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. His fathers absence from the family took its toll, and eventually the marriage dissolved into divorce. In auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. In the four-race series, Donohue won the first and third of three races at Riverside and the final race of the year at Daytona. He was just 22 years old when he had won his first race, a local hill climb. In 1967 he became the USRRC champion, winning six out of eight races. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. 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. 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. He was good in Trans-Am, Indy cars, Can-Am and Formula One. Mark Donohue's Fatal Crash - sterreichring 1975 (42 years ago) He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. Donohue was able to obtain two fifth places in the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp and in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but scored five DNF's in the first 11 races of the season.A few days before going to Zeltweg for the Austrian Grand Prix, scheduled to be contested on 17 August 1975, Penske and Porsche attempted to set the world closed-course record. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. The winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and the Can Am in l973. Its been 43 years since Donohues death, but he remains Penske Racings cornerstone. 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". Acid-dipping car bodies was prevalent with competing Trans-Am teams also. 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. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. I dont remember him changing a bit.. He was just that way. Mark Donohue was an enigma. Fellow racer and former teammate Sam Posey called Donohue, a gunslinger who also happened to have designed the gun.. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. 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. The book was published shortly before Donohue's death. 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 first marriage ended in divorce and some friends blamed racing. We will get back to you in 24 hours. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. 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 Choose a Username Available! 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 obsessively lived at the shop, working as many as 20 hours a day. Mark Robert Bonhag, 56, of the Highland, Md., area was driving north on New Hampshire Avenue in the . [10], In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. The 1975 season turned out to be a difficult one for Donohue and Penske. Then they put both cars in the race, number 15 and 16, one car being 250 pounds lighter. 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. By then, he had remarried to a model from Atlanta named Eden. 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 think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. 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. This. He answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. "They posted me to the infield, taking care of people who got too much sun or had too much to drink," Olvey said. The search for Mark Donohue concludes in the upscale community of Summit, New Jersey just outside of New York City. [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. 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. Today, he works for Porsche Cars North America as client relationship manager. Donohue (along with Penske) were pioneers in many rights, some as notable as the use of a skidpad as a tool for developing and perfecting race car suspension designs and setups. In an interview then, he talked of his disappointing grand prix showing. Donohue was a . He took the lot to Lime Rock, Conn., and finished fourth in a sports car race. In 1970 new Javelin team owner Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue would breathe new life into the AMC team. Even with only three caution flags, the race lasted 12 minutes shy of five hours, a brutal exercise for the majority of the right-turn-averse stock car regulars, but nothing a veteran of the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring hadnt already experienced. He knew, maybe all along, that he would come back. Conversely, Mark had one of the greatest senses of humor of anybody I ever met. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 91730 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Drexel University 1973 Lexerd (Yearbook), pp. 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. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/20/archives/donohue-38-dead-of-racing-injuries-mark-donohue-is-dead-of-racing.html. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. We had a polished yellow tile floor in our garage in Gasoline Alley and took everything out at night and cleaned the floor. Email or password is incorrect. An investigation determined tire failure caused Donohue's fatal crash, and the family won a $12 million settlement. 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. 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. 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. Directing other drivers, making suggestions, helping mechanicseven sweeping up around the garagewere not enough. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. Driver who fled fatal Olney crash gets 20-year sentence Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. Appeal from that part of an order of the Supreme Court (Platkin, J. We went to Phoenix and tested it with the wings off and then put the wings on and couldnt believe how fast it was. Bernie Ecclestone hopes BBC agrees new Formula 1 UK TV deal, Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice, Stroll was "protecting" injured wrist during Bahrain GP practice [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. His average speed around the 2.66-mile (4.28 km) high-banked oval was 221.120 mph (355.858 km/h). Everything You Need to Know to Master Road Atlanta - Car and Driver Mark Donohue - Human Side of Racing But there was always that missing link, as he called itgrand prix. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Donohue. Please try again. Complete Canadian-American Challenge Cup results, Inskip Family History & Competition Engineering staff. Hangsen was killed testing a car for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mark obviously brought an air of professionalism. 1975 Camaro Racemark GT Bob Bailey. He died two days later. 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. 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). It affected the whole team. Secrets of the mysterious 1975-77 Camaro Racemark GT Every time David Donohue sees that car, he sees his father. He did it through sheer force of will. Password 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. The 917/30 generally is considered one of the most powerful and most dominant racing machines ever created. [2], At Hansgen's funeral, Roger Penske spoke to Donohue about driving for him. We need an obit.. He needed something he could do well., Alas, Penske Racings first F1 car, the PC1, was so mediocre that Donohue persuaded Penske to replace it with a customers March 751, a curious crack in the myth that was Mark. It would have been really fun to watch the two of them because they are so much alike. He died on August 19, 1975 in Graz, Styria, Austria. 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. In 1967 and 1968, Trans-Am schedule included two of the most prized endurance races in the world, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. On August 9, 1975, Donohue drove the 917-30 to a world closed-course speed record at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. He was a sweet gentleman in every race. Mark Donohue drove the Porsche 917-30 Can-Am after making various aerodynamic and suspension modifications. Back then it was tape-delayed, and she was watching the race on TV. Together, they took on Trans-Am, then turned their attention to the Indianapolis 500. The singleseat, opencockpit Formula One cars used in grand prix racing have been called torpedoes. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. During testing at Road Atlanta, Donohue recommended larger brake ducts, believing that more cooling would slow the brakes' degradation during a race. But he was still, a great driver. A headache resulted, however, and worsened. 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 We were there to go racing.. 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. It was. Donohue drove the Javelin to three victories, with AMC finishing second overall in the Manufacturers' Championship. PART II: Penske's L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am's Most Famous Amongst his friends, he liked practical jokes and liked catching people out on things. Donohue was fiercely motivated and was one of the first drivers to bring a sense of mechanical engineering to his craft. It was August 9, 1975. He was my original partner in racing, Penske told Autoweek. Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. They sent the legal weight car through the technical inspection with the number 15 and again with the number 16 on it. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway . 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 Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker. He won three times in IndyCar competition and won the 1973 NASCAR Cup Series race at Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California, driving an AMC Matador. Several minutes later Donohue regained consciousness and spoke with his rescuers, who took him to Knittelfeld hospital. Neither Donohue or Penske forgot that remark, even after Donohue drove an astounding race and finished third. It would have really been great watching those two together in the later years if it had gotten that far. If he didnt test a car before a race, he didnt have his Peanuts security blanket and would fret that his edge was lost.. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. 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. We may earn money from the links on this page. His 59 wins remain the most of any driver for Team Penske. 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. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. Mark Donohue - Biography - IMDb The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. 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. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Aug 21, 2015, 4:28 PM. 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 dominated the 1967 race, driving a Lola T70 MkIII Chevrolet for Penske. 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. Watts.) He did the job for Roger, no question. I think the people at Indy thought we were the college guys with the crew haircuts and the polished wheels. The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. 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 8W - Who? - Mark Donohue - Autosport 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. I could see myself helping to develop the Formula One car, setting it up and then having some younger hotshot driver take over. Painkillers affected his memory, and he began drinking heavily to deal with the pain. Mark Donohue: Returns to Die - The New York Times [2][6], Donohue won the SCCA national championship in an Elva Courier in 1961. See the article in its original context from. He is buried in Saint Teresa Cemetery in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.R.I.P Mark Donohue \u0026 Manfred Schaller. 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. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. 1 Killed in Multi-Car Crash in Olney, Police Say Event the win at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 created more sleepless nights, because the win did not come on his own terms. He tried to be a team manager; that didnt work. During its production life, there were 192 Series 200 Griffiths built, 59 of the Series 400 and only 10 of the Series 600. Driver who fled fatal Olney crash gets 20-year sentence. In 1971, of the ten races that the Over 2.5L Class cars participated in, Donohue won seven of them, including the final six races in a row, with AMC winning the Manufacturers' championship for the first time ever. 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. Donohue raced in seven of the eight races that year, winning six (at Las Vegas, Riverside, Bridgehampton, Watkins Glen, Pacific Raceways, and Mid-Ohio) and finishing third at the Laguna Seca Raceway round behind Lothar Motschenbacher and Mike Goth. He was killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. Mark Donohue | Formula 1 Wiki | Fandom In fact, Mark often wasnt the engineer at all. I can hardly wait to get back to work with our car, he said. We were the college kids with the crew cuts and the polished wheels, Penske said. 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. 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. If we're right, by next season we could be the dominant team in Formula One.. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue's career, along with Roger Penske's Formula One aspirations, took a tragic turn. 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. Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. I saw him race at Lime Rock in an Elva, and (longtime Penske friend and later president of the IROC series) Jay Signore said I should watch this guy. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. You never saw him in an argument with anybody. We brought some technology. 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. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. It includes information and additional photography that was not available before the first edition was published. Your message has been sent. 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. 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 . . 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. .
