He was a winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in stock cars. He just decided it was time to get out, and he wanted to do the Formula 1 program, Penske said. 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. When he came out, he was a different person. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. 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. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. 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. [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 . 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I didand I spent my time in the hospital as a result.. Donohues degree from Brown in Mechanical Engineering got him a job designing filters for air conditioners -- not quite what he had in mind. 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. The only person to beat Donohue was his former Penske Trans-Am teammate, George Follmer. 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. DUI accident in the history of this county," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a news conference. To be sure, it seems what we now know as The Penske Way gained steam with Donohue as its pied piper. Its as if his father is in his presence. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. 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. 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. [17] That race was Penske's first NASCAR win in a long history of NASCAR participation. 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 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. Though he walked away from the resulting crash, he fell into a coma the next day and, shortly after, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Mark Donohue (1937-1975), pictured here with wife Eden and nicknamed "Captain Nice", was an American race driver who is probably best known as the driver of the 1500+ bhp Can-Am Penske Porsche 917-30 and as the 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner in a Team Penske-entered McLaren.Sadly, he perished in an accident during practice for the 1975 Austrian Formula One Grand Prix. 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. 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 . Donohue qualified his Penske midway the grid, and took it to the morning warm-up session before the start of the race. 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 Clark, J. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, in New York while being honored at a luncheon. I know their first conversation after the race, he didnt say (that he had won). Or, signing some autographs. With his marriage to Sue falling apart, Donohues personal life was in turmoil. Donohue recently had arrived in Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix at the sterreichring race track following the successful closed-course speed record attempt at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama just a few days earlier. 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. 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. The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. 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. racing was concerned, he had done it all. They also acid-dipped the body on the Camaro and had to caution people not to lean against it, for fear it would dent. In 2003, in commemoration of Penske Racing's 50th NASCAR win, Nextel Cup driver Ryan Newman drove a Dodge Intrepid painted to resemble Donohue's 1973 AMC (with a No. 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. Donohue began his Trans-Am series campaign in 1967, winning three of twelve races in a Roger Penske-owned Chevrolet Camaro. We were the college kids with the crew cuts and the polished wheels, Penske said. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. What I realize now is that I wouldnt have succeeded in my other businesses if Mark hadnt completely taken over the race team., In the Penske garage at Indy in 71, someonecertainly not Donohue or Penskeerected a sign that said: Those of you who think you know it all are particularly annoying to those of us who do., .css-dhtls0{display:block;font-family:GlikoS,Georgia,Times,Serif;font-weight:400;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-dhtls0:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-dhtls0{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-dhtls0{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 61.25rem){.css-dhtls0{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Elana Scherr: Dodge Challenger Challenge Accepted. His true passion was racing. When Penske decided late to enter Formula One full time, Donohue had a difficult decision to make. Think about the championships we won together, the first Indy 500 victory for the team, three Trans-Am championships. Donohue paced himself that day and took the lead for the first time with 12 laps to go. I always said driving wasn't really a dangerous situation. 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. After going to the hospital in Graz the next day, Donohue lapsed into a coma from a cerebral hemorrhage and died. 1968 would be a banner year for Donohue in the Trans-Am series, as he successfully defended his 12 Hours of Sebring victory by partnering with Craig Fisher and driving his Penske Chevrolet Camaro to victory. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske had planned an hard assault to the 1975 Formula 1 Championship, but the season soon turned out to be difficult. I got to know Mark and hired him to run our Can-Am car. Today, he works. He obsessively lived at the shop, working as many as 20 hours a day. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. We need an obit.. 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. This account has been suspended due to strange activity. Riverside was over 2.6 miles long and the duration of the race 500 miles meant this particular event was more of an endurance contest. That got everybodys attention -- the polished wheels, the way our guys looked, the way the cars were prepared and obviously, the performance was good. In 1974, he quit driving and became president of Penske Racing. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. 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. Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. Donohue finished in 12th place at the Canadian Grand Prix, but failed to finish at the United States Grand Prix. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. Warming up for the Austrian Grand Prix, my hero, Donohue, 38, had spun his March at 150 mph and struck his head on a metal bar supporting a sign. Donohue. That is where Mark Donohue often slept when he worked his way to near exhaustion at the race shop. Mark was an engineer from Brown University, Penske said. The two had a tremendous respect for each other and put their own personal egos aside to win races. At first, the former Indianapolis 500 winner was thought to have just a mild concussion. 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. Donohue had stepped out of driving retirement . 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. [citation needed]. 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. Although photographs of Donohue with the more aerodynamic 1974 Matador coupe exist and are published, he did not drive it in competition. 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 think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. He was very quiet, very unassuming, Mario Andretti told Autoweek. 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. Choose a Username Available! The Penske overturned into a ravine, just a few meters beyond an underpass in which several people were standing.Debris from Donohue's car, particularly a wheel, hit a policeman, Richard Httner from Baden, who sustained critical head injuries, and three marshals - seriously injuring two of them, Gottfried Crnic and Manfred Schaller. His first marriage ended in divorce and some friends blamed racing. Its something that Ive looked at since I was really young as a kid, Donohue said. He became a great friend of mine, Penske said in an IMS tribute to Donohue. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. He is buried in Saint Teresa Cemetery in Summit, Union County, New Jersey.R.I.P Mark Donohue \u0026 Manfred Schaller. The Penske grand prix car proved a disappointment and Donohue's best finish this season was a fifth place in the British Grand Prix. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). It was hard to believe because Donohue and team owner Roger Penske were then the cleverest guys in racing. The two proved to be like-minded peas in a pod. 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. In 1969, Penske and Donohue raced in their first Indianapolis 500,[14] with Donohue finishing seventh, winning the rookie of the year award. I imagine it must feel like watching another man in bed with your wife. He never regained consciousness. But he always had good equipment, too. It is strangely rewarding in a way I never thought racing would be for me, personally. Among the most impressive cars in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is the beautiful blue and yellow No. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/20/archives/donohue-38-dead-of-racing-injuries-mark-donohue-is-dead-of-racing.html. They made four NASCAR Cup Series starts in 1972 and while they displayed commendable speed Donohue never qualified worse than 11th, including a third-place start at Riverside they failed to finish three of the four races and earned a best finish of 15th at Atlanta. The guy that is most like Mark that Ive ever met is David, said Don Cox. 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. First to go was his marriage, says Argetsinger. And when he thought he had done enough, he quit. The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. In auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. 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. He joined Roger Penske, a former sports car rival who had set up his own team, the following year as a fulltime professional. Unfortunately, Donohue lost a life after an accident during practice for 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/21/archives/mark-donohue-returns-to-die.html. Going racing meant anywhere and everywhere, and the two chose to tackle stock cars. It is said that Donohue's head struck either a catch fencing post or the bottom of the wood frame for an advertising billboard located alongside of the racetrack. 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. Mark Donohue did not take a traditional route to racing or to Penskes side. 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. In an interview then, he talked of his disappointing grand prix showing. 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. "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 Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. 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 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. The book told how Donohue learned to exploit the antilock braking system and the powerful turbocharged engine of several prototype Porsches, as well as how he learned from various mishaps, including a near-fatal crash. Both Olvey and Trammell got their start in trackside medical response in similar fashion: Answering a bulletin board call for med students to help out at the Indianapolis 500 - Olvey in about 1969, Trammell in 1972. After an initial run of four laps, Donohue entered the pits for a routine check-up and a few adjustments. 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. He gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. 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. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? 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. Please try again. They changed the grille and taillight to the 1968 model, and then painted both cars identically. The Ferrari lived up to none of Marks calculations, and he was devastated, Bedard recalls. Its made me realize its an honor to be his son. For him, it was a check in the box, Penske recalled. It was August 9, 1975. Showing Editorial results for mark donohue. 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.