There was little question then that Donohue, who would testdrive the new car and help supervise its development, would come out of retirement. [2] Donohue announced that he would retire from racing after the 1973 Can-Am season. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. Then they put both cars in the race, number 15 and 16, one car being 250 pounds lighter. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. We need an obit.. The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. Secrets of the mysterious 1975-77 Camaro Racemark GT 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 Grand Prix. 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. Make sure you track out all the way for Turn 7. 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. We started with a Lola 4-wheel drive, and in 1971 we got a McLaren. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. [2], Donohue was invited back to Le Mans by Ford in 1967. However, the Penske Formula One car proved unsound and Donohue's best finish this year was a fifth place. He was very quiet, very unassuming, Mario Andretti told Autoweek. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway . 4 yellow car with sports car driver and race car builder Bruce McLaren for Shelby American Racing. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue's career, along with Roger Penske's Formula One aspirations, took a tragic turn. The Medical Causes of Racing Deaths with Examples - Parathyroid Mark Donohue & Manfred Schaller's Fatal Crash @ sterreichring 1975 (Aftermath) FatalMotorsportChannel 26.2K subscribers Subscribe 24K views 4 months ago Mark Donohue and Roger Penske had. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. 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. Password In 1967 he became the USRRC champion, winning six out of eight races. The track chosen for the speed record attempt was the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. He had been a national amateur champion and the Sports Car Club of America driver of the year in 1965. There was also Earl McMullen and Bill Cox, who worked for the teams sponsor, Sun Oil. It is core to the myth of Mark that he was just an okay driver but a genius engineer. 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. To be sure, it seems what we now know as The Penske Way gained steam with Donohue as its pied piper. They won the race, finished third overall, and went on to win 10 out of 13 races that year. Hangsen was killed testing a car for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. He was one of the best American roadracers in history, but his biggest triumph was on the oval at Indianapolis, where in 1972 he won the 500. In 1968, Donohue and Penske returned to defend their USRRC championship with the McLaren M6A Chevrolet. Coming out of turn seven at about 150mph (240km/h), the rear bodywork flew off the car, which became extremely unstable, lifted off the ground, and tumbled down the track. He became a great friend of mine, Penske said in an IMS tribute to Donohue. Bahrain GP: F1 technical images direct from the pitlane, What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP, What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP 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. It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. Instead, Donohue retired. In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue - Autoweek Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. 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. Donohue drove the Javelin to three victories, with AMC finishing second overall in the Manufacturers' Championship. 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. 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 was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. Donohue raced at Indianapolis each year following,[15] finishing second in 1970 and 25th in 1971. 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. The driver of the Honda was killed. One-hit wonder: Mark Donohue and his 1973 Riverside win helped elevate 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. 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. 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.. It became official last September. Prof. Fritz Heppner, head of the neurosurgical department at Graz Hospital, said irreparable damage had been done to that part of the brain that controls involuntary body functions. By the end of the crash, the front end of the car was missing, and Mark's legs were fully outside the car, with his only injury . He is buried in Saint Teresa Cemetery in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.R.I.P Mark Donohue \u0026 Manfred Schaller. - Remembering Mark Donohue - FormulaSpy Mark Donohue. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 91730 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. He busted a gut when we got back to the shop. Then there was Marks other side. [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage. Several minutes later Donohue regained consciousness and spoke with his rescuers, who took him to Knittelfeld hospital. I did everything I could to keep up. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. 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. IndyCar St. Petersburg: Dixon leads Herta in incident-packed opening practice, Bahrain GP: F1 technical images direct from the pitlane, Bahrain GP: F1 technical images direct from the pitlane As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Painkillers affected his memory, and he began drinking heavily to deal with the pain. Conversely, Mark had one of the greatest senses of humor of anybody I ever met. Mark Donohue. The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. Mark Donohue Fatal Crash | PopScreen 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. During their enormous success in Trans-Am, Penske and Donohue would begin to experiment with their Camaros. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/21/archives/mark-donohue-returns-to-die.html. 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. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. It was, as they say in racing, a freak accident. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue did not appear to be injured significantly. 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. To those who work at the cemetery, Donohue is simply known as The Race Car Driver to visitors looking for his gravesite. 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. He tried to get a car dealership; that didnt work. Born in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Donohue grew up in Summit,[7] graduated from the Pingry School in Hillside, and entered Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. I was at Lime Rock, Connecticut, Donohue said. Walt Czarnecki, Team Penske vice chairman and among the operations early members, has a deep admiration and respect for what Donohue meant to the Penske organization. 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. Brian Redman drove it once in 1974, and that was it for the car as far as Penske campaigning it. Begrudgingly, Donohue used Bettenhausens setup for the race. Mark was an engineer from Brown University, Penske said. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? This. Of 55 Trans-Ams he entered, he won 29. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. Donohue began the 1975 Formula 1 season as a 38-year-old rookie and the oldest driver on the grid. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. He would greet those who didnt know him with a smile, but he was so focused and obsessed with making the race car go fast, he was distant. He knew, maybe all along, that he would come back. We used to clean our garage out every night, and that was something people didnt understand.. 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 But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 917-30 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Think about the championships we won together, the first Indy 500 victory for the team, three Trans-Am championships. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. In 1970 new Javelin team owner Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue would breathe new life into the AMC team. [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. 4445. We brought some technology. This account has been suspended due to strange activity. In 69 Mark repeated his Trans-Am championship, winning six of 12. 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. . He died on August 19, 1975 in Graz, Styria, Austria. REWIND: Miller on Mark Donohue | RACER - RACER | Racing News Please try again. The book was published shortly before Donohue's death. In his career, Donohue started 311 races and won 119 of them, a winning average of 38 percent. He wanted to know how we were doing. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? He was my original partner in racing, Penske told Autoweek. There was no real color out of it. Anyone can read what you share. The two had a tremendous respect for each other and put their own personal egos aside to win races. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. 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. He did the job for Roger, no question. PART II: Penske's L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am's Most Famous You never saw him in an argument with anybody. ', On Wednesday morning, August 20, 1975, the phone rang in my dingy beige apartment in Burlington, Ontario. Donohue raced in several NASCAR Grand American races and a NASCAR pony car division from 1968 until 1971. David Donohue is proof positive that apples dont fall far from the tree. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. The thing that impressed me most about Mark is how serious he was about racing, vehicle preparation and all of the things that we know that contribute to success, Czarnecki said. Amazingly, Donohue only suffered an internal derangement of his knee with meniscus damage and limited cruciate plus collateral ligament damage. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. 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. Since his remarriage eight months ago, those same friends found Donohue relaxed and cheerful, something he had not been while retired. 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. I think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. The two proved to be like-minded peas in a pod. When Penske decided late to enter Formula One full time, Donohue had a difficult decision to make. 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. 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. And when he thought he had done enough, he quit. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. The winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and the Can Am in l973. Michael is another guy but there is this thing between Mark and David, even in terms of their life experiences. A full season of racing for the 1975 Formula One season was planned. J. Funk and J. L. 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. But he was still, a great driver. The hotrod phenomenon came East from California and caught me up in it, he once explained. 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]. Clark, J. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. When Mark . No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, while being honored at a luncheon following his retirement. His 59 wins remain the most of any driver for Team Penske. Please try again. He had one religion: testing. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? Email or password is incorrect. They changed the grille and taillight to the 1968 model, and then painted both cars identically. 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. He was young Roger Penskes equal. But his edge was rarely lost. 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 think the people at Indy thought we were the college guys with the crew haircuts and the polished wheels. Jayski's Mark Donohue Tribute - Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site The four-race schedule consisted of three races at Riverside and a finale on Daytonas road course. He also gave us our first NASCAR win. Mark Donohue & Manfred Schaller's Fatal Crash @ sterreichring 1975 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]. The Iconic 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Raced by Mark Donohue Is Up for Sometimes, I would leave early and take my own car to the airport because I didnt want to put up with him. Thank you. 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). His fathers absence from the family took its toll, and eventually the marriage dissolved into divorce. I was the chief engineer because I was the only engineer, Cox recalled. 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. I realized then that if I wanted to do better in this business I had to spend more time on my car, he said. George Follmer, Donohue's old Trans-Am teammate, took over testing the 917-10 for Donohue, who said: It just doesn't feel right. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue | Goodreads DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Sponsored by Ancestry. Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. 500-mile (800km) SCCA endurance event, which he won. 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. What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles, Why Autosport is changing how it ranks F1 drivers from 2023 onwards, Why Autosport is changing how it ranks F1 drivers from 2023 onwards [2], At Hansgen's funeral, Roger Penske spoke to Donohue about driving for him. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. This was not merely a celebrity autobiography, but a detailed, step-by-step record of the engineering approach he took to getting the absolutely highest performance from every car he drove, always looking for that elusive "unfair advantage". 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. Forgot password? 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 used to hate riding with him to the airport, said Don Cox, a former chief engineer at Penske Racing when Donohue was with the team. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. He could drive a car in the 24-hour race at Daytona, a Trans-Am Car, an Indy car and a NASCAR car. Mark Donohue spent many late nights in the bungaloo in front of the original Penske garage in Newtown Square, Pa. Marks wife, Sue, raised young David and his older brother Michael. In the 1971 Indianapolis 500, Donohue started second and led 52 of the first 66 laps before breaking a gearbox. Settlement of Mark Donohue's Estate Reached - Los Angeles Times In an interview then, he talked of his disappointing grand prix showing. Mark Donohue drove the Porsche 917-30 Can-Am after making various aerodynamic and suspension modifications. Both Donohue and Penske changed teams to American Motors Corporation in 1970 and won their third championship in 1971. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. 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.