Fellow racer and former teammate Sam Posey called Donohue, a gunslinger who also happened to have designed the gun.. GRAZ, Austria, Aug. 19 (AP)Mark Donohue, who ended an eightmonth retirement as an auto driver last year because he couldn't keep away from racing, died tonight of injuries suffered Sunday at. Mark Robert Bonhag, 56, of the Highland, Md., area was driving north on New Hampshire Avenue in the . During a post-race inspection, race stewards discovered that the car was 250 pounds lighter than the 2,800-pound minimum weight requirement. Sometimes, I would leave early and take my own car to the airport because I didnt want to put up with him. Toy cars at the gravesite of Mark Donohue in Summit, New Jersey. And neither found what they expected. 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. When Penske decided late to enter Formula One full time, Donohue had a difficult decision to make. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? Donohue was obsessed with finding any possible advantage through engineering -- and loopholes in the rules. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. With his marriage to Sue falling apart, Donohues personal life was in turmoil. He died two days later. 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. 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. 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. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. 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. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Police have not yet released his identity. 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 Of 55 Trans-Ams he entered, he won 29. Its always great that history is reviewed and remembered and adds more to the prominence and significance of the event to bring it all together. The 1972 Indy win was a classic race for the man who not only drove the race car but also served as its engineer and mechanic back at Penske Racing. Driver who fled fatal Olney crash gets 20-year sentence. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. The Penske grand prix car proved a disappointment and Donohue's best finish this season was a fifth place in the British Grand Prix. The trip to the airport was like the Mille Miglia. The winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and the Can Am in l973. When he came out, he was a different person. For the remainder of the 1970 season, Donohue ran a different Lola, with Chevy power, finishing second (again behind Al Unser) at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. During the development of this motor, the German Porsche engineers often asked Donohue if the motor finally had enough power. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. 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. The practice sessions were marred by serious accidents; Brian Henton destroyed his Lotus after sliding in an oil patch, and Wilson Fittipaldi broke his hand when crashing at the Rindt Kurve. 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 answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". Aug 21, 2015, 4:28 PM. Donohue began the 1975 Formula 1 season as a 38-year-old rookie and the oldest driver on the grid. This. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue did not appear to be injured significantly. He was helped by Emerson Fittipaldi, Bob Evans and Hans-Joachim Stuck, who arrived to the scene of the accident and parked their cars. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. 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 was sleeping at the shop, and he couldnt say no to Rogercouldnt decline more development, more cars, more projects., Weary and still recuperating from leg injuries sustained in an awful crash at Road Atlantawhich briefly left him allegedly abusing alcoholDonohue announced his retirement at the end of 73. By 1973, the "Captain Nice" nickname he had earned earlier in his career was being supplanted by the nickname "Dark Monohue". 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. Late in 1973, when Penske decided to build a Formula One car for the 1975 season, Donohue knew what would happen. Donohue won. 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.. Except I knew it wouldnt last, recalls Penske Racings timer/scorer Judy Stropus. He had been a national amateur champion and the Sports Car Club of America driver of the year in 1965. 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. . ), 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. Through racing and after more than four decades after the tragic death of his father, David Donohue believes he has found Mark Donohue. The front of the car was torn away, leaving Donohue, still strapped to his safety seat, with his legs dangling outside the car. 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. 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. The book documents his career from his first races to his final full season of racing the year before he was killed. However, like most race drivers in the various top racing series around the world, he had lived an outright lot of life. It was August 9, 1975. He did it through sheer force of will. He sustained a fatal head injury from the crash. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohue's fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. Stay close to the outside curbing, brake hard, and turn in . Mark Donohue died last night. Her . 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. Email or password is incorrect. The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. Mark Donohue was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. David Donohue drives his dad's 1972 Indy 500-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. Seeing another man driving your car, a car you know so well. 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. Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. His son, David, told me: The legend was that my dad and Roger conquered all. Donohue was able to muster fifth-place finishes at the Swedish Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix, but the new Penske PC1 chassis proved problematic, as evidenced by three retirements in the first six races. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. 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. Every dime I had I put into cars, he said. 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. 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. Le Mans proved frustrating for Donohue. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohues fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. 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. The email you entered is not registered with us. Conversely, Mark had one of the greatest senses of humor of anybody I ever met. His 59 wins remain the most of any driver for Team Penske. Choose a Username Available! The singleseat, opencockpit Formula One cars used in grand prix racing have been called torpedoes. Mark Donohue began racing at the age of 22 in a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette . I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. The 2023 Genesis G90 Shows Sedans Still Matter, Horner: FIA 'Got a New Couch' From His Team's Fine, Why Ford and GM Truck Production Has Stopped, Alonso, Aston Martin Put Red Bull on Notice, Autoweek Racing on TV: February 27-March 5, Racer helped build the foundation for Roger Penske's racing success, Newman/Haas Racing Is Selling 42 Indy Cars Oct. 29, Three-time Indy 500 Starter Rasmussen Dies at 85, How Dixon's Simple Mistake Cost Him Indy 500 Win, Move Over ABBA, Sweden Has a New Racing Superstar, Jimmie Johnson's Indy 500 Experience Ends in Crash, Ayla Agren Is Montoya's Eyes in the Sky for 500, 11 Closest Indianapolis 500 Finishes in History, Larry Foyt Out to Get A.J. As Roger Penske said, Mark wasnt flashy, but he put the numbers on the board.. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. 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. Today, he works for Porsche Cars North America as client relationship manager. We started to look at data Mark was an engineer at Brown (University), and that was certainly part of it, but we were committed. Clark, J. Mark Donohue. He was just 22 years old when he had won his first race, a local hill climb. [citation needed] He graduated from Brown in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. It was. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Donohue was a . At the age of twenty-two,[citation needed] while a senior at Brown, Donohue began racing his 1957 Corvette. 