Their performance on the track also quickly turned heads. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise. (key) (Bold Pole position. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. He took the lot to Lime Rock, Conn., and finished fourth in a sports car race. 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. The email you entered is not registered with us. Both Olvey and Trammell got their start in trackside medical response in similar fashion: Answering a bulletin board call for med students to help out at the Indianapolis 500 - Olvey in about 1969, Trammell in 1972. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 917-30 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. Advertisement. The Newtown Square facility was a small, 4,000 square-foot garage out back with a small bungalow in front of the shop. Mark Donohue races to the win at the the 1972 Indy 500. Email or password is incorrect. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). I think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. Mark was an engineer from Brown University, Penske said. 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. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. Were far from having too much horsepower, he asserted. The victory was the first for Penske in the Indy 500. When she brought us in to see the finish, I dont think she knew he had won. He died on August 19, 1975 in Graz, Styria, Austria. He joined Roger Penske, a former sports car rival who had set up his own team, the following year as a fulltime professional. It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. 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. 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). Donohue co-drove in the No. We were in Lime Rock and I was in a motorhome and my mom came out and woke my brother and I up so we could watch the end of the race. He wanted to show he could do it all again. He is really, really like Mark for good or ill. Ive worked with David for a little bit. But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. 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. We were the college kids with the crew cuts and the polished wheels, Penske said. ', On Wednesday morning, August 20, 1975, the phone rang in my dingy beige apartment in Burlington, Ontario. Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. He finds the same things funny. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. There was no real color out of it. Thank you. It was August 9, 1975. Donohue qualified his Penske midway the grid, and took it to the morning warm-up session before the start of the race. Please try again. 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But he kept complaining of headaches and Mario Andretti, who also has an obsession with grand prix racing, said Donohue was lapsing in and out of consciousness, Donohue was rushed to a hospital at Graz where grays revealed blood clot on the brain. At first, the former Indianapolis 500 winner was thought to have just a mild concussion. August 19, 1975 in Graz, Styria, Austria (car accident) Birth Name: Mark Neary Donohue Jr. Mini Bio (1) Mark Donohue was born on March 18, 1937 in Haddon Township, New Jersey, USA. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. ), 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. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). 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. 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 Appeal from that part of an order of the Supreme Court (Platkin, J. During his stay at Griffith Mark drove the Griffith-owned Shelby 289 Cobra making his mark on the SCCA circuit. Five weeks after winning the 500, Donohue was testing his Can-Am Porsche 917-10 at Road Atlanta when the car got airborne at 160 mph. 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 chronicled his entire racing career in the book, The Unfair Advantage (co-written with noted motorsports and engineering journalist Paul Van Valkenburgh). He was just that way. Mark Donohue was an enigma. Unfortunately, Donohue lost a life after an accident during practice for 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. When police found him about three hours later, his . They continued to use the "lightweight" car in 1968, at the Sebring 12-hour race. They changed the grille and taillight to the 1968 model, and then painted both cars identically. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. He said so himself many times. To those who knew him best, he had a tremendous sense of humor and enjoyed pulling pranks. 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. 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. He said, Just follow me. Following Mark Donohue on a two-lane road with no street lights was an exercise. The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. We were there to go racing.. Choose a Username Available! Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? In his career, Donohue started 311 races and won 119 of them, a winning average of 38 percent. 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 When Mark Donohue died in Austria 40 years ago this week, motor racing lost not only a hugely successful driver, but also someone who would surely have enjoyed a long and productive career on the other side of the sport. Several minutes later Donohue regained consciousness and spoke with his rescuers, who took him to Knittelfeld hospital. I dont remember him changing a bit.. . His instant F1 success led to no further involvement in the category, Mark instead concentrating on his blossoming Indy career, winning the big one in 1972. . When Donohue took the Ferrari to Le Mans, the car attained only 205 mph on the straight versus the Porsche 917s 235 mph. 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. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. (Photo: Bob DOlivo / The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images). This time, the interlopers would leave no doubt as they set out to prove their reputations for calculated dominance. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. He is known for Formula 1 (1950) and The Trans-Am Challenge (1972). The Penske grand prix car proved a disappointment and Donohue's best finish this season was a fifth place in the British Grand Prix. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. The book documents his career from his first races to his final full season of racing the year before he was killed. 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 Robert Bonhag, 56, of the Highland, Md., area was driving north on New Hampshire Avenue in the . He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. An out-of-court settlement was reached Wednesday at Providence, R.I., in the appeal of a $9.6-million Superior Court verdict awarded the estate of race driver Mark Donohue, killed during practice . The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. 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. With the Corvette money, he also bought a trailer to hold the car and a station wagon to tow the trailer.. 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. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. 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. (He was operated on at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta by Drs. 