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. 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. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. the email address you entered is invalid. The Griffith company closed its doors in November, 1966. We went to Phoenix and tested it with the wings off and then put the wings on and couldnt believe how fast it was. He had been a national amateur champion and the Sports Car Club of America driver of the year in 1965. Then, in March, 1974, Peter Revson, Penske's first choice as driver for the Formula One car that was to make its debut later in the season, was killed in an accident practicing for the South African Grand Prix. Twice before he had had serious accidents and he walked like a man who had had his knees shattered and put back together again. There was also Earl McMullen and Bill Cox, who worked for the teams sponsor, Sun Oil. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. 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. My friends began warning me., Racing was becoming an obsession, but in 1965, he realized: Maybe I can make a living out of something like to do. Appeal from that part of an order of the Supreme Court (Platkin, J. A fire at the Sunoco refinery near the airport dominated the front pages of The Philadelphia Inquirer, but the sports section belonged to Mark Donohue, a racecar driver who had blown a tire during a practice run before the Austrian Grand Prix and died from complications related to the accident two days later, August 19, 1975. 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. 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. Donohue finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. Please try again. Oops! 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. It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. They were embarrassed, and like the streak of success following the 71 Indianapolis 500, they returned to Riverside in 1973 with a heavy chip on their shoulders. 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 The two had a tremendous respect for each other and put their own personal egos aside to win races. 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. The real Mark came out.. The book told how Donohue learned to exploit the antilock braking system and the powerful turbocharged engine of several prototype Porsches, as well as how he learned from various mishaps, including a near-fatal crash. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. The trip to the airport was like the Mille Miglia. The Ferrari lived up to none of Marks calculations, and he was devastated, Bedard recalls. [2] Donohue announced that he would retire from racing after the 1973 Can-Am season. 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. 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 Had there been a Drivers' Championship in place at the time, he would have won three of them (his last in 1971) while driving Camaros in 1968 and 1969, and an AMC Javelin in 1971, all for Roger Penske Racing. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway . The driver of the Honda was killed. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. Donohue was a . 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. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. 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. (key) (Bold Pole position. * Most laps led. He was young Roger Penskes equal. 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. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. A mechanical engineering graduate from a wealthy New Jersey background, Donohue won everything in sight on the US scene, in every major category. He was so key in the operation when he was there its something we had to rebuild. Goldberg Segalla, LLP, Albany (Mark Donohue of counsel), for respondents. Donohue was considered a leading Trans-Am driver of the late 1960s and early 1970s. 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. 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. 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. Donohues father was a patent attorney. The book documents his career from his first races to his final full season of racing the year before he was killed. Password The track chosen for the speed record attempt was the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Unfortunately, Donohue lost a life after an accident during practice for 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. I was the chief engineer because I was the only engineer, Cox recalled. 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]. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. It is core to the myth of Mark that he was just an okay driver but a genius engineer. Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. Every time David Donohue sees that car, he sees his father. That took a couple of years. In an interview then, he talked of his disappointing grand prix showing. Racing was Donohues obsession. Its been 43 years since Donohues death, but he remains Penske Racings cornerstone. this email address already registerd with us. I think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. racing was concerned, he had done it all. Portrait of American racing driver Mark Donohue as he poses with his car after winning the Indianapolis 500 race, Speedway, Indiana, May 1972. . Back then it was tape-delayed, and she was watching the race on TV. In all, he won 57 major races and more than $1million. Upstairs was a small room with a bed that had an outside private entrance. But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. 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. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. Mark Donohue was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. Today, he works. 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. By clicking on 'Join' button, you confirm that you are over 13 years of age and agree to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. This time, the interlopers would leave no doubt as they set out to prove their reputations for calculated dominance. It became official last September. 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. We used to clean our garage out every night, and that was something people didnt understand.. During a post-race inspection, race stewards discovered that the car was 250 pounds lighter than the 2,800-pound minimum weight requirement. He was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. But there was always that missing link, as he called itgrand prix. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. Please try again. Our car experts choose every product we feature. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. The setup he designed for his car didnt have as much speed as teammate Gary Bettenhausens setup. Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. Nine weeks before the Le Mans race, while testing a GT40 Mk II in the rain, Donohue's friend and former teammate Walt Hansgen lost control and crashed his car into an escape road barrier, suffering fatal injuries. