Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. Harry Gant was a champion in 1985, Ricky Rudd was a champion in 1992 and Mark Martin became a five-time champion; all three failed to secure NASCAR championships. Donohue was obsessed with finding any possible advantage through engineering -- and loopholes in the rules. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. But in eight months of retirement, the quiet, wellspoken kid from the other side of the tracks learned that the hobby that had become an obsession still haunted him. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. Found a bug?SuggestionsCopyrightNeed help?Business DevelopmentGeneral inquiry, PopScreen - Video Search, Bookmarking and Discovery Engine. [2], Donohue was invited back to Le Mans by Ford in 1967. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 91730 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. There was no real color out of it. Revson's death made it almost inevitable that Donohue would come out of retirement. The Penske grand prix car proved a disappointment and Donohue's best finish this season was a fifth place in the British Grand Prix. Mark returned [a year later] because he realized he wasnt good at anything else. this email address already registerd with us. 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 I didnt expect that at all, David Donohue, 51, said. But this was a safe driver, a man who knew his limits, his car's limits and didn't go over the edge, as they say in racing. 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. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. We had a polished yellow tile floor in our garage in Gasoline Alley and took everything out at night and cleaned the floor. Seeing another man driving your car, a car you know so well. It comes up quickly and, at more than 90 degrees, is the slowest corner on this course. The No. [2], At Hansgen's funeral, Roger Penske spoke to Donohue about driving for him. It was always on to the next project.. Racing was Donohues obsession. See the article in its original context from. 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. If he didnt test a car before a race, he didnt have his Peanuts security blanket and would fret that his edge was lost.. Donohue co-drove in the No. 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. Advertisement. 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 paced himself that day and took the lead for the first time with 12 laps to go. I'd always thought that I'm not as good a driver as I am capable of figuring out how to make the car the quickest, he once said. 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 is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023, What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles, What controls the frontline in the latest F1 design tech battles But there was always that missing link, as he called itgrand prix. 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. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. Airport would have sent a stock Camaro flopping around. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. I did everything I could to keep up. For Donohue, there was little time to grieve, as his own Le Mans debut was looming. In fact, Mark often wasnt the engineer at all. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. J. Funk and J. L. He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. I imagine it must feel like watching another man in bed with your wife. He answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". I don't think I could have handled that.. "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. Mark Donohue began racing at the age of 22 in a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette . He did everything he could to lose me. Mark Donohue did not take a traditional route to racing or to Penskes side. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. Search instead in Creative? 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. Your message has been sent. Not that Donohues career or his one win in NASCAR needed validation, but IROC has long crystallized what fans thought of the talent in drivers who never outwardly succeeded in the Cup Series. 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. He died from severe head injuries sustained August 16 in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at Graz, Austria. By clicking on 'Join' button, you confirm that you are over 13 years of age and agree to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. 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 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]. Email or password is incorrect. 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. They won the race, finished third overall, and went on to win 10 out of 13 races that year. And I know that Roger loved him. He was a winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in stock cars. In 1967 he became the USRRC champion, winning six out of eight races. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. Strange and smart, but very driven., The drive set Mark Donohue apart and made him the winningest driver in Team Penske history. The 1975 season turned out to be a difficult one for Donohue and Penske. Through racing and after more than four decades after the tragic death of his father, David Donohue believes he has found Mark Donohue. His first marriage ended in divorce and some friends blamed racing. In 69 Mark repeated his Trans-Am championship, winning six of 12. 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. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise. 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 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. Mark Donohue. The Ferrari lived up to none of Marks calculations, and he was devastated, Bedard recalls. Mark told me, Sometimes you just have to get it done., That was my take, too, says Michael Argetsinger, who has just written a riveting biography called Mark Donohue: Technical Excellence at Speed (David Bull Publishing, $39.95). 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.. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/21/archives/mark-donohue-returns-to-die.html. What we learned from Friday practice at F1's 2023 Bahrain GP. The book documents his career from his first races to his final full season of racing the year before he was killed. Our car experts choose every product we feature. 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. 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 finds the same things funny. 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 [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage. Penske, along with Donohue's wife, Eden, and father, Mark Sr., were at Donohue's bedside. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. He wanted to know how we were doing. He tried to get a car dealership; that didnt work. Donohue disagreed. Le Mans proved frustrating for Donohue. Hamilton: F1 retirement talk from Button and Hill not "helpful, How Gulf deal has boosted Williams's F1 commercial strategy, How Gulf deal has boosted Williams's F1 commercial strategy Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. 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. We were there to go racing.. Mark Donohue was one of the daredevil drivers of the 1970's. He exuded boyhood charm, was a speed demon behind the wheel, and was a legend of US racing, with wins at Daytona, the Indy 500, and Trans-Am Champion. Donohue raced at Indianapolis each year following,[15] finishing second in 1970 and 25th in 1971. Prior to racing in Formula One, Donohue was a racer in the Ford GT40, Trans-Am, Indy car, NASCAR, Can-Am and IROC racing series. Mark Donohue SCCA national champion early in a career Donohue was born in New Jersey on March 18, 1937, and became involved in racing as a senior at college. 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". The $9500 price was a 50-percent premium over the fully optioned Camaro Racemark started with. A lot of the things we saw on todays cars are things Mark thought about and brought to the surface., Mark Donohue stood out more ways than one when he was dominating the Can Am Series in the early. There was little question then that Donohue, who would testdrive the new car and help supervise its development, would come out of retirement. Make sure you track out all the way for Turn 7. 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. 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. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. When Donohue took the Ferrari to Le Mans, the car attained only 205 mph on the straight versus the Porsche 917s 235 mph. It affected the whole team. Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue. We went to Phoenix and tested it with the wings off and then put the wings on and couldnt believe how fast it was. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). 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]. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. 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 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. The Griffith company closed its doors in November, 1966. 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. I get all of these tiny little stories from everybody where my dad grabbed this guy as a kid and sat him in the car -- and that motivated him enough to go to engineering school. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. For him, it was a check in the box, Penske recalled. 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. We may earn money from the links on this page. The real Mark came out.. [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. 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 took the lot to Lime Rock, Conn., and finished fourth in a sports car race. As an American driver, he had done it all. 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. Worse yet, when Donohue wasnt racing, he was working 18- to 20-hour days at the teams small race shop, located in a garage in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, and later, a more modern facility in nearby Reading. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. Mark Donohue racked in 59 career wins for Team Penske in several different series. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that all memorial donations be sent to the Auto Racing Fraternity Foundation, 13539 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, Queens. Donohue finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. Oops! [citation needed]. 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 1968, Donohue and Penske returned to defend their USRRC championship with the McLaren M6A Chevrolet. 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. Mark Donohue at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, Today, we have specialists, but Mark was such a versatile guy, he drove everything for us.. Cars that Donohue raced include: AMC Javelin, AMC Matador, Chevrolet Camaro, Eagle-Offy, Elva Courier, Ford GT40 MK IV, Ferrari 250LM, Ferrari 512, Lola T70, Lola T330, Lotus 20, McLaren M16, Porsche 911, Porsche 917/10, Porsche 917/30, Shelby Cobra, and Shelby Mustang GT350R.
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