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. 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 I could see myself helping to develop the Formula One car, setting it up and then having some younger hotshot driver take over. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. Both Donohue and Penske changed teams to American Motors Corporation in 1970 and won their third championship in 1971. 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. Think about the championships we won together, the first Indy 500 victory for the team, three Trans-Am championships. He was very quiet, very unassuming, Mario Andretti told Autoweek. 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. 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. 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. No one piece tells you what the puzzle is. The $9500 price was a 50-percent premium over the fully optioned Camaro Racemark started with. He obsessively lived at the shop, working as many as 20 hours a day. Mark Donohue. 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. 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. 12 and current Alltel decals) at the fall Rockingham, North Carolina, race. How Gulf deal has boosted Williams's F1 commercial strategy, Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return, Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return Were far from having too much horsepower, he asserted. We need an obit.. How famous was Mark . Unfortunately, Donohue lost a life after an accident during practice for 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. Donohue co-drove in the No. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. the email address you entered is invalid. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, while being honored at a luncheon following his retirement. Donohue was the driver of Penskes first Brickyard effort in 1969. 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. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. 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. 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. As an American driver, he had done it all. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. 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 1961, Donohue bought the Elva and battled with another young racing star, Peter Revson, for the SCCA divisional championship. 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. Anyone can read what you share. 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. Watts.) He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. Please try again. "They posted me to the infield, taking care of people who got too much sun or had too much to drink," Olvey said. Why Las Vegas is key to F1's growth plans, Mercedes: New W14 sidepod design wont copy F1 rivals, Mercedes: New W14 sidepod design wont copy F1 rivals Toy cars at the gravesite of Mark Donohue in Summit, New Jersey. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I didand I spent my time in the hospital as a result.. Donohue dominated the 1967 race, driving a Lola T70 MkIII Chevrolet for Penske. The Penske overturned into a ravine, just a few meters beyond an underpass in which several people were standing.Debris from Donohue's car, particularly a wheel, hit a policeman, Richard Httner from Baden, who sustained critical head injuries, and three marshals - seriously injuring two of them, Gottfried Crnic and Manfred Schaller. "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 It includes information and additional photography that was not available before the first edition was published. Driver who fled fatal Olney crash gets 20-year sentence. Mark returned [a year later] because he realized he wasnt good at anything else. . 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. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). In fact, Mark often wasnt the engineer at all. 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. Donohue's death was announced by a spokesman for Roger Penske, a close personal friend and his team boss. 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. First to go was his marriage, says Argetsinger. He thinks the same way. Showing Editorial results for mark donohue. Riverside was over 2.6 miles long and the duration of the race 500 miles meant this particular event was more of an endurance contest. 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. He was good in Trans-Am, Indy cars, Can-Am and Formula One. In addition, the horrific events at the 1973 Indianapolis 500 and the subsequent death of his friend, Swede Savage, pushed him to quit. Donohue won. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. Search instead in Creative? When Donohue took the Ferrari to Le Mans, the car attained only 205 mph on the straight versus the Porsche 917s 235 mph. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. He died from severe head injuries sustained August 16 in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at Graz, Austria. Donohue, no matter what he accomplished, couldnt rest. Acid-dipping car bodies was prevalent with competing Trans-Am teams also. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. J. Funk and J. L. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. The trip to the airport was like the Mille Miglia. The pressures of racing and designing the car took their toll on Donohue. He won many races for us and the first IROC championship with the Porsche. Thank you. Carrying the number 66, Donohue qualified 13 th for the California 500, but a burned piston ended his day early, on lap eight. Goldberg Segalla, LLP, Albany (Mark Donohue of counsel), for respondents. He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. He sustained a fatal head injury from the crash. Although photographs of Donohue with the more aerodynamic 1974 Matador coupe exist and are published, he did not drive it in competition. 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 Mark Donohue drove the Porsche 917-30 Can-Am after making various aerodynamic and suspension modifications. With Roger Penske, you are always going to have good equipment. Password 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 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. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. Choose a Username Available! Racing is a very weird circus that way. Le cavalier du diable : Toutes les informations de diffusion, les bandes-annonces, les photos et rediffusions de Le cavalier du diable avec Tl 7 Jours 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]. Porsche, Penske, and Donohue quickly started the development of the 917-30, complete with a reworked aerodynamic "Paris" body and a 5.4-liter turbocharged flat-12 engine whose output could be adjusted from about 1,100 to 1,500 bhp[citation needed] by turning a boost knob in the cockpit. He said so himself many times. 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]. For the remainder of the 1970 season, Donohue ran a different Lola, with Chevy power, finishing second (again behind Al Unser) at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. Instead, Donohue retired. Please try again. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. He was a winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in stock cars. When he came out, he was a different person. At about 09h45 he left the pits again for another testing run. To be sure, it seems what we now know as The Penske Way gained steam with Donohue as its pied piper. Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. Mark Donohue began racing at the age of 22 in a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette . He was the thinking man's driver, maybe because, unlike most of his rivals, he had an Ivy League education and maybe because looking at that cherubic face, which was several years younger than his racescarred body, there was no other way to explain how this kid was winning. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. [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. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The latter passed away at 09h20 on Tuesday 19 August 1975, while being treated at a Knittelfeld hospital.Donohue was hit in the head by one of the catch-fence supporting posts and was knocked unconscious. [2], At Hansgen's funeral, Roger Penske spoke to Donohue about driving for him. 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 was just 22 years old when he had won his first race, a local hill climb. It became official last September. But supervising the Penske efforts in stock car and Indianapolistype racing did not agree with Donohue. What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP. Event the win at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 created more sleepless nights, because the win did not come on his own terms. Seeing another man driving your car, a car you know so well. Donohue. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. A 25-year-old passenger in the Infiniti, a woman from Olney, was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital. Donohue took three victories and the series championship, besting the likes of Petty, Allison, David Pearson, A.J. Try a week on us. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. 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. A full season of racing for the 1975 Formula One season was planned. He finds the same things funny. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? And I know that Roger loved him. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohues fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. 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. Found a bug?SuggestionsCopyrightNeed help?Business DevelopmentGeneral inquiry, PopScreen - Video Search, Bookmarking and Discovery Engine. For him, it was a check in the box, Penske recalled. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. 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.. 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. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. Brad Keselowski is second with 54 wins in NASCAR Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup Series racing. He is buried in Saint Teresa Cemetery in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.R.I.P Mark Donohue \u0026 Manfred Schaller. 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. Donohue began working with cars while growing up in the nineteenfifties in a comfortable neighborhood in Summit, N. J. The book was published shortly before Donohue's death. We think we've made a major discovery. 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). 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. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue did not appear to be injured significantly. He is known for Formula 1 (1950) and The Trans-Am Challenge (1972). The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023, The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023 On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 91730 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. I know their first conversation after the race, he didnt say (that he had won). His son, David, told me: The legend was that my dad and Roger conquered all. 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. 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. 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 driver of the Honda was killed. 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. [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. Upstairs was a small room with a bed that had an outside private entrance. 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. Donohue began his Trans-Am series campaign in 1967, winning three of twelve races in a Roger Penske-owned Chevrolet Camaro. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. 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. 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. 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. He was a sweet gentleman in every race. 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. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car.