[17] That race was Penske's first NASCAR win in a long history of NASCAR participation. 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. 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. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. Painkillers affected his memory, and he began drinking heavily to deal with the pain. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. During a post-race inspection, race stewards discovered that the car was 250 pounds lighter than the 2,800-pound minimum weight requirement. 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. A friend once described riding in Donohue's Porsche 911 as a 'Wall of Death thing most of the time. . Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. Please try again. Donohue began his Trans-Am series campaign in 1967, winning three of twelve races in a Roger Penske-owned Chevrolet Camaro. I imagine it must feel like watching another man in bed with your wife. Airport would have sent a stock Camaro flopping around. The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023, What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles, What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles 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. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. For him, it was a check in the box, Penske recalled. As ADAM COOPER recalls, though, it ended in tragedy. 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. 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. 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. Unfortunately, Donohue lost a life after an accident during practice for 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. 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 They also acid-dipped the body on the Camaro and had to caution people not to lean against it, for fear it would dent. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. 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. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. 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 book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). We started with a Lola 4-wheel drive, and in 1971 we got a McLaren. At about 09h45 he left the pits again for another testing run. In 69 Mark repeated his Trans-Am championship, winning six of 12. Carrying the number 66, Donohue qualified 13 th for the California 500, but a burned piston ended his day early, on lap eight. 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. For Donohue, there was little time to grieve, as his own Le Mans debut was looming. That day at Indy, Bobby Unsers Eagle dominated the contest before Unser dropped out. I think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. They won the race, finished third overall, and went on to win 10 out of 13 races that year. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise. He wanted to show he could do it all again. 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. 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. As an American driver, he had done it all. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. 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. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. He said, Just follow me. Following Mark Donohue on a two-lane road with no street lights was an exercise. To be sure, it seems what we now know as The Penske Way gained steam with Donohue as its pied piper. 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. 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. "Donohue is no angel out there on the track Parnelli Jones", "Donohue, on the Way Out, Views Things From Top; Calendar of Motor Sports", "1965 Sebring 12-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance Race Profile", "1966 24 Hours of Le Mans Results and Competitors", "1967 24 Hours of Le Mans Results and Competitors", "Mark Donohue Named '500' Rookie of Year", "Mark Donohue set Indy speed record in 1972", "1973 Winston Western 500: Donohue Dominates", "Hall of Fame Members (Mark Donohue Jr.)", "Mark Donohue, Sports Cars, Class of 1990", Mark Donohue's IROC and NASCAR stats at racing-reference.info, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Donohue&oldid=1136103335, Brown University School of Engineering alumni, International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees, SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2014, Pages using small with an empty input parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, run as the Daytona 3 Hour Continental (196263), 24 Hours of Daytona (196671/ 1973/ 1975present), This page was last edited on 28 January 2023, at 19:22. 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. Donohue drove the Javelin to three victories, with AMC finishing second overall in the Manufacturers' Championship. We will get back to you in 24 hours. The driver of the Honda was killed. Donohue began working with cars while growing up in the nineteenfifties in a comfortable neighborhood in Summit, N. J. 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. In fact, Mark often wasnt the engineer at all. 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. His 59 wins remain the most of any driver for Team Penske. . ), entered April 29, 2014 in Albany County, which granted a motion by defendants James Finck and Tougher Industries Enterprises, LLC for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against them. Donohue. It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 917-30 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was, as they say in racing, a freak accident. He is really, really like Mark for good or ill. Ive worked with David for a little bit. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. 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. Instead, Donohue retired. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. 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. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. It meant immediate surgery. I didnt expect that at all, David Donohue, 51, said. He never regained consciousness. 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. 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. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. 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. The search for Mark Donohue concludes in the upscale community of Summit, New Jersey just outside of New York City. We werent out there to have fun. Hangsen was killed testing a car for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. 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 Donohues degree from Brown in Mechanical Engineering got him a job designing filters for air conditioners -- not quite what he had in mind. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . First to go was his marriage, says Argetsinger. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. I did everything I could to keep up. I could see what was coming, he said. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. Of 55 Trans-Ams he entered, he won 29. 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. 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. [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. "Going down the back straightaway, the wing, which produced a tremendous amount of downforce at high speeds, came off the back of the car," Donohue claimed. 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 won three times in IndyCar competition and won the 1973 NASCAR Cup Series race at Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California, driving an AMC Matador. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohue's fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. 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. With his marriage to Sue falling apart, Donohues personal life was in turmoil. Amazingly, Donohue only suffered an internal derangement of his knee with meniscus damage and limited cruciate plus collateral ligament damage. Donahue qualified fourth and passed Bobby Allison for the lead on Lap 10. However, the Penske Formula One car proved unsound and Donohue's best finish this year was a fifth place. 