue finished third at the 24 Hours of Daytona and second at the 12 Hours of Sebring. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Le Mans proved frustrating for Donohue. The pressures of racing and designing the car took their toll on Donohue. The real Mark came out.. J. Funk and J. L. There was no real color out of it. Event the win at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 created more sleepless nights, because the win did not come on his own terms. Try a week on us. the email address you entered is invalid. I'd always thought that I'm not as good a driver as I am capable of figuring out how to make the car the quickest, he once said. During the day, being the state of health still worrying, he was airlifted to the Universittsklinik of Graz where he was operated by Dr. Fritz Heppner. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . And given enough time just one more year, maybe he wouldve become Americas first world champion.. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). Donohue and Hawkins completed only twelve laps due to differential failure and finished 47th. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? So they fiddled with it in non-meaningful ways, then Mark went back out. He gained 11.5 secondsthe quickest Ferrari in the field and fourth overall. The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023, What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles, What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. But he always had good equipment, too. Nine weeks before the Le Mans race, while testing a GT40 Mk II in the rain, Donohue's friend and former teammate Walt Hansgen lost control and crashed his car into an escape road barrier, suffering fatal injuries. Donohue, too, recognized the accomplishment as something of a walk-off home run for his career, briefly retiring following his IROC championship before returning later that year with Penske to compete in the final two Formula 1 races. Midway through the 1975 F1 season, Penske abandoned the troublesome PC1 and started using the March 751. I realized then that if I wanted to do better in this business I had to spend more time on my car, he said. The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. I didnt expect that at all, David Donohue, 51, said. He was just 22 years old when he had won his first race, a local hill climb. In 1968, Donohue and Penske returned to defend their USRRC championship with the McLaren M6A Chevrolet. Donohue drove the Javelin to three victories, with AMC finishing second overall in the Manufacturers' Championship. He was good in Trans-Am, Indy cars, Can-Am and Formula One. It began as a hobby in 1959 when Donohue sold his soupedup Corvette, which he used to drive around at Brown, and for $3,000 purchased his first racing cara little Elva with an MG engine. The two proved to be like-minded peas in a pod. Please try again. Donohue recently had arrived in Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix at the sterreichring race track following the successful closed-course speed record attempt at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama just a few days earlier. 500-mile (800km) SCCA endurance event, which he won. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. . He needed something he could do well., Alas, Penske Racings first F1 car, the PC1, was so mediocre that Donohue persuaded Penske to replace it with a customers March 751, a curious crack in the myth that was Mark. When Mark Donohue died in Austria 40 years ago this week, motor racing lost not only a hugely successful driver, but also someone who would surely have enjoyed a long and productive career on the other side of the sport. Police have not yet released his identity. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. Mark Donohue is killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. Donohue previously had debuted in Formula One on September 19, 1971, with a Penske-sponsored McLaren at the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park, finishing on the podium in third place. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Mark felt he had to devote all his time to the team. Bernie Ecclestone hopes BBC agrees new Formula 1 UK TV deal, Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice, Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice 4 yellow car with sports car driver and race car builder Bruce McLaren for Shelby American Racing. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. The Newtown Square facility was a small, 4,000 square-foot garage out back with a small bungalow in front of the shop. Revson's death made it almost inevitable that Donohue would come out of retirement. It was hard to believe because Donohue and team owner Roger Penske were then the cleverest guys in racing. Mark Donohue at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, Today, we have specialists, but Mark was such a versatile guy, he drove everything for us.. He thinks the same way. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. During a practice session for the race, Donohue lost control of his March after a tyre failed, sending him into the catch fencing at the fastest corner on the track, Vest Hgel Kurve. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? I saw him race at Lime Rock in an Elva, and (longtime Penske friend and later president of the IROC series) Jay Signore said I should watch this guy. Losing a driver is something you cant replace. Going racing meant anywhere and everywhere, and the two chose to tackle stock cars. I imagine it must feel like watching another man in bed with your wife. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. One track marshal was killed by the crash and another seriousy injured. The Griffith company closed its doors in November, 1966. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. Toy cars at the gravesite of Mark Donohue in Summit, New Jersey. The email you entered is not registered with us. Donohue paced himself that day and took the lead for the first time with 12 laps to go. He was, I feel, the finest road race driver this country has ever produced, Allison told Hemmings Motor News years later. The real engineers were Don Cox [from GM] and Helmut Flegl [from Porsche]. It was largely Flegl who created the Porsche 917-30, whose 1100 horsepower, the SCCA bitched, was killing the Can-Am series. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. But he kept complaining of headaches and Mario Andretti, who also has an obsession with grand prix racing, said Donohue was lapsing in and out of consciousness, Donohue was rushed to a hospital at Graz where grays revealed blood clot on the brain. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. (Photo: Bob DOlivo / The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images). In auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. When she brought us in to see the finish, I dont think she knew he had won. The supposition is that a support post from one of the advertising signs caught Donohue's helmet. ), entered April 29, 2014 in Albany County, which granted a motion by defendants James Finck and Tougher Industries Enterprises, LLC for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against them. To be sure, it seems what we now know as The Penske Way gained steam with Donohue as its pied piper. Anyone can read what you share. When police found him about three hours later, his . It was, as they say in racing, a freak accident. Harry Gant was a champion in 1985, Ricky Rudd was a champion in 1992 and Mark Martin became a five-time champion; all three failed to secure NASCAR championships. He was a winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in stock cars. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. See the article in its original context from. Donohue raced in the inaugural IROC series in 197374, racing identical, specially-prepared Porsche RSRs. Choose a Username Available! It became official last September. How famous was Mark . The No. As an American driver, he had done it all. Most of Donohues wins (28) came in Trans-Am, the United States Road Racing Championship (12) and Can-Am (10). During testing at Road Atlanta, Donohue recommended larger brake ducts, believing that more cooling would slow the brakes' degradation during a race. We will get back to you in 24 hours. In 1969, Penske and Donohue raced in their first Indianapolis 500,[14] with Donohue finishing seventh, winning the rookie of the year award. No one knew, but Mark Donohue had just 10 days to live. In 1974, Mark Donohue took a year off from driving at the height of his racing career to write "The Unfair Advantage," a candid and revealing book about his journey through the world of auto racing -- from amateur SCCA races in his own '57 Corvette to winning the Indy 500 in Roger Penske's McLaren M16. A fire at the Sunoco refinery near the airport dominated the front pages of The Philadelphia Inquirer, but the sports section belonged to Mark Donohue, a racecar driver who had blown a tire during a practice run before the Austrian Grand Prix and died from complications related to the accident two days later, August 19, 1975. When David Donohue was young, he never really got to know his father -- Mark Donohue. But his edge was rarely lost. Riverside was over 2.6 miles long and the duration of the race 500 miles meant this particular event was more of an endurance contest. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. [12] In his first race for Penske, at Watkins Glen in June 1966, Donohue qualified well but crashed the car at the top of a hill, destroying it. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. I didnt get to know my father very well because he passed away when I was young, but racing has given him back to me. I don't think I could have handled that.. He was so key in the operation when he was there its something we had to rebuild. The only person to beat Donohue was his former Penske Trans-Am teammate, George Follmer. Jackie Stewart interviews Mark Donohue prior to an IROC race in 1974. Sponsored by Ancestry. I could see what was coming, he said. In 1971, of the ten races that the Over 2.5L Class cars participated in, Donohue won seven of them, including the final six races in a row, with AMC winning the Manufacturers' championship for the first time ever. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. Mark Donohue. In 1969, Penske brought his team -- and the Penske way -- to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. That got everybodys attention -- the polished wheels, the way our guys looked, the way the cars were prepared and obviously, the performance was good. The front of the car was torn away, leaving Donohue, still strapped to his safety seat, with his legs dangling outside the car. * Most laps led. He died two days later. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. Despite this, Donohue still dominated the series, even though he suffered three DNFs during the season due to mechanical problems with the M6A. Hamilton: F1 retirement talk from Button and Hill not "helpful, How Gulf deal has boosted Williams's F1 commercial strategy, How Gulf deal has boosted Williams's F1 commercial strategy We werent out there to have fun. Forgot password? Back then it was tape-delayed, and she was watching the race on TV. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? . Autoweek participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. His son, David, told me: The legend was that my dad and Roger conquered all. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. Donohue's rocketed 7 through four wire catchfences and several roadside billboards. He wanted to know how we were doing. The winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and the Can Am in l973. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . Mark contracted polio when he was 6, but he fully recovered. Donohue (along with Penske) were pioneers in many rights, some as notable as the use of a skidpad as a tool for developing and perfecting race car suspension designs and setups. It includes information and additional photography that was not available before the first edition was published. The team was third at Daytona and second at Sebring. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. The 1967 Z-28 won its last race by lapping the entire field of cars, causing suspicion throughout the paddock. He answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". Warming up for the Austrian Grand Prix, my hero, Donohue, 38, had spun his March at 150 mph and struck his head on a metal bar supporting a sign. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Donohue took three victories and the series championship, besting the likes of Petty, Allison, David Pearson, A.J. Amongst his friends, he liked practical jokes and liked catching people out on things. Donohue was fiercely motivated and was one of the first drivers to bring a sense of mechanical engineering to his craft. By the end of the crash, the front end of the car was missing, and Mark's legs were fully outside the car, with his only injury . And I know that Roger loved him. Penske's new Penske Racing complex in Mooresville, North Carolina is decorated with various murals of Donohue and his racing cars, most notably the AMC stock car and the various Porsche prototypes that Donohue drove through his career. He never regained consciousness. He could drive a car in the 24-hour race at Daytona, a Trans-Am Car, an Indy car and a NASCAR car. Donohue was about to have his race victory taken away for cheating, but Roger Penske stepped in. He won Indy and we juiced him up and he was out there giving a speech and he was so funny that his sense of humor came out and everybody loved it. An out-of-court settlement was reached Wednesday at Providence, R.I., in the appeal of a $9.6-million Superior Court verdict awarded the estate of race driver Mark Donohue, killed during practice . Donahue qualified fourth and passed Bobby Allison for the lead on Lap 10. He won many races for us and the first IROC championship with the Porsche. Mark Donohue racked in 59 career wins for Team Penske in several different series. He finds the same things funny. The book told how Donohue learned to exploit the antilock braking system and the powerful turbocharged engine of several prototype Porsches, as well as how he learned from various mishaps, including a near-fatal crash. But where other youngsters were souping up cars to impress girls, I was only interested in the mechanics, Donohue said. Its something that Ive looked at since I was really young as a kid, Donohue said. Airport would have sent a stock Camaro flopping around. However, like most race drivers in the various top racing series around the world, he had lived an outright lot of life. It would have really been great watching those two together in the later years if it had gotten that far. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. But he was still, a great driver. Then, in March, 1974, Peter Revson, Penske's first choice as driver for the Formula One car that was to make its debut later in the season, was killed in an accident practicing for the South African Grand Prix. The book documents his career from his first races to his final full season of racing the year before he was killed. In 1967 he became the USRRC champion, winning six out of eight races. . Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. Strange and smart, but very driven., The drive set Mark Donohue apart and made him the winningest driver in Team Penske history. I think the people at Indy thought we were the college guys with the crew haircuts and the polished wheels. He was just that way. Mark Donohue was an enigma. Even with only three caution flags, the race lasted 12 minutes shy of five hours, a brutal exercise for the majority of the right-turn-averse stock car regulars, but nothing a veteran of the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring hadnt already experienced. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I didand I spent my time in the hospital as a result.. Mark Donohue. Thank you. But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, while being honored at a luncheon following his retirement. He had been a national amateur champion and the Sports Car Club of America driver of the year in 1965. The track chosen for the speed record attempt was the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. His car was almost inexplicably fast, so much so that, according to Donohues book The Unfair Advantage, race winner Al Unser sought him out after the race and said: Look, weve been competitors for a long time, and you have your way of doing things and I have mine, but when you come here and run six miles an hour faster than everyone else I gotta shake your hand.. [2], Donohue was hired on March 29, 1964, by Jack Griffith [Griffith Motors, Syosset, N.Y./Plainview, N.Y.] as design engineer for the Griffith, formerly TVR Grantura Mk III, powered by a Ford 289 cid (4.7l) V8 engine. 1968 would be a banner year for Donohue in the Trans-Am series, as he successfully defended his 12 Hours of Sebring victory by partnering with Craig Fisher and driving his Penske Chevrolet Camaro to victory. Aug 21, 2015, 4:28 PM. He won three times in IndyCar competition and won the 1973 NASCAR Cup Series race at Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California, driving an AMC Matador. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. DUI accident in the history of this county," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a news conference. Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. I got into racing because it seemed like an easy thing to do. He was hit on the side of his helmet with debris as his car, which had suffered a punctured tire, went out of control in prerace practice and crashed through four rows of wire catchfences and some billboards along the Oesterreichring race course. In an interview then, he talked of his disappointing grand prix showing. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that all memorial donations be sent to the Auto Racing Fraternity Foundation, 13539 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, Queens. As one of the best test drivers and developers in the business, he would get the car ready, then Penske would have to turn it over to a younger hotshot. But the intended hotshot, Peter Revson, was killed in a grandprix accident in March, 1974. Its been 43 years since Donohues death, but he remains Penske Racings cornerstone. In winning the first IROC championship, Donohue beat the best racing drivers of that era from all of the major championships, such as Denny Hulme, Richard Petty, A. J. Foyt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Peter Revson, Bobby Unser, and Gordon Johncock. Instead, Donohue retired. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. He tried to be a team manager; that didnt work. The singleseat, opencockpit Formula One cars used in grand prix racing have been called torpedoes. Late in 1973, when Penske decided to build a Formula One car for the 1975 season, Donohue knew what would happen. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. His fathers absence from the family took its toll, and eventually the marriage dissolved into divorce. The tangible steps Alpine has taken to meeting its humble F1 2023 targets, Why "grounded" Hamilton remains confident in Mercedes' F1 recovery, Why "grounded" Hamilton remains confident in Mercedes' F1 recovery On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 917-30 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Hangsen was killed testing a car for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Of 55 Trans-Ams he entered, he won 29. He was my original partner in racing, Penske told Autoweek. The lightweight car was featured on an episode of Dream Car Garage on Speed TV in 2005. His retirement was short-lived, however, as he was lured back to full-time competitive driving by Penske when he formed a Formula One team, Penske Cars Ltd, to compete in the final two events of the 1974 Formula One World Championship, and to continue competing in 1975 with the new Penske PC1. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. He was a sweet gentleman in every race. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. 4445. The two drivers disagreed on many aspects of racing and car setup, but as a team were able to muster a fourth-place finish in the endurance classic.[13]. That put Bettenhausen in the lead before a pinhole leak in the Bettenhausen cars cooling system with 12 laps to go put Donohue in the lead and the first of Penske Racings record 16 Indy 500 victories. From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. By 1973, the "Captain Nice" nickname he had earned earlier in his career was being supplanted by the nickname "Dark Monohue". Amazingly, Donohue only suffered an internal derangement of his knee with meniscus damage and limited cruciate plus collateral ligament damage. [citation needed]. In 1968 he was USRRC champion again, winning five of eight, and he was also Trans-Am champion, winning 10 of 13. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles, Why Autosport is changing how it ranks F1 drivers from 2023 onwards, Why Autosport is changing how it ranks F1 drivers from 2023 onwards