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. 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. They also acid-dipped the body on the Camaro and had to caution people not to lean against it, for fear it would dent. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. But his edge was rarely lost. The $9500 price was a 50-percent premium over the fully optioned Camaro Racemark started with. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. Were far from having too much horsepower, he asserted. 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. Mark Donohue. 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. Back then it was tape-delayed, and she was watching the race on TV. During his stay at Griffith Mark drove the Griffith-owned Shelby 289 Cobra making his mark on the SCCA circuit. 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 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. Mark obviously brought an air of professionalism. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. After an initial run of four laps, Donohue entered the pits for a routine check-up and a few adjustments. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise. J. Funk and J. L. Donohue raced in the inaugural IROC series in 197374, racing identical, specially-prepared Porsche RSRs. 1975 Camaro Racemark GT Bob Bailey. During its production life, there were 192 Series 200 Griffiths built, 59 of the Series 400 and only 10 of the Series 600. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue. Please try again. Donohue's rocketed 7 through four wire catchfences and several roadside billboards. 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. Its something that Ive looked at since I was really young as a kid, Donohue said. Instead, Donohue retired. this email address already registerd with us. "They posted me to the infield, taking care of people who got too much sun or had too much to drink," Olvey said. Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. Anyone can read what you share. Two weeks ago, he took the 1973 CanAm car out of mothballs and set a world speed record for a closed course of 221.160 miles an. The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. We went to Phoenix and tested it with the wings off and then put the wings on and couldnt believe how fast it was. FIA grants Hamilton medical exemption to wear nose studs, Hamilton: F1 retirement talk from Button and Hill not "helpful, Hamilton: F1 retirement talk from Button and Hill not "helpful He was really the first person that I knew in racing that not only had the driving skills, but also the technical knowledge. Mark won the 1972 Indianapolis 500 when David was just five. At first, the former Indianapolis 500 winner was thought to have just a mild concussion. Donohue did not start the first race of the year at Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City due to problems getting the engine to start. racing was concerned, he had done it all. 4 yellow car with sports car driver and race car builder Bruce McLaren for Shelby American Racing. [citation needed]. 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 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. There was also Earl McMullen and Bill Cox, who worked for the teams sponsor, Sun Oil. To those who work at the cemetery, Donohue is simply known as The Race Car Driver to visitors looking for his gravesite. Why "grounded" Hamilton remains confident in Mercedes' F1 recovery. But there was one phase of racing that he had never really taken part in, what he called his personal missing link. This was in the Formula One cars, perhaps this dangerous sport's most dangerous, which run on the grand prix circuit. Its a goal he had and a goal he checked off. George Follmer, Donohue's old Trans-Am teammate, took over testing the 917-10 for Donohue, who said: It just doesn't feel right. Twice before he had had serious accidents and he walked like a man who had had his knees shattered and put back together again. Or, signing some autographs. They won the race, finished third overall, and went on to win 10 out of 13 races that year. 66 McLaren/Offenhauser that Mark Donohue drove to win the 1972 Indy 500. 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. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. [2][6], Donohue won the SCCA national championship in an Elva Courier in 1961. Donohue was the driver of Penskes first Brickyard effort in 1969. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. 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. 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. That is something I would have never had if I didnt go to races. But if his father, Mark Sr., a successful patent lawyer, never envisaged a racing career for his son, neither cid young Mark. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . Their performance on the track also quickly turned heads. Together, they took on Trans-Am, then turned their attention to the Indianapolis 500. 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. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. The 1967 Z-28 won its last race by lapping the entire field of cars, causing suspicion throughout the paddock. This time, the interlopers would leave no doubt as they set out to prove their reputations for calculated dominance. Think about the championships we won together, the first Indy 500 victory for the team, three Trans-Am championships. With the Corvette money, he also bought a trailer to hold the car and a station wagon to tow the trailer.. In the 1971 Indianapolis 500, Donohue started second and led 52 of the first 66 laps before breaking a gearbox. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. Donohue, no matter what he accomplished, couldnt rest. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. As an American driver, he had done it all. 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. What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP. 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. He did everything he could to lose me. He was passionate about racing. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, in New York while being honored at a luncheon. Acid-dipping car bodies was prevalent with competing Trans-Am teams also. 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 . I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. A 25-year-old passenger in the Infiniti, a woman from Olney, was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. Losing a driver is something you cant replace. Donohue took three victories and the series championship, besting the likes of Petty, Allison, David Pearson, A.J. Maybe it was some Austrian rock, but whatever it was, one of Donohue's tires blew at 160 miles an hour. The car did a series of cartwheels, and Donohue broke both legs. He joined Roger Penske, a former sports car rival who had set up his own team, the following year as a fulltime professional. Racing is a very weird circus that way. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. The supposition is that a support post from one of the advertising signs caught Donohue's helmet. DUI accident in the history of this county," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a news conference. 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. In the 19721973 season, driving an AMC Matador for Penske Racing in NASCAR's top division, the Winston Cup Series, Donohue won the season-opening event at Riverside. There was little question then that Donohue, who would testdrive the new car and help supervise its development, would come out of retirement. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. 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. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. 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. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? 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]. Donohues father was a patent attorney. Mark Donohue at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, Today, we have specialists, but Mark was such a versatile guy, he drove everything for us.. The track chosen for the speed record attempt was the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . Forgot password? The guy never gained that flashy status. His Porsche 917-30 was so dominant it was called the Can-Am Killer, as he won seven of eight races and the 1973 Can-Am Championship. He said so himself many times.

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