I realized then that if I wanted to do better in this business I had to spend more time on my car, he said. Although photographs of Donohue with the more aerodynamic 1974 Matador coupe exist and are published, he did not drive it in competition. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. He won many races for us and the first IROC championship with the Porsche. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, in New York while being honored at a luncheon. Walt Hangsen, a former SCCA champion and road racing veteran who even make a pair of F1 starts, helped Donohue get a ride in John Mecoms Ferrari 250LM at Sebring in 1965. His condition quickly worsened and he passed away two days later, victim of a blood clot in his brain.Following the fatal accident the sterreichring first turn was tightened in 1976 and the track lenght passed from 5.911 to 5.906 kilometers. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. He is known for Formula 1 (1950) and The Trans-Am Challenge (1972). Donohue, 38, Dead Of Racing Injuries - The New York Times His son, David, told me: The legend was that my dad and Roger conquered all. He also gave us our first NASCAR win. We had a polished yellow tile floor in our garage in Gasoline Alley and took everything out at night and cleaned the floor. He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. When she brought us in to see the finish, I dont think she knew he had won. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohue's fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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. Mark Donohue - Human Side of Racing I could see what was coming, he said. The Penske PC1 was developed but the car proved problematic and midway through the season they decided to switch to a March 751 chassis. It includes information and additional photography that was not available before the first edition was published. Truth is, they often didnt know if something would work., Thirty-three years after the big crash, Penske told Argetsinger: Mark was my best friend [this, despite Donohue once spearing his boss with an AMC Javelin in the pits, tossing Penske 15 feet]. Mark won the 1972 Indianapolis 500 when David was just five. The guy that is most like Mark that Ive ever met is David, said Don Cox. Sometimes, I would leave early and take my own car to the airport because I didnt want to put up with him. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. I didnt expect that at all, David Donohue, 51, said. Mark wasnt an emotional guy. Donohues degree from Brown in Mechanical Engineering got him a job designing filters for air conditioners -- not quite what he had in mind. Mark Donohue. The out-of-control car left the track at high speed, tore some 60 meters of the catch-fence on the left side of the track and crashed against the guard-rail, vaulting over it. What I realize now is that I wouldnt have succeeded in my other businesses if Mark hadnt completely taken over the race team., In the Penske garage at Indy in 71, someonecertainly not Donohue or Penskeerected a sign that said: Those of you who think you know it all are particularly annoying to those of us who do., .css-dhtls0{display:block;font-family:GlikoS,Georgia,Times,Serif;font-weight:400;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-dhtls0:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-dhtls0{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-dhtls0{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 61.25rem){.css-dhtls0{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Elana Scherr: Dodge Challenger Challenge Accepted. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. I used to hate riding with him to the airport, said Don Cox, a former chief engineer at Penske Racing when Donohue was with the team. Stay close to the outside curbing, brake hard, and turn in . The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. The bungalow is where team manager Chuck Cantwell and the teams public relations director Dan Luginbuhl worked along with secretary Maryann ODonnell. Mark Donohue. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. He turned his last race, the first International Race of Champions finalin which top driver from all forms of racing competed into an easy victory Feb. 15, 1974, and then concentrated on his new duties as president of Penske Racing. The key factors behind F1s Premier League-style managerial revolving door, The tangible steps Alpine has taken to meeting its humble F1 2023 targets, The tangible steps Alpine has taken to meeting its humble F1 2023 targets Fellow racer and former teammate Sam Posey called Donohue, a gunslinger who also happened to have designed the gun.. Its been 43 years since Donohues death, but he remains Penske Racings cornerstone. Donohue raced at Indianapolis each year following,[15] finishing second in 1970 and 25th in 1971. And I know that Roger loved him. He answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". And neither found what they expected. The highlight of his entire career was winning the . Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. . He was helped by Emerson Fittipaldi, Bob Evans and Hans-Joachim Stuck, who arrived to the scene of the accident and parked their cars. Strange and smart, but very driven., The drive set Mark Donohue apart and made him the winningest driver in Team Penske history. In all, there were 57 major victories and more than $1million in purses for this pleasant, intelligent man who gave up a career in mechanical engineering because racing is what he wanted to do. In August 1975, while practicing for the Austrian Grand Prix in a March 751, a tire failed, causing Donohue to lose control of the car. Losing a driver is something you cant replace. Had there been a Drivers' Championship in place at the time, he would have won three of them (his last in 1971) while driving Camaros in 1968 and 1969, and an AMC Javelin in 1971, all for Roger Penske Racing. Donohue was able to muster fifth-place finishes at the Swedish Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix, but the new Penske PC1 chassis proved problematic, as evidenced by three retirements in the first six races. Its a goal he had and a goal he checked off. Donohue died in the one aspect of auto racing he Had not conqueredgrand prix. That got everybodys attention -- the polished wheels, the way our guys looked, the way the cars were prepared and obviously, the performance was good. PART II: Penske's L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am's Most Famous He would greet those who didnt know him with a smile, but he was so focused and obsessed with making the race car go fast, he was distant. Why Autosport is changing how it ranks F1 drivers from 2023 onwards, The key factors behind F1s Premier League-style managerial revolving door, The key factors behind F1s Premier League-style managerial revolving door A Pennsylvania native by the name of Mark Donohue, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, pedaled a red-white-and-blue AMC Matador to his only Cup Series victory in six career starts. The Penske grand prix car proved a disappointment and Donohue's best finish this season was a fifth place in the British Grand Prix. Anyone can read what you share. J. Funk and J. L. Not that Donohues career or his one win in NASCAR needed validation, but IROC has long crystallized what fans thought of the talent in drivers who never outwardly succeeded in the Cup Series. This time, the interlopers would leave no doubt as they set out to prove their reputations for calculated dominance. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. They also acid-dipped the body on the Camaro and had to caution people not to lean against it, for fear it would dent. 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. On his second lap, while at about 260 km/h a rear tire of his March 751 - Ford suddenly blew, the out of control car went through the fence for about 180 feet, over a guard-rail and into a ravine. Why "grounded" Hamilton remains confident in Mercedes' F1 recovery. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? REWIND: Miller on Mark Donohue | RACER - RACER | Racing News Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. I know their first conversation after the race, he didnt say (that he had won). This. One track marshal was killed by the crash and another seriousy injured. That took a couple of years. Worse yet, when Donohue wasnt racing, he was working 18- to 20-hour days at the teams small race shop, located in a garage in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, and later, a more modern facility in nearby Reading. Jackie Stewart interviews Mark Donohue prior to an IROC race in 1974. The only person to beat Donohue was his former Penske Trans-Am teammate, George Follmer. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. through one of the fastest turns on the track. Complete Canadian-American Challenge Cup results, Inskip Family History & Competition Engineering staff. 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. An experienced race driver named Walt Hansgen (who worked for Inskip Motors in New York & Rhode Island) recognized Donohue's ability[2] and befriended him, eventually providing an MGB (through Inskip Motors in Providence, RI and prepped by their race shop Competition Engineering)[8] for Donohue to race at the 1964 Bridgehampton Three years later, Mark was gone, dead from a cerebral hemorrhage suffered in a crash during practice for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at sterreichring. Ford immediately signed Donohue to drive one of their GT-40 Mk II race cars campaigned at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Holman & Moody racing team. The trip to the airport was like the Mille Miglia. 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. His body will be flown to the United States tomorrow and the funeral will take place Monday in Summit, N. J., where Donohue grew up and first got caught up in the hotrod phenomenon. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 1 P.M. in St. Teresa's Church. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. No one knew, but Mark Donohue had just 10 days to live. 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. 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. My friends began warning me., Racing was becoming an obsession, but in 1965, he realized: Maybe I can make a living out of something like to do. 