In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue - Autoweek Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). After an initial run of four laps, Donohue entered the pits for a routine check-up and a few adjustments. 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. Upstairs was a small room with a bed that had an outside private entrance. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. The Griffith company closed its doors in November, 1966. Donohue is probably best known as the driver of the 1500+ bhp "Can-Am Killer" Porsche 917-30 and as the winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1972. 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. Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. I don't think I could have handled that.. Don Cox would later join the team in 1969 after working as an engineer for General Motors. I dont remember him changing a bit.. Back then it was tape-delayed, and she was watching the race on TV. The search for Mark Donohue concludes in the upscale community of Summit, New Jersey just outside of New York City. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohues fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. It is core to the myth of Mark that he was just an okay driver but a genius engineer. Donohue was obsessed with finding any possible advantage through engineering -- and loopholes in the rules. Alonso "not thinking" about Bahrain pole despite topping Friday times, Why Las Vegas is key to F1's growth plans, Why Las Vegas is key to F1's growth plans I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. Of 55 Trans-Ams he entered, he won 29. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/20/archives/donohue-38-dead-of-racing-injuries-mark-donohue-is-dead-of-racing.html. Mark Donohue | Formula 1 Wiki | Fandom 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. Jayski's Mark Donohue Tribute - Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site 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. 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. I had just put in 30 consecutive hours of writing, editing, and laying out race reports for CAR Weekly, which we sometimes spelled Weakly because there were only five of us and we possessed merely the slimmest notion of what we were doing. He began to spend more than time. His son, David, told me: The legend was that my dad and Roger conquered all. The team was third at Daytona and second at Sebring. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28 km) high-banked oval was 221.120 mph (355.858 km/h). He won many races for us and the first IROC championship with the Porsche. I didnt expect that at all, David Donohue, 51, said. We brought some technology. Settlement of Mark Donohue's Estate Reached - Los Angeles Times This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 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. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. The setup he designed for his car didnt have as much speed as teammate Gary Bettenhausens setup. [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. To those who work at the cemetery, Donohue is simply known as The Race Car Driver to visitors looking for his gravesite. On 09 August he reached an average speed around the 2.66 mile high-banked oval, of 221.120 mi/h (about 355 km/h), this has been a World record for several years.Donohue and the Penske team then made the trip to Austria. Showing Editorial results for mark donohue. 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. 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. PART II: Penske's L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am's Most Famous The driver of the Honda was killed. 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. . Event the win at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 created more sleepless nights, because the win did not come on his own terms. After the Arab oil embargo in 1973, it led the SCCA, IMSA and other race series to impose fuel limitations on motor sport racing as a whole, which hampered the performance of the 917/30, making it uncompetitive in the Can-Am series. It was hard to believe because Donohue and team owner Roger Penske were then the cleverest guys in racing. 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. 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. With Roger Penske, you are always going to have good equipment. We used to clean our garage out every night, and that was something people didnt understand.. But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. With the Corvette money, he also bought a trailer to hold the car and a station wagon to tow the trailer.. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. Oops! He was passionate about racing. Donohue, equipped with a mechanical-engineering degree from Brown University, approached car setup not with pet theories or traditional wisdom but with a slide rule, an overarching grasp of how physics strives to thwart a race cars mission, and 300 push-ups daily. 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. And I know that Roger loved him. A 25-year-old passenger in the Infiniti, a woman from Olney, was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital. When Penske decided late to enter Formula One full time, Donohue had a difficult decision to make. One-hit wonder: Mark Donohue and his 1973 Riverside win helped elevate Donohue disagreed. August 19th marks twenty-five years ago that Mark Donohue passed away from brain trauma, which was caused from an accident while practicing for a Formula 1 event. He was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. In 1968 he was USRRC champion again, winning five of eight, and he was also Trans-Am champion, winning 10 of 13. But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. Thank you. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. Painkillers affected his memory, and he began drinking heavily to deal with the pain. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. But in eight months of retirement, the quiet, wellspoken kid from the other side of the tracks learned that the hobby that had become an obsession still haunted him. 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. That didnt satisfy his competitive spirits, so he decided to take on Formula One. The car did a series of cartwheels, and Donohue broke both legs. Or, signing some autographs. Its a goal he had and a goal he checked off. Maryland DUI Driver Who Killed 3 Gets More Prison Time for Trying to Instead, Donohue retired. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. This remains the last time a ringer captured a win in a Cup Series road course race, but the victory took on a far greater meaning in hindsight. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. Acid-dipping car bodies was prevalent with competing Trans-Am teams also. Strange and smart, but very driven., The drive set Mark Donohue apart and made him the winningest driver in Team Penske history. 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. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohue's fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. But there was one phase of racing that he had never really taken part in, what he called his personal missing link. This was in the Formula One cars, perhaps this dangerous sport's most dangerous, which run on the grand prix circuit. In his career, Donohue started 311 races and won 119 of them, a winning average of 38 percent. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I did and I spent my time in the hispital as a result., See the article in its original context from. The bungalow is where team manager Chuck Cantwell and the teams public relations director Dan Luginbuhl worked along with secretary Maryann ODonnell. This. He was my original partner in racing, Penske told Autoweek. Two weeks ago, he took the 1973 CanAm car out of mothballs and set a world speed record for a closed course of 221.160 miles an. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske had planned an hard assault to the 1975 Formula 1 Championship, but the season soon turned out to be difficult. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. Sometimes, I would leave early and take my own car to the airport because I didnt want to put up with him. When police found him about three hours later, his . A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. 