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 the Austrian Grand Prix. 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. Donohue raced at Indianapolis each year following,[15] finishing second in 1970 and 25th in 1971. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. 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 auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. Three years later, Mark was gone, dead from a cerebral hemorrhage suffered in a crash during practice for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at sterreichring. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. George Follmer, Donohue's old Trans-Am teammate, took over testing the 917-10 for Donohue, who said: It just doesn't feel right. 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. Twice before he had had serious accidents and he walked like a man who had had his knees shattered and put back together again. The two proved to be like-minded peas in a pod. 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. 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. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. I was the chief engineer because I was the only engineer, Cox recalled. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). He sustained a fatal head injury from the crash. Donohue was the driver of Penskes first Brickyard effort in 1969. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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.. For Donohue, there was little time to grieve, as his own Le Mans debut was looming. 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. He wanted to show he could do it all again. I think at that point we started to bring the sport to a higher level, Penske said. Toy cars at the gravesite of Mark Donohue in Summit, New Jersey. In 1968 he was USRRC champion again, winning five of eight, and he was also Trans-Am champion, winning 10 of 13. He was so key in the operation when he was there its something we had to rebuild. 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. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . That put Bettenhausen in the lead before a pinhole leak in the Bettenhausen cars cooling system with 12 laps to go put Donohue in the lead and the first of Penske Racings record 16 Indy 500 victories. 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. But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. Not true. Clark, J. 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). Try a week on us. 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. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, in New York while being honored at a luncheon. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . After going to the hospital in Graz the next day, Donohue lapsed into a coma from a cerebral hemorrhage and died. Why "grounded" Hamilton remains confident in Mercedes' F1 recovery. 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. . 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 . As ADAM COOPER recalls, though, it ended in tragedy. In an interview then, he talked of his disappointing grand prix showing. He is known for Formula 1 (1950) and The Trans-Am Challenge (1972). The real Mark came out.. This time, the interlopers would leave no doubt as they set out to prove their reputations for calculated dominance. Make sure you track out all the way for Turn 7. 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 On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. On his second lap, while at about 260 km/h a rear tire of his March 751 - Ford suddenly blew, the out of control car went through the fence for about 180 feet, over a guard-rail and into a ravine. The front of the car was torn away, leaving Donohue, still strapped to his safety seat, with his legs dangling outside the car. There was little question then that Donohue, who would testdrive the new car and help supervise its development, would come out of retirement. Auto Race Car Driver. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28km) high-banked oval was 221.120mph (355.858km/h). 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 bumpy, rain-soaked course around J.F.K. That got everybodys attention -- the polished wheels, the way our guys looked, the way the cars were prepared and obviously, the performance was good. Directing other drivers, making suggestions, helping mechanicseven sweeping up around the garagewere not enough. The team was third at Daytona and second at Sebring. Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue. They also acid-dipped the body on the Camaro and had to caution people not to lean against it, for fear it would dent. 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 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. However, like most race drivers in the various top racing series around the world, he had lived an outright lot of life. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. But he always had good equipment, too. 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. When David Donohue was young, he never really got to know his father -- Mark Donohue. His lone NASCAR race win was just part of his narrative, but that victory another hurdle in auto racing cleared in partnership with Penske helped ignite a flame thats lasted over 50 years across different genres of the sport and in turn elevated the quality and intelligence of American racing. Since his remarriage eight months ago, those same friends found Donohue relaxed and cheerful, something he had not been while retired. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 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 During their enormous success in Trans-Am, Penske and Donohue would begin to experiment with their Camaros. There was no real color out of it. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). Mark contracted polio when he was 6, but he fully recovered. Mark wasnt an emotional guy. [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. In 1961, Donohue bought the Elva and battled with another young racing star, Peter Revson, for the SCCA divisional championship. He said, Just follow me. Following Mark Donohue on a two-lane road with no street lights was an exercise. 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. I got into racing because it seemed like an easy thing to do. 