Mark Donohue. 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. Mark Donohue at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, Today, we have specialists, but Mark was such a versatile guy, he drove everything for us.. On his second lap he approached the Vst-Hgel very fast right-hander at the end of the main straight when, at about 162 mi/h (260 km/h), a rear tyre of his March 751-Ford Cosworth suddenly blew up. 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]. 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. 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. Today, he works for Porsche Cars North America as client relationship manager. Anyone can read what you share. 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.. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? In the 1971 Indianapolis 500, Donohue started second and led 52 of the first 66 laps before breaking a gearbox. He wanted to show he could do it all again. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. . Then, in 1977 a chicane, named Hella-Licht, was installed at that point of the track, bringing the length of the circuit to 5.941 kilometers.Mark Neary Donohue, Jr. was survived by his second wife Eden, the couple had only recently married; and his two sons from his previous marriage, Michael and David. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. He began to spend more than time. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. Donohue chronicled his entire racing career in the book, The Unfair Advantage (co-written with noted motorsports and engineering journalist Paul Van Valkenburgh). Ford had developed a new GT, the Mark IV. Please try again. In 1970 new Javelin team owner Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue would breathe new life into the AMC team. He died two days later. No one knew, but Mark Donohue had just 10 days to live. 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. Our car experts choose every product we feature. We brought some technology. If he didnt test a car before a race, he didnt have his Peanuts security blanket and would fret that his edge was lost.. On the phone, the editor said, You gotta come back in. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. 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. But there was always that missing link, as he called itgrand prix. 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. I did everything I could to keep up. Prior to racing in Formula One, Donohue was a racer in the Ford GT40, Trans-Am, Indy car, NASCAR, Can-Am and IROC racing series. Carrying the number 66, Donohue qualified 13 th for the California 500, but a burned piston ended his day early, on lap eight. I know their first conversation after the race, he didnt say (that he had won). His lone NASCAR race win was just part of his narrative, but that victory another hurdle in auto racing cleared in partnership with Penske helped ignite a flame thats lasted over 50 years across different genres of the sport and in turn elevated the quality and intelligence of American racing. 4 yellow car with sports car driver and race car builder Bruce McLaren for Shelby American Racing. 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. 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. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. The bungalow is where team manager Chuck Cantwell and the teams public relations director Dan Luginbuhl worked along with secretary Maryann ODonnell. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? By 1973, the "Captain Nice" nickname he had earned earlier in his career was being supplanted by the nickname "Dark Monohue". A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? Or, signing some autographs. Donohue co-drove in the No. 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. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. However, the Penske Formula One car proved unsound and Donohue's best finish this year was a fifth place. There was no real color out of it. The Griffith company closed its doors in November, 1966. And neither found what they expected. Donohue was a . (Photo: Bob DOlivo / The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images). Donohue raced in the inaugural IROC series in 197374, racing identical, specially-prepared Porsche RSRs. Portrait of American racing driver Mark Donohue as he poses with his car after winning the Indianapolis 500 race, Speedway, Indiana, May 1972. . Appeal from that part of an order of the Supreme Court (Platkin, J. The driver of the Honda was killed. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. The search for Mark Donohue concludes in the upscale community of Summit, New Jersey just outside of New York City. Donohue was obsessed with finding any possible advantage through engineering -- and loopholes in the rules. Upstairs was a small room with a bed that had an outside private entrance. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). 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. Brian Redman drove it once in 1974, and that was it for the car as far as Penske campaigning it. I got into racing because it seemed like an easy thing to do. By clicking on 'Join' button, you confirm that you are over 13 years of age and agree to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. 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. Forgot password? Together, they took on Trans-Am, then turned their attention to the Indianapolis 500. Its made me realize its an honor to be his son. Donohue. 500-mile (800km) SCCA endurance event, which he won. 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. [17] That race was Penske's first NASCAR win in a long history of NASCAR participation. [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. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue's career, along with Roger Penske's Formula One aspirations, took a tragic turn. Except I knew it wouldnt last, recalls Penske Racings timer/scorer Judy Stropus. I dont remember him changing a bit.. 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. It affected the whole team. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. This account has been suspended due to strange activity. I don't think I could have handled that.. Choose a Username Available! One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. It served as the first NASCAR victory for aspiring team owner Roger Penske, a proverbial snowball sent rolling down a path thatd alter the entire American auto racing landscape. 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. Password [citation needed] Hansgen arranged for Donohue to become his teammate in 1965, co-driving a Ferrari 275 at the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race,[2] which they finished in 11th place. The two had a tremendous respect for each other and put their own personal egos aside to win races. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/21/archives/mark-donohue-returns-to-die.html. He won many races for us and the first IROC championship with the Porsche. And I know that Roger loved him. In all, he won 57 major races and more than $1million. 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. Their performance on the track also quickly turned heads. Conversely, Mark had one of the greatest senses of humor of anybody I ever met. 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. They continued to use the "lightweight" car in 1968, at the Sebring 12-hour race. He went on to assist TVR's David Hives in designing the Series 400 Griffith and then working on the ill-fated Bob Cumberford-designed, Intermeccanica-(Torino, Italy) produced Series 600 Griffith. He lost his life doing what he wanted to do, which is one thing, but it took us a long time to get over that. In fact, Mark often wasnt the engineer at all. 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. 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. Browse 481 mark donohue stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. 12 and current Alltel decals) at the fall Rockingham, North Carolina, race. 