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. Ford had developed a new GT, the Mark IV. He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. But he always had good equipment, too. He was really the first person that I knew in racing that not only had the driving skills, but also the technical knowledge. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. 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. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. The two had a tremendous respect for each other and put their own personal egos aside to win races. 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. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. It was. (He was operated on at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta by Drs. 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 Donohue finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. In 1969, Penske and Donohue raced in their first Indianapolis 500,[14] with Donohue finishing seventh, winning the rookie of the year award. Donohue began the 1975 Formula 1 season as a 38-year-old rookie and the oldest driver on the grid. 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. "We had stop watches back then, with a timing chart taped on the back that converted seconds to miles per hour, but 180mph didn't exist on the timing chart." 12 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). Stay close to the outside curbing, brake hard, and turn in . 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 took three victories and the series championship, besting the likes of Petty, Allison, David Pearson, A.J. 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. He approaches things the same way. They also acid-dipped the body on the Camaro and had to caution people not to lean against it, for fear it would dent. 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 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. It affected the whole team. . He was a sweet gentleman in every race. 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. Drexel University 1973 Lexerd (Yearbook), pp. 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. Despite this, Donohue still dominated the series, even though he suffered three DNFs during the season due to mechanical problems with the M6A. He joined Roger Penske, a former sports car rival who had set up his own team, the following year as a fulltime professional. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway . A visit to the gravesite on a gray, cold, foggy March day revelaved little toy race cars on the gravestone, along with a plastic checkered flag -- a testament the life of Mark Donohue. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. No one piece tells you what the puzzle is. We had a polished yellow tile floor in our garage in Gasoline Alley and took everything out at night and cleaned the floor. 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. For him, it was a check in the box, Penske recalled. A full season of racing for the 1975 Formula One season was planned. Mark told me, Sometimes you just have to get it done., That was my take, too, says Michael Argetsinger, who has just written a riveting biography called Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed (David Bull Publishing, $39.95). Password Mark Donohue returning from retirement to lead Roger Penske's Formula 1 team looked like a perfect match. The highlight of his entire career was winning the . The thing that impressed me most about Mark is how serious he was about racing, vehicle preparation and all of the things that we know that contribute to success, Czarnecki said. Anyone can read what you share. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. 4445. 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. He won three national sports car championships as an amateur before he turned professional in 1966, first as the late Walt Hansgen's codriver, then for the rest of his life with Penske. Mark Donohue was 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. As an American driver, he had done it all. The Penske team leader, Heinz Hofer, said Donohue had told him after the crash that the left front tire had been punctured as he was traveling about 160 m.p.h. The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue | Goodreads When Mark . Driver who fled fatal Olney crash gets 20-year sentence. Michael is another guy but there is this thing between Mark and David, even in terms of their life experiences. [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. Mark Donohue. During the development of this motor, the German Porsche engineers often asked Donohue if the motor finally had enough power. The $9500 price was a 50-percent premium over the fully optioned Camaro Racemark started with. [2] Donohue announced that he would retire from racing after the 1973 Can-Am season. 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. He tried to get a car dealership; that didnt work. We went to Phoenix and tested it with the wings off and then put the wings on and couldnt believe how fast it was. We may earn money from the links on this page. He is buried in Saint Teresa Cemetery in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.R.I.P Mark Donohue \u0026 Manfred Schaller. Once, Penske rented a Formula One car for Donohue and in 1971, in his first start in one of these singleseat, opencockpit racing cars, he finished third in the Canadian Grand Prix. 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. He did it through sheer force of will. Donohues degree from Brown in Mechanical Engineering got him a job designing filters for air conditioners -- not quite what he had in mind. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue's career, along with Roger Penske's Formula One aspirations, took a tragic turn. He was helped by Emerson Fittipaldi, Bob Evans and Hans-Joachim Stuck, who arrived to the scene of the accident and parked their cars. (key) (Bold Pole position. 25 Years Ago Remembering Mark Donohue | Catchfence Although photographs of Donohue with the more aerodynamic 1974 Matador coupe exist and are published, he did not drive it in competition. And given enough time just one more year, maybe he wouldve become Americas first world champion.. For Donohue, there was little time to grieve, as his own Le Mans debut was looming. Donohue won in every type of race car he climbed into except for one -- the Formula 1 March 751 that ultimately cost him his life. - Remembering Mark Donohue - FormulaSpy 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. He finds the same things funny. The Newtown Square facility was a small, 4,000 square-foot garage out back with a small bungalow in front of the shop. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. It was always on to the next project.. Since his remarriage eight months ago, those same friends found Donohue relaxed and cheerful, something he had not been while retired. The email you entered is not registered with us. He tried to be a team manager; that didnt work. Everything You Need to Know to Master Road Atlanta - Car and Driver The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. In 1967 and 1968, Trans-Am schedule included two of the most prized endurance races in the world, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . Mark Donohue was one of the daredevil drivers of the 1970's. He exuded boyhood charm, was a speed demon behind the wheel, and was a legend of US racing, with wins at Daytona, the Indy 500, and Trans-Am Champion. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. He thinks the same way. And neither found what they expected. If he didnt test a car before a race, he didnt have his Peanuts security blanket and would fret that his edge was lost.. I think at that point we started to bring the sport to a higher level, Penske said. I could see myself helping to develop the Formula One car, setting it up and then having some younger hotshot driver take over. Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue. Donohue qualified his Penske midway the grid, and took it to the morning warm-up session before the start of the race. Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice, Alonso "not thinking" about Bahrain pole despite topping Friday times, Alonso "not thinking" about Bahrain pole despite topping Friday times He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971.