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. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. 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. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. After considering the potential consequences, the race stewards allowed Donohue's victory to stand, but the rules for the 1968 season incorporated a change whereby all cars would be weighed during the technical inspection before the race. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. The guy that is most like Mark that Ive ever met is David, said Don Cox. After coming out of retirement with his former boss, Penske, Donohue returned to Formula One, entering into the final two races of the 1974 Formula One season. They continued to use the "lightweight" car in 1968, at the Sebring 12-hour race. It comes up quickly and, at more than 90 degrees, is the slowest corner on this course. Make sure you track out all the way for Turn 7. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. 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. Mark Donohue at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, Today, we have specialists, but Mark was such a versatile guy, he drove everything for us.. 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 . Allison, the runner-up finisher, will forever be in awe of what he witnessed from Donohue, with whom hed eventually work while driving for Penske. Three years later, Mark was gone, dead from a cerebral hemorrhage suffered in a crash during practice for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at sterreichring. 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 Mark Donohue died last night. It became official last September. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? 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. The No. 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. Midway through the 1975 F1 season, Penske abandoned the troublesome PC1 and started using the March 751. He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. 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). 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 began to spend more than time. 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. What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP. I think the people at Indy thought we were the college guys with the crew haircuts and the polished wheels. No one piece tells you what the puzzle is. 66 McLaren/Offenhauser that Mark Donohue drove to win the 1972 Indy 500. This. Late in 1973, when Penske decided to build a Formula One car for the 1975 season, Donohue knew what would happen. His first marriage ended in divorce and some friends blamed racing. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). Donohue raced at Indianapolis each year following,[15] finishing second in 1970 and 25th in 1971. I think at that point we started to bring the sport to a higher level, Penske said. 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. He thinks the same way. 500-mile (800km) SCCA endurance event, which he won. Drexel University 1973 Lexerd (Yearbook), pp. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. Browse 481 mark donohue stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. Its as if his father is in his presence. So they fiddled with it in non-meaningful ways, then Mark went back out. He gained 11.5 secondsthe quickest Ferrari in the field and fourth overall. . Sponsored by Ancestry. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. The four-race schedule consisted of three races at Riverside and a finale on Daytonas road course. It was August 9, 1975. 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. In the 19721973 season, driving an AMC Matador for Penske Racing in NASCAR's top division, the Winston Cup Series, Donohue won the season-opening event at Riverside. As Roger Penske said, Mark wasnt flashy, but he put the numbers on the board.. He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. Walt Hangsen, a former SCCA champion and road racing veteran who even make a pair of F1 starts, helped Donohue get a ride in John Mecoms Ferrari 250LM at Sebring in 1965. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. We were there to go racing.. Donohue died in the one aspect of auto racing he Had not conqueredgrand prix. It was hard to believe because Donohue and team owner Roger Penske were then the cleverest guys in racing. Forgot password? He was just that way. Mark Donohue was an enigma. Mark Donohue races to the win at the the 1972 Indy 500. He went over 180 miles per hour for the first time and it wasnt on the chart, so nobody knew how fast he went. Donohue's death was announced by a spokesman for Roger Penske, a close personal friend and his team boss. Czarnecki saw the brilliance, humor and darkness -- all part of Donohues character. Don Cox would later join the team in 1969 after working as an engineer for General Motors. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. Your message has been sent. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. [2], Donohue was invited back to Le Mans by Ford in 1967. By clicking on 'Join' button, you confirm that you are over 13 years of age and agree to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. Password Donohue co-drove in the No. 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 Michael is another guy but there is this thing between Mark and David, even in terms of their life experiences. Donohues dad was often racing in the United States or Canada for a fledgling operation called Penske Racing. 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 The trip to the airport was like the Mille Miglia. When he came out, he was a different person. He busted a gut when we got back to the shop. Then there was Marks other side. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. 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. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. However, like most race drivers in the various top racing series around the world, he had lived an outright lot of life. 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]. 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. He was young Roger Penskes equal. In 1969, Penske brought his team -- and the Penske way -- to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. I know their first conversation after the race, he didnt say (that he had won). In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Donohue, no matter what he accomplished, couldnt rest. Brad Keselowski is second with 54 wins in NASCAR Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup Series racing. Police have not yet released his identity. It affected the whole team. Mark won the 1972 Indianapolis 500 when David was just five. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohues fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. In the 1971 Indianapolis 500, Donohue started second and led 52 of the first 66 laps before breaking a gearbox. The victory was the first for Penske in the Indy 500. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. The Penske PC1 was developed but the car proved problematic and midway through the season they decided to switch to a March 751 chassis. [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. His condition quickly worsened and he passed away two days later, victim of a blood clot in his brain.Following the fatal accident the sterreichring first turn was tightened in 1976 and the track lenght passed from 5.911 to 5.906 kilometers. When David Donohue was young, he never really got to know his father -- Mark Donohue. Were far from having too much horsepower, he asserted. In auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. You can go away and the void that you leave gets filled quickly, but when you come back, you are greeted with open arms. 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. He did everything he could to lose me. 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.