(Photo: Bob DOlivo / The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images). A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? I was at Lime Rock, Connecticut, Donohue said. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. Not true. Mark Donohue Fatal Crash (Alternate Footage) Browse more videos Playing next 5:35 Airplane Crash Compilation 2015 SHOCKING FOOTAGE - Most Epic Plane Crashes Caught on Camera Fatal Ab Tak 4:59 Airplane Crash Compilation 2015 SHOCKING FOOTAGE - Most Epic Plane Crashes Caught on Camera Fatal punjabi & islamic tv 5:35 There was also Earl McMullen and Bill Cox, who worked for the teams sponsor, Sun Oil. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. Choose a Username Available! Going racing meant anywhere and everywhere, and the two chose to tackle stock cars. In his career, Donohue started 311 races and won 119 of them, a winning average of 38 percent. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. 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. Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue. DUI accident in the history of this county," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a news conference. Czarnecki saw the brilliance, humor and darkness -- all part of Donohues character. Or, signing some autographs. No one piece tells you what the puzzle is. 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. He never regained consciousness. At the age of twenty-two,[citation needed] while a senior at Brown, Donohue began racing his 1957 Corvette. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. 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. 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. 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. The supposition is that a support post from one of the advertising signs caught Donohue's helmet. But he was still, a great driver. I was the chief engineer because I was the only engineer, Cox recalled. 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. "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. 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. His true passion was racing. They won the race, finished third overall, and went on to win 10 out of 13 races that year. On the phone, the editor said, You gotta come back in. 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. He answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". Through racing and after more than four decades after the tragic death of his father, David Donohue believes he has found Mark Donohue. 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 . They discovered that using a drag racing trick of dipping a car in an acid bath would eat away small amounts of metal, which in turn made the car incrementally lighter, and allowed it to be driven faster. When Penske decided late to enter Formula One full time, Donohue had a difficult decision to make. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. 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]. ', On Wednesday morning, August 20, 1975, the phone rang in my dingy beige apartment in Burlington, Ontario. 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. By then, he had remarried to a model from Atlanta named Eden. As ADAM COOPER recalls, though, it ended in tragedy. The No. 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. Its a goal he had and a goal he checked off. 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. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. During their enormous success in Trans-Am, Penske and Donohue would begin to experiment with their Camaros. Seeing it in real life when you come into the museum here, I know one thing -- I fit in it really well. He is really, really like Mark for good or ill. Ive worked with David for a little bit. Jackie Stewart interviews Mark Donohue prior to an IROC race in 1974. Donohue co-drove in the No. My definition of too much horsepower is when all four wheels are spinning in every gear., Burge Hulett, Donohues lifelong friend, told Bedard: Mark was actually a bit of a doofus, awkward everywhere except behind the wheel. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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. This account has been suspended due to strange activity. He was young Roger Penskes equal. 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. Bernie Ecclestone hopes BBC agrees new Formula 1 UK TV deal, Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice, Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice There, he was Godthat was his way of distinguishing himself. His divine touch extended to his street cars; a friend once described riding in Donohues Porsche 911 as a Wall of Death thing most of the time., The relentless pursuit of perfection eventually took its toll. The 917/30 generally is considered one of the most powerful and most dominant racing machines ever created. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. Donohue and Hawkins completed only twelve laps due to differential failure and finished 47th. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. Forgot password? He turned out to be a real partner of mine. 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With Roger Penske, you are always going to have good equipment. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. Please try again. He died two days later. 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. 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. His fathers absence from the family took its toll, and eventually the marriage dissolved into divorce. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. Donohue was a . We werent out there to have fun. 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. He was just that way. Mark Donohue was an enigma. 66 McLaren/Offenhauser that Mark Donohue drove to win the 1972 Indy 500. He was so key in the operation when he was there its something we had to rebuild. 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. The setup he designed for his car didnt have as much speed as teammate Gary Bettenhausens setup. Don Cox would later join the team in 1969 after working as an engineer for General Motors. 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. With Donohues methodical approach and his commitment to work for Penske fulltime that counted for a lot Penske said. Hangsen was killed testing a car for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. 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. He was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. During the day, being the state of health still worrying, he was airlifted to the Universittsklinik of Graz where he was operated by Dr. Fritz Heppner. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. He won the first event he entered, a hillclimb[2] in Belknap County, New Hampshire. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. We may earn money from the links on this page. They continued to use the "lightweight" car in 1968, at the Sebring 12-hour race. The book was published shortly before Donohue's death. Every dime I had I put into cars, he said. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The 1975 season turned out to be a difficult one for Donohue and Penske. [9] That year, Donohue also won two divisional championships: in SCCA B Class in a GT350 and in SCCA Formula C in a Lotus 20B. Together, they took on Trans-Am, then turned their attention to the Indianapolis 500. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. In 1970 new Javelin team owner Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue would breathe new life into the AMC team. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. 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. At first, the former Indianapolis 500 winner was thought to have just a mild concussion. I dont remember him changing a bit.. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue's career, along with Roger Penske's Formula One aspirations, took a tragic turn. Make sure you track out all the way for Turn 7. Painkillers affected his memory, and he began drinking heavily to deal with the pain. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). 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. Complete Canadian-American Challenge Cup results, Inskip Family History & Competition Engineering staff. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. When Mark . In fact, Mark often wasnt the engineer at all. Please try again. When he came out, he was a different person. Try a week on us. One track marshal was killed by the crash and another seriousy injured. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue did not appear to be injured significantly. 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. 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. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? 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. During a post-race inspection, race stewards discovered that the car was 250 pounds lighter than the 2,800-pound minimum weight requirement. In 1961, Donohue bought the Elva and battled with another young racing star, Peter Revson, for the SCCA divisional championship. We used to clean our garage out every night, and that was something people didnt understand.. 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. In the four-race series, Donohue won the first and third of three races at Riverside and the final race of the year at Daytona. Donohue won. Mark Donohue was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. In 1967, Penske contacted Donohue about driving Penske's brand new Lola T70 spyder in the United States Road Racing Championship. 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. And, according to Cox, Roger certainly did his part in coming up with next projects.. 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. [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. 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 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. 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. 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. the email address you entered is invalid. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. 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. In 1974, he quit driving and became president of Penske Racing. Mark was an engineer from Brown University, Penske said. As an American driver, he had done it all. 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. 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. Donohue's death was announced by a spokesman for Roger Penske, a close personal friend and his team boss. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. I imagine it must feel like watching another man in bed with your wife. Oops! It began as a hobby in 1959 when Donohue sold his soupedup Corvette, which he used to drive around at Brown, and for $3,000 purchased his first racing cara little Elva with an MG engine. How famous was Mark . (He was operated on at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta by Drs. Donohue was considered a leading Trans-Am driver of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. The Penske PC1 was developed but the car proved problematic and midway through the season they decided to switch to a March 751 chassis. Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. 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. Anyone can read what you share. 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]. 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. It became official last September. We need an obit.. For him, it was a check in the box, Penske recalled. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . During testing at Road Atlanta, Donohue recommended larger brake ducts, believing that more cooling would slow the brakes' degradation during a race. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? 12 and current Alltel decals) at the fall Rockingham, North Carolina, race. He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. 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. 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. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. 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. The only person to beat Donohue was his former Penske Trans-Am teammate, George Follmer. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. 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. Donohue was the driver of Penskes first Brickyard effort in 1969. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. 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.. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I didand I spent my time in the hospital as a result.. Our car experts choose every product we feature. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. When Donohue took the Ferrari to Le Mans, the car attained only 205 mph on the straight versus the Porsche 917s 235 mph. Police have not yet released his identity. 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. But his edge was rarely lost. Worse yet, when Donohue wasnt racing, he was working 18- to 20-hour days at the teams small race shop, located in a garage in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, and later, a more modern facility in nearby Reading. The two had a tremendous respect for each other and put their own personal egos aside to win races. See the article in its original context from. . 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. . 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. His first marriage ended in divorce and some friends blamed racing. [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. 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. Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice,"[1][2] and later "Dark Monohue,"[2] was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.[3][4][5][6]. 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. Mark Donohue. Your message has been sent. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. He did it through sheer force of will. He sustained a fatal head injury from the crash. This. 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. So in a televised interview after the incident, race driver Mark Donohue told the story of his horrific practice crash at Road Atlanta with carefully chosen words. Think about the championships we won together, the first Indy 500 victory for the team, three Trans-Am championships. The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. Donohue's rocketed 7 through four wire catchfences and several roadside billboards. Mark Donohue did not take a traditional route to racing or to Penskes side. 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.