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 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. Prior to a race, he would sit in the back of the transporter by himself in the dark and think about the race, Czarnecki said. He did the job for Roger, no question. Donohue was considered a leading Trans-Am driver of the late 1960s and early 1970s. [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage. Please try again. But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. In addition, the horrific events at the 1973 Indianapolis 500 and the subsequent death of his friend, Swede Savage, pushed him to quit. In the 19721973 season, driving an AMC Matador for Penske Racing in NASCAR's top division, the Winston Cup Series, Donohue won the season-opening event at Riverside. The 2023 Genesis G90 Shows Sedans Still Matter, Horner: FIA 'Got a New Couch' From His Team's Fine, Why Ford and GM Truck Production Has Stopped, Alonso, Aston Martin Put Red Bull on Notice, Autoweek Racing on TV: February 27-March 5, Racer helped build the foundation for Roger Penske's racing success, Newman/Haas Racing Is Selling 42 Indy Cars Oct. 29, Three-time Indy 500 Starter Rasmussen Dies at 85, How Dixon's Simple Mistake Cost Him Indy 500 Win, Move Over ABBA, Sweden Has a New Racing Superstar, Jimmie Johnson's Indy 500 Experience Ends in Crash, Ayla Agren Is Montoya's Eyes in the Sky for 500, 11 Closest Indianapolis 500 Finishes in History, Larry Foyt Out to Get A.J. In auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 91730 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. [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. [2], Donohue was invited back to Le Mans by Ford in 1967. * Most laps led. Then they put both cars in the race, number 15 and 16, one car being 250 pounds lighter. Le cavalier du diable - Film d'pouvante sur Tl 7 Jours Jayski's Mark Donohue Tribute - Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site Twelve identically prepared cars is the mantra forever engrained in those who followed the International Race of Champions, and IROCs inaugural season, ranging from the fall of 1973 to the winter of 1974, was one of Donohues finest showings. Mark Donohue racked in 59 career wins for Team Penske in several different series. Donohue demolished Al Unser's IMS track record of 170.221mph with a 181.2mph practice lap on May 12, a day that still makes Penske chuckle. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. 25 Years Ago Remembering Mark Donohue | Catchfence Please try again. 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. Between 1971 and 1972, Penske Racing (along with Donohue as the primary test and development driver) was commissioned by Porsche to help develop the 917-10 to compete in the Can-Am series. 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. The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. A full season of racing for the 1975 Formula One season was planned. 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. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? In the four-race series, Donohue won the first and third of three races at Riverside and the final race of the year at Daytona. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. He wanted to know how we were doing. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. By then, he had remarried to a model from Atlanta named Eden. As an American driver, he had done it all. Their performance on the track also quickly turned heads. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. Donohue won. Email or password is incorrect. When police found him about three hours later, his . The practice sessions were marred by serious accidents; Brian Henton destroyed his Lotus after sliding in an oil patch, and Wilson Fittipaldi broke his hand when crashing at the Rindt Kurve. He won the first event he entered, a hillclimb[2] in Belknap County, New Hampshire. 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. 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 You can go away and the void that you leave gets filled quickly, but when you come back, you are greeted with open arms. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). Maryland DUI Driver Who Killed 3 Gets More Prison Time for Trying to To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. He was sleeping at the shop, and he couldnt say no to Rogercouldnt decline more development, more cars, more projects., Weary and still recuperating from leg injuries sustained in an awful crash at Road Atlantawhich briefly left him allegedly abusing alcoholDonohue announced his retirement at the end of 73. He obsessively lived at the shop, working as many as 20 hours a day. Bahrain GP: F1 technical images direct from the pitlane, What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP, What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP It was August 9, 1975. The book was published shortly before Donohue's death. 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. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. The Newtown Square facility was a small, 4,000 square-foot garage out back with a small bungalow in front of the shop. Racing was Donohues obsession. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. Donohue took three victories and the series championship, besting the likes of Petty, Allison, David Pearson, A.J. Penske's first race shop in Newtown Square, Pa. All of these tiny little stories you get to put all of these puzzle pieces together and get a much better picture of my father. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, while being honored at a luncheon following his retirement. It was. 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. But his edge was rarely lost. Cars that Donohue raced include: AMC Javelin, AMC Matador, Chevrolet Camaro, Eagle-Offy, Elva Courier, Ford GT40 MK IV, Ferrari 250LM, Ferrari 512, Lola T70, Lola T330, Lotus 20, McLaren M16, Porsche 911, Porsche 917/10, Porsche 917/30, Shelby Cobra, and Shelby Mustang GT350R. And when he thought he had done enough, he quit. No one piece tells you what the puzzle is. He could drive a car in the 24-hour race at Daytona, a Trans-Am Car, an Indy car and a NASCAR car. He knew, maybe all along, that he would come back. Carrying the number 66, Donohue qualified 13 th for the California 500, but a burned piston ended his day early, on lap eight. What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP. It affected the whole team. Mark Donohue: Returns to Die - The New York Times Donohue's rocketed 7 through four wire catchfences and several roadside billboards. He was a winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in stock cars. In 1974, he quit driving and became president of Penske Racing. To appreciate what Donohue and Penske accomplished that day, lets consider three important points: Its safe to say Donohue, an Ivy League-educated engineer, was Penskes muse when it came to auto racing; the burgeoning team owner offered Donohue a driving job at a funeral for Donohues friend, Walt Hansgen, his co-driver in sports cars whod helped guide young Donohues career to that point. Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return, IndyCar St. Petersburg: Dixon leads Herta in incident-packed opening practice, IndyCar St. Petersburg: Dixon leads Herta in incident-packed opening practice He sustained a fatal head injury from the crash. Motorist killed in Montgomery County crash, police say The 1967 Z-28 won its last race by lapping the entire field of cars, causing suspicion throughout the paddock. However, the Penske Formula One car proved unsound and Donohue's best finish this year was a fifth place. Five weeks after winning the 500, Donohue was testing his Can-Am Porsche 917-10 at Road Atlanta when the car got airborne at 160 mph. Donohue was a . [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. The $9500 price was a 50-percent premium over the fully optioned Camaro Racemark started with. Donohue raced in several NASCAR Grand American races and a NASCAR pony car division from 1968 until 1971. Ferraris chief engineer Mauro Forghieri glared at it and said, Theyll never let you run that wing at Le Mans. Mark replied, Well, I wouldnt want to run this wing at Le Mans, would I?, Partly because we were both engineers, Mark and I hit it off, recalls Patrick Bedard. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. ', On Wednesday morning, August 20, 1975, the phone rang in my dingy beige apartment in Burlington, Ontario. Found a bug?SuggestionsCopyrightNeed help?Business DevelopmentGeneral inquiry, PopScreen - Video Search, Bookmarking and Discovery Engine. The supposition is that a support post from one of the advertising signs caught Donohue's helmet. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? He was really the first person that I knew in racing that not only had the driving skills, but also the technical knowledge. 12 and current Alltel decals) at the fall Rockingham, North Carolina, race. We think we've made a major discovery. [9] That year, Donohue also won two divisional championships: in SCCA B Class in a GT350 and in SCCA Formula C in a Lotus 20B. [citation needed] He graduated from Brown in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Mark Donohue's Fatal Crash - sterreichring 1975 (42 years ago) Brian Redman drove it once in 1974, and that was it for the car as far as Penske campaigning it. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? GRAZ, Austria, Aug. 19 (AP)Mark Donohue, who ended an eightmonth retirement as an auto driver last year because he couldn't keep away from racing, died tonight of injuries suffered Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. We need an obit.. Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. Donohue chronicled his entire racing career in the book, The Unfair Advantage (co-written with noted motorsports and engineering journalist Paul Van Valkenburgh). The pressures of racing and designing the car took their toll on Donohue. And given enough time just one more year, maybe he wouldve become Americas first world champion.. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. He died two days later. It was, as they say in racing, a freak accident. Donohue was able to obtain two fifth places in the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp and in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but scored five DNF's in the first 11 races of the season.A few days before going to Zeltweg for the Austrian Grand Prix, scheduled to be contested on 17 August 1975, Penske and Porsche attempted to set the world closed-course record. When Penske decided late to enter Formula One full time, Donohue had a difficult decision to make.
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