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. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? But where other youngsters were souping up cars to impress girls, I was only interested in the mechanics, Donohue said. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. I dont remember him changing a bit.. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. . We will get back to you in 24 hours. 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. Thank you. 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. 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. The victory was the first for Penske in the Indy 500. 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 death was announced by a spokesman for Roger Penske, a close personal friend and his team boss. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. Donohues dad was often racing in the United States or Canada for a fledgling operation called Penske Racing. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. Its something that Ive looked at since I was really young as a kid, Donohue said. During his stay at Griffith Mark drove the Griffith-owned Shelby 289 Cobra making his mark on the SCCA circuit. He was good in Trans-Am, Indy cars, Can-Am and Formula One. Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. Donohue. We started to look at data Mark was an engineer at Brown (University), and that was certainly part of it, but we were committed. The bungalow is where team manager Chuck Cantwell and the teams public relations director Dan Luginbuhl worked along with secretary Maryann ODonnell. Today, he works for Porsche Cars North America as client relationship manager. Donohue chronicled his entire racing career in the book, The Unfair Advantage (co-written with noted motorsports and engineering journalist Paul Van Valkenburgh). 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. "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 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. 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. 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 . Two weeks ago, however, he showed he had not lost his skill at getting a race car around a track when he set a world speed record of 221.160 miles an hour for a closed course. As an American driver, he had done it all. 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. 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. I think the people at Indy thought we were the college guys with the crew haircuts and the polished wheels. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. It is core to the myth of Mark that he was just an okay driver but a genius engineer. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise. Her . Mark Donohue returning from retirement to lead Roger Penske's Formula 1 team looked like a perfect match. Le Mans proved frustrating for Donohue. We were there to go racing.. Mark Donohue racked in 59 career wins for Team Penske in several different series. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? Mark Donohue. Donohue finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. In 1967 he became the USRRC champion, winning six out of eight races. He died on August 19, 1975 in Graz, Styria, Austria. 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. Donohue was considered a leading Trans-Am driver of the late 1960s and early 1970s. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? Watts.) (key) (Bold Pole position. He busted a gut when we got back to the shop. Then there was Marks other side. We were the college kids with the crew cuts and the polished wheels, Penske said. Drexel University 1973 Lexerd (Yearbook), pp. He was really the first person that I knew in racing that not only had the driving skills, but also the technical knowledge. His retirement was short-lived, however, as he was lured back to full-time competitive driving by Penske when he formed a Formula One team, Penske Cars Ltd, to compete in the final two events of the 1974 Formula One World Championship, and to continue competing in 1975 with the new Penske PC1. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. It meant immediate surgery. But supervising the Penske efforts in stock car and Indianapolistype racing did not agree with Donohue. Penske and Donohue did not stop acid-dipping after this, however. Donohue qualified his Penske midway the grid, and took it to the morning warm-up session before the start of the race. With the Corvette money, he also bought a trailer to hold the car and a station wagon to tow the trailer.. He turned out to be a real partner of mine. (Photo: Bob DOlivo / The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images). As Roger Penske said, Mark wasnt flashy, but he put the numbers on the board.. Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. Please try again. Our car experts choose every product we feature. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Please try again. His son, David, told me: The legend was that my dad and Roger conquered all. In all, he won 57 major races and more than $1million. See the article in its original context from. The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. Donohue was about to have his race victory taken away for cheating, but Roger Penske stepped in. That is something I would have never had if I didnt go to races. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. Brad Keselowski is second with 54 wins in NASCAR Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup Series racing. He is buried in Saint Teresa Cemetery in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.R.I.P Mark Donohue \u0026 Manfred Schaller. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Your message has been sent. When he came out, he was a different person. Donohue won. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. No one knew, but Mark Donohue had just 10 days to live. 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. It comes up quickly and, at more than 90 degrees, is the slowest corner on this course. Mark Donohue was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. David Donohue is proof positive that apples dont fall far from the tree. 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.