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. 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. Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. This account has been suspended due to strange activity. 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. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. Donohue's rocketed 7 through four wire catchfences and several roadside billboards. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. Ford had developed a new GT, the Mark IV. 500-mile (800km) SCCA endurance event, which he won. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. Your message has been sent. 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 He was my original partner in racing, Penske told Autoweek. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. Mark was an engineer from Brown University, Penske said. He did everything he could to lose me. Its as if his father is in his presence. The lightweight car was featured on an episode of Dream Car Garage on Speed TV in 2005. They won the race, finished third overall, and went on to win 10 out of 13 races that year. The four-race schedule consisted of three races at Riverside and a finale on Daytonas road course. I had just put in 30 consecutive hours of writing, editing, and laying out race reports for CAR Weekly, which we sometimes spelled Weakly because there were only five of us and we possessed merely the slimmest notion of what we were doing. 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. Every dime I had I put into cars, he said. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. Begrudgingly, Donohue used Bettenhausens setup for the race. 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. "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. 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. The front of the car was torn away, leaving Donohue, still strapped to his safety seat, with his legs dangling outside the car. 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.. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. 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]. He said, Just follow me. Following Mark Donohue on a two-lane road with no street lights was an exercise. 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. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. How famous was Mark . Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. But where other youngsters were souping up cars to impress girls, I was only interested in the mechanics, Donohue said. Please try again. Donohues dad was often racing in the United States or Canada for a fledgling operation called Penske Racing. 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. Donohue went on to win 10 of 13 races, a Trans-Am series record which would stand until Tommy Kendall went 11 for 13 in the 1997 Trans-Am championship, winning the first 11 races that year in his All-Sport liveried Mustang. 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. 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. He busted a gut when we got back to the shop. Then there was Marks other side. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. But his edge was rarely lost. If he didnt test a car before a race, he didnt have his Peanuts security blanket and would fret that his edge was lost.. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. We need an obit.. Stay close to the outside curbing, brake hard, and turn in . 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. It was an epic stomping; he led over 361 miles that day, and in perusing the finishing order Bobby Unser finished fourth while West Series drivers Ray Elder, Jimmy Insolo, Jack McCoy and Richard White, all of whom made regular stops at Riverside, finished third, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively it was clear this was a race decided by the interlopers, the kind of race we no longer see in modern-day NASCAR, where drivers have been cross-trained and educated on technology and data to the point each race contains 38 different versions of the Donohue prototype. He died from severe head injuries sustained August 16 in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at Graz, Austria. It is strangely rewarding in a way I never thought racing would be for me, personally. Among the most impressive cars in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is the beautiful blue and yellow No. Try a week on us. 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. Donohue raced at Indianapolis each year following,[15] finishing second in 1970 and 25th in 1971. Donohue raced in several NASCAR Grand American races and a NASCAR pony car division from 1968 until 1971. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. Donohue disagreed. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. Auto Race Car Driver. For Donohue, there was little time to grieve, as his own Le Mans debut was looming. [11] Earlier that year, co-driving with Hansgen, Donohue finished third at the 24 Hours of Daytona and second at the 12 Hours of Sebring. 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. Its a goal he had and a goal he checked off. [2][6], Donohue won the SCCA national championship in an Elva Courier in 1961. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. When David Donohue was young, he never really got to know his father -- Mark Donohue. Donohue recently had arrived in Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix at the sterreichring race track following the successful closed-course speed record attempt at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama just a few days earlier. Then they put both cars in the race, number 15 and 16, one car being 250 pounds lighter. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. He took the lot to Lime Rock, Conn., and finished fourth in a sports car race. 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. 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 I dont remember him changing a bit.. 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. Michael is another guy but there is this thing between Mark and David, even in terms of their life experiences. The bumpy, rain-soaked course around J.F.K. It became official last September. [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. Once, in 1971, he and Penske showed up at the Canadian Grand Prix and Jackie Stewart, the former world champion, kidded them: Welcome to the major leagues.. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. He tried to get a car dealership; that didnt work. 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 The singleseat, opencockpit Formula One cars used in grand prix racing have been called torpedoes. I got into racing because it seemed like an easy thing to do. 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. In 1974, he quit driving and became president of Penske Racing. A friend once described riding in Donohue's Porsche 911 as a 'Wall of Death thing most of the time. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads.