Mark Donohue SCCA national champion early in a career Donohue was born in New Jersey on March 18, 1937, and became involved in racing as a senior at college. Seeing another man driving your car, a car you know so well. Drexel University 1973 Lexerd (Yearbook), pp. The front of the car was torn away, leaving Donohue, still strapped to his safety seat, with his legs dangling outside the car. Browse 481 mark donohue stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. They sent the legal weight car through the technical inspection with the number 15 and again with the number 16 on it. I could see myself helping to develop the Formula One car, setting it up and then having some younger hotshot driver take over. Mark Donohue returning from retirement to lead Roger Penske's Formula 1 team looked like a perfect match. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. 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. 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. . Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. Their performance on the track also quickly turned heads. 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. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 917-30 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. How famous was Mark . The Penske PC1 was developed but the car proved problematic and midway through the season they decided to switch to a March 751 chassis. Coffay fled the scene. 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 When Donohue took the Ferrari to Le Mans, the car attained only 205 mph on the straight versus the Porsche 917s 235 mph. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. He was young Roger Penskes equal. 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. When you see the car in real life, it becomes so much more real.. Donohue raced in seven of the eight races that year, winning six (at Las Vegas, Riverside, Bridgehampton, Watkins Glen, Pacific Raceways, and Mid-Ohio) and finishing third at the Laguna Seca Raceway round behind Lothar Motschenbacher and Mike Goth. His fathers absence from the family took its toll, and eventually the marriage dissolved into divorce. this email address already registerd with us. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/21/archives/mark-donohue-returns-to-die.html. Michael is another guy but there is this thing between Mark and David, even in terms of their life experiences. He said, Just follow me. Following Mark Donohue on a two-lane road with no street lights was an exercise. Its as if his father is in his presence. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. 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]. Donohue drove the Javelin to three victories, with AMC finishing second overall in the Manufacturers' Championship. And neither found what they expected. During his stay at Griffith Mark drove the Griffith-owned Shelby 289 Cobra making his mark on the SCCA circuit. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? Please try again. Sponsored by Ancestry. ', On Wednesday morning, August 20, 1975, the phone rang in my dingy beige apartment in Burlington, Ontario. In 2003, in commemoration of Penske Racing's 50th NASCAR win, Nextel Cup driver Ryan Newman drove a Dodge Intrepid painted to resemble Donohue's 1973 AMC (with a No. When Mark . He was one of the best American roadracers in history, but his biggest triumph was on the oval at Indianapolis, where in 1972 he won the 500. He had one religion: testing. Anyone can read what you share. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. That day at Indy, Bobby Unsers Eagle dominated the contest before Unser dropped out. Donohue died in the one aspect of auto racing he Had not conqueredgrand prix. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. Carrying the number 66, Donohue qualified 13 th for the California 500, but a burned piston ended his day early, on lap eight. The guy that is most like Mark that Ive ever met is David, said Don Cox. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. As an American driver, he had done it all. They continued to use the "lightweight" car in 1968, at the Sebring 12-hour race. Toy cars at the gravesite of Mark Donohue in Summit, New Jersey. There, he was Godthat was his way of distinguishing himself. His divine touch extended to his street cars; a friend once described riding in Donohues Porsche 911 as a Wall of Death thing most of the time., The relentless pursuit of perfection eventually took its toll. See the article in its original context from. Donohue, 38, Dead Of Racing Injuries - The New York Times 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. Don Cox would later join the team in 1969 after working as an engineer for General Motors. In 1970 new Javelin team owner Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue would breathe new life into the AMC team. A Montgomery County man who crashed his car and fled from the wreck, leaving three of his friends dead or dying, on Thursday was sentenced . He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. Born in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Donohue grew up in Summit,[7] graduated from the Pingry School in Hillside, and entered Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Continuing the practice of reducing weight allowed them to place weights of certain sizes strategically in specific locations within the car, thus helping to balance the car while being driven on the limit. With Donohues methodical approach and his commitment to work for Penske fulltime that counted for a lot Penske said. In 1961, Donohue bought the Elva and battled with another young racing star, Peter Revson, for the SCCA divisional championship. Together, they took on Trans-Am, then turned their attention to the Indianapolis 500. We think we've made a major discovery. 1 Killed in Multi-Car Crash in Olney, Police Say 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. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. Instead, Donohue retired. 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. It was, as they say in racing, a freak accident. Some day, they promised each other, Donohue would try to become the first American since Phil Hill in 1961 to win the world driving chmpionship. My definition of too much horsepower is when all four wheels are spinning in every gear., Burge Hulett, Donohues lifelong friend, told Bedard: Mark was actually a bit of a doofus, awkward everywhere except behind the wheel. A friend once described riding in Donohue's Porsche 911 as a 'Wall of Death thing most of the time. 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. The trip to the airport was like the Mille Miglia. who retired from one of the greatest careers in auto racing history at age 36, unretired at 37 and died Tuesday night at 38 of brain injuries suffered in a crash before the Austrian Grand Prix. So in a televised interview after the incident, race driver Mark Donohue told the story of his horrific practice crash at Road Atlanta with carefully chosen words. He was a winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in stock cars. Settlement of Mark Donohue's Estate Reached - Los Angeles Times The 1967 Z-28 won its last race by lapping the entire field of cars, causing suspicion throughout the paddock. Mark Donohue & Manfred Schaller's Fatal Crash @ sterreichring 1975 (Aftermath) FatalMotorsportChannel 26.2K subscribers Subscribe 24K views 4 months ago Mark Donohue and Roger Penske had. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. His instant F1 success led to no further involvement in the category, Mark instead concentrating on his blossoming Indy career, winning the big one in 1972. . 1975 Camaro Racemark GT Bob Bailey. 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. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. We started with a Lola 4-wheel drive, and in 1971 we got a McLaren. When David Donohue was young, he never really got to know his father -- Mark Donohue. [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. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? Some of his most notable accomplishments included being the Indy 500 rookie-of-the-year, Trans AM champion and a winner in The 24 Hours of Daytona all in 1969. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. 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. He joined Roger Penske, a former sports car rival who had set up his own team, the following year as a fulltime professional. He was passionate about racing. 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 REWIND: Miller on Mark Donohue | RACER - RACER | Racing News The highlight of his entire career was winning the . He turned out to be a real partner of mine. And so, last Sunday, while warming up his car at the Oesterreichring, a hill five hours by train from Vienna in the middle of nowhere, he had an accident. Donohue went on to win 10 of 13 races, a Trans-Am series record which would stand until Tommy Kendall went 11 for 13 in the 1997 Trans-Am championship, winning the first 11 races that year in his All-Sport liveried Mustang. Conversely, Mark had one of the greatest senses of humor of anybody I ever met. [2][6], Donohue won the SCCA national championship in an Elva Courier in 1961. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. Walt Czarnecki, Team Penske vice chairman and among the operations early members, has a deep admiration and respect for what Donohue meant to the Penske organization. [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. 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. The four-race schedule consisted of three races at Riverside and a finale on Daytonas road course. Donohue paced himself that day and took the lead for the first time with 12 laps to go. The winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and the Can Am in l973. Mark Donohue drove the Porsche 917-30 Can-Am after making various aerodynamic and suspension modifications. Jackie Stewart interviews Mark Donohue prior to an IROC race in 1974. Mercedes: New W14 sidepod design wont copy F1 rivals, FIA grants Hamilton medical exemption to wear nose studs, FIA grants Hamilton medical exemption to wear nose studs Donohue's rocketed 7 through four wire catchfences and several roadside billboards. A full season of racing for the 1975 Formula One season was planned. 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. 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. racing was concerned, he had done it all. Coming out of turn seven at about 150mph (240km/h), the rear bodywork flew off the car, which became extremely unstable, lifted off the ground, and tumbled down the track. Showing Editorial results for mark donohue. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Mark Donohue | Hemmings Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. First to go was his marriage, says Argetsinger. 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. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. We need an obit." 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. Donohue went on to win the first-ever 500-mile USAC Champ Car Series race at Pocono in 71 and claimed victory at Indianapolis in his return in 1972. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. Today, he works. From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. The 917-30 is referred to as the "Can-Am killer" [18] as it dominated the competition, winning all but two races of the 1973 Can-Am championship (which is an untrue statement, because OPEC killed the Can-Am series in 19751976). Two weeks ago, however, he showed he had not lost his skill at getting a race car around a track when he set a world speed record of 221.160 miles an hour for a closed course. Donahue qualified fourth and passed Bobby Allison for the lead on Lap 10. It was an epic stomping; he led over 361 miles that day, and in perusing the finishing order Bobby Unser finished fourth while West Series drivers Ray Elder, Jimmy Insolo, Jack McCoy and Richard White, all of whom made regular stops at Riverside, finished third, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively it was clear this was a race decided by the interlopers, the kind of race we no longer see in modern-day NASCAR, where drivers have been cross-trained and educated on technology and data to the point each race contains 38 different versions of the Donohue prototype. The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. I dont remember him changing a bit.. 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 became official last September. 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. But he was still, a great driver. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. I realized then that if I wanted to do better in this business I had to spend more time on my car, he said. Mark Donohue is killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. A lot of the things we saw on todays cars are things Mark thought about and brought to the surface., Mark Donohue stood out more ways than one when he was dominating the Can Am Series in the early. Donohue was the driver of Penskes first Brickyard effort in 1969. 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. 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. In the 1971 Indianapolis 500, Donohue started second and led 52 of the first 66 laps before breaking a gearbox. In the final race of the season, Javelins finished in first, second and third place, with George Follmer becoming the only other Javelin driver to win besides Donohue. The lightweight car was featured on an episode of Dream Car Garage on Speed TV in 2005. Donohue was obsessed with finding any possible advantage through engineering -- and loopholes in the rules. 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. 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. With Roger Penske, you are always going to have good equipment. Mark Donohue's Fatal Crash - sterreichring 1975 (42 years ago) Humphrey The Auto Racing Fan 1989 2.38K subscribers Subscribe 54 Save 13K views 5 years ago Notice Age-restricted video. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. Donohue began the 1975 Formula 1 season as a 38-year-old rookie and the oldest driver on the grid. We may earn money from the links on this page. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28 km) high-banked oval was 221.120 mph (355.858 km/h). At the age of twenty-two,[citation needed] while a senior at Brown, Donohue began racing his 1957 Corvette. (key) (Bold Pole position. Donohue finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. 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 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. As a person, he was always fun to be around, but I always admired that work ethic he displayed when it was time to race., Donohue was known as Captain Nice. To some, however, Donohue seemed distant and was later nicknamed Dark Monohue., Donohue was a good guy, said long-time racing journalist Robin Miller, who was a young reporter for The Indianapolis Star when Donohue raced at Indy. There were victories in stockcar racing against Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and the other Southern drivers; in the TransAm series, where three times he captured the season title competing against the best sedans the Detroit factories could produce; in the 24 hours of Daytona, against the best international sports cars endurance pilots, and in the initital Pocono 500 in 1971 against A. J. Foyt, Bobby and Al Unser, Mario Andretti and the other stars from the United States Auto Club championship circuit. They were embarrassed, and like the streak of success following the 71 Indianapolis 500, they returned to Riverside in 1973 with a heavy chip on their shoulders. 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. At Donohue's bedside were his wife of eight months, Eden; his father, Mark Sr., a retired patent lawyer, and Roger Penske, for whom he drove since 1966 and a close personal friend. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. In 1968 he was USRRC champion again, winning five of eight, and he was also Trans-Am champion, winning 10 of 13. Drs. Stephen Olvey and Terry Trammell in Motorsports Hall of Fame of 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.. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. 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.
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