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. [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. 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 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. His true passion was racing. This. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. In 69 Mark repeated his Trans-Am championship, winning six of 12. 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. 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 died two days later. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. It is said that Donohue's head struck either a catch fencing post or the bottom of the wood frame for an advertising billboard located alongside of the racetrack. Watts.) To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Event the win at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 created more sleepless nights, because the win did not come on his own terms. In 1967 he became the USRRC champion, winning six out of eight races. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. 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. The highlight of his entire career was winning the . 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. He thinks the same way. 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. Strange and smart, but very driven., The drive set Mark Donohue apart and made him the winningest driver in Team Penske history. Mark Donohue spent many late nights in the bungaloo in front of the original Penske garage in Newtown Square, Pa. Marks wife, Sue, raised young David and his older brother Michael. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. 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. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. I was the chief engineer because I was the only engineer, Cox recalled. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. Mark Donohue returning from retirement to lead Roger Penske's Formula 1 team looked like a perfect match. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? His Porsche 917-30 was so dominant it was called the Can-Am Killer, as he won seven of eight races and the 1973 Can-Am Championship. But his edge was rarely lost. 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. He did it through sheer force of will. 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. 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. I get all of these tiny little stories from everybody where my dad grabbed this guy as a kid and sat him in the car -- and that motivated him enough to go to engineering school. Its something that Ive looked at since I was really young as a kid, Donohue said. It meant immediate surgery. But supervising the Penske efforts in stock car and Indianapolistype racing did not agree with Donohue. 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. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. We may earn money from the links on this page. Hed eventually swap leads with Richard Petty, but took the reins of the race for good for the final 75 circuits, lapping the entire field in the process. 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I didand I spent my time in the hospital as a result.. 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. The No. 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. 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 But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. Coffay fled the scene. FIA grants Hamilton medical exemption to wear nose studs, Hamilton: F1 retirement talk from Button and Hill not "helpful, Hamilton: F1 retirement talk from Button and Hill not "helpful . 1975 Camaro Racemark GT Bob Bailey. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. Though he walked away from the resulting crash, he fell into a coma the next day and, shortly after, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. But Donohue knew that time was running short and his skills and reflexes weren't getting any better. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. He became a great friend of mine, Penske said in an IMS tribute to Donohue. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. At first, the former Indianapolis 500 winner was thought to have just a mild concussion. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 91730 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. We went to Phoenix and tested it with the wings off and then put the wings on and couldnt believe how fast it was. Donohue dominated the 1967 race, driving a Lola T70 MkIII Chevrolet for Penske. He never regained consciousness. It was always on to the next project.. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. Email or password is incorrect. 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 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. Thank you. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 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. 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. The hotrod phenomenon came East from California and caught me up in it, he once explained. Clark, J. 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. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohue's fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. 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 finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. 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. Amazingly, Donohue only suffered an internal derangement of his knee with meniscus damage and limited cruciate plus collateral ligament damage. Found a bug?SuggestionsCopyrightNeed help?Business DevelopmentGeneral inquiry, PopScreen - Video Search, Bookmarking and Discovery Engine. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. 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. Mark Donohue. The setup he designed for his car didnt have as much speed as teammate Gary Bettenhausens setup. Sponsored by Ancestry. 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. Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. It was, as they say in racing, a freak accident. Begrudgingly, Donohue used Bettenhausens setup for the race. In 1961, Donohue bought the Elva and battled with another young racing star, Peter Revson, for the SCCA divisional championship. Mark contracted polio when he was 6, but he fully recovered. Racing is a very weird circus that way. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. We will get back to you in 24 hours. Mark returned [a year later] because he realized he wasnt good at anything else. He is really, really like Mark for good or ill. Ive worked with David for a little bit. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. Donohue did not start the first race of the year at Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City due to problems getting the engine to start. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. 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 Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. Several minutes later Donohue regained consciousness and spoke with his rescuers, who took him to Knittelfeld hospital. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. As ADAM COOPER recalls, though, it ended in tragedy. In February of '65 Donohue was named as comptroller at Griffith Motors but was soon spirited away from Griffith by Roger Penske early in 1966. He wanted to know how we were doing. 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 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. When police found him about three hours later, his . 4445. 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). Mark felt he had to devote all his time to the team. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. Once, in 1971, he and Penske showed up at the Canadian Grand Prix and Jackie Stewart, the former world champion, kidded them: Welcome to the major leagues.. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise. 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. 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. 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.
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