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 . Mark Donohue was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. He had one religion: testing. Although photographs of Donohue with the more aerodynamic 1974 Matador coupe exist and are published, he did not drive it in competition. In the 1971 Indianapolis 500, Donohue started second and led 52 of the first 66 laps before breaking a gearbox. David Donohue is proof positive that apples dont fall far from the tree. He was a sweet gentleman in every race. "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 What can be better in life, a better ideal?, In 1966, Penske told him: Try it for a year, you're still a young man, and if it doesn't work out you can always go back to engineering.. But he always had good equipment, too. But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). Czarnecki saw the brilliance, humor and darkness -- all part of Donohues character. He was just 22 years old when he had won his first race, a local hill climb. When he came out, he was a different person. But Donohue knew that time was running short and his skills and reflexes weren't getting any better. This. As ADAM COOPER recalls, though, it ended in tragedy. 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. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. Except I knew it wouldnt last, recalls Penske Racings timer/scorer Judy Stropus. The No. That got everybodys attention -- the polished wheels, the way our guys looked, the way the cars were prepared and obviously, the performance was good. 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. 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. 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. Sponsored by Ancestry. Not true. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice, Alonso "not thinking" about Bahrain pole despite topping Friday times, Alonso "not thinking" about Bahrain pole despite topping Friday times Donohue was a . 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. Goldberg Segalla, LLP, Albany (Mark Donohue of counsel), for respondents. Seeing another man driving your car, a car you know so well. 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. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. 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. Its been 43 years since Donohues death, but he remains Penske Racings cornerstone. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. He also gave us our first NASCAR win. Browse 481 mark donohue stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. 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 I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. The Penske team leader, Heinz Hofer, said Donohue had told him after the crash that the left front tire had been punctured as he was traveling about 160 m.p.h. 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. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28 km) high-banked oval was 221.120 mph (355.858 km/h). It was hard to believe because Donohue and team owner Roger Penske were then the cleverest guys in racing. At about 09h45 he left the pits again for another testing run. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. I know their first conversation after the race, he didnt say (that he had won). 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. Alonso "not thinking" about Bahrain pole despite topping Friday times, Why Las Vegas is key to F1's growth plans, Why Las Vegas is key to F1's growth plans He died from severe head injuries sustained August 16 in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at Graz, Austria. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. 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. Try a week on us. Late in 1973, when Penske decided to build a Formula One car for the 1975 season, Donohue knew what would happen. Airport would have sent a stock Camaro flopping around. By then, he had remarried to a model from Atlanta named Eden. On the phone, the editor said, You gotta come back in. 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. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, while being honored at a luncheon following his retirement. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. 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. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? Donohue demolished Al Unser's IMS track record of 170.221mph with a 181.2mph practice lap on May 12, a day that still makes Penske chuckle. 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. Directing other drivers, making suggestions, helping mechanicseven sweeping up around the garagewere not enough. Mark Neary Donohue, Jr. (born March 18 1937 in Haddon Township, New Jersey, United States - died August 19 1975 in Graz, Austria) was an American racing driver who most notably drove in Formula One and sports cars. That took a couple of years. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. 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. Donohue, equipped with a mechanical-engineering degree from Brown University, approached car setup not with pet theories or traditional wisdom but with a slide rule, an overarching grasp of how physics strives to thwart a race cars mission, and 300 push-ups daily. Or, signing some autographs. Portrait of American racing driver Mark Donohue as he poses with his car after winning the Indianapolis 500 race, Speedway, Indiana, May 1972. . Though he walked away from the resulting crash, he fell into a coma the next day and, shortly after, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. 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. 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. A visit to the gravesite on a gray, cold, foggy March day revelaved little toy race cars on the gravestone, along with a plastic checkered flag -- a testament the life of Mark Donohue. 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.. 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. Mark Donohue. Amazingly, Donohue only suffered an internal derangement of his knee with meniscus damage and limited cruciate plus collateral ligament damage. I think at that point we started to bring the sport to a higher level, Penske said. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. He was young Roger Penskes equal. Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. 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. Auto Race Car Driver. 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. From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. See the article in its original context from. And given enough time just one more year, maybe he wouldve become Americas first world champion.. Donohue died in the one aspect of auto racing he Had not conqueredgrand prix. Despite this, Donohue still dominated the series, even though he suffered three DNFs during the season due to mechanical problems with the M6A. I could see what was coming, he said. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. Complete Canadian-American Challenge Cup results, Inskip Family History & Competition Engineering staff. 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 just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. I didnt expect that at all, David Donohue, 51, said. [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage.