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 Mark felt he had to devote all his time to the team. A bad week or the dark horse from F1 testing? 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 1975 Camaro Racemark GT Bob Bailey. 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. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway . 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. David followed his father into sports car racing for Porsche. And Mark Donohue couldn't live with retirement. That sense of realism often hits Mark Donohues son. In 1968 he was USRRC champion again, winning five of eight, and he was also Trans-Am champion, winning 10 of 13. Choose a Username Available! Clark, J. And neither found what they expected. The only person to beat Donohue was his former Penske Trans-Am teammate, George Follmer. We brought some technology. He turned out to be a real partner of mine. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. 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. A mechanical engineering graduate from a wealthy New Jersey background, Donohue won everything in sight on the US scene, in every major category. 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. Why Autosport is changing how it ranks F1 drivers from 2023 onwards, The key factors behind F1s Premier League-style managerial revolving door, The key factors behind F1s Premier League-style managerial revolving door 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. Donohue went on to win 10 of 13 races, a Trans-Am series record which would stand until Tommy Kendall went 11 for 13 in the 1997 Trans-Am championship, winning the first 11 races that year in his All-Sport liveried Mustang. He thinks the same way. 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. Please try again. Why Las Vegas is key to F1's growth plans, Mercedes: New W14 sidepod design wont copy F1 rivals, Mercedes: New W14 sidepod design wont copy F1 rivals 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. 1975, resulting from an accident two days earlier during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. Instead, Donohue retired. Airport would have sent a stock Camaro flopping around. Donohue finished fourth at Daytona and won the Trans-Am class at the 12 Hours of Sebring. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. 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. . racing was concerned, he had done it all. Toy cars at the gravesite of Mark Donohue in Summit, New Jersey. 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. He did the job for Roger, no question. 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. No, I never worried about the dangers of racing, he said in March, 1974, while being honored at a luncheon following his retirement. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. But he always had good equipment, too. When Mark . He wanted to show he could do it all again. George Follmer, Donohue's old Trans-Am teammate, took over testing the 917-10 for Donohue, who said: It just doesn't feel right. It became official last September. 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. The four-race schedule consisted of three races at Riverside and a finale on Daytonas road course. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. I could see what was coming, he said. Both Donohue and Penske changed teams to American Motors Corporation in 1970 and won their third championship in 1971. See the article in its original context from. The guy never gained that flashy status. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? Donohue paced himself that day and took the lead for the first time with 12 laps to go. A friend once described riding in Donohue's Porsche 911 as a 'Wall of Death thing most of the time. My involvement in racing has been like a jigsaw puzzle, David Donohue told Autoweek. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? We need an obit." 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 was considered a leading Trans-Am driver of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. Going racing meant anywhere and everywhere, and the two chose to tackle stock cars. That long association resulted in the ultimate triumph for an American driver in 1972, when he won the Indianapolis 500. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Through racing and after more than four decades after the tragic death of his father, David Donohue believes he has found Mark Donohue. The only engineering Donohue went back to concerned race cars. Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return, IndyCar St. Petersburg: Dixon leads Herta in incident-packed opening practice, IndyCar St. Petersburg: Dixon leads Herta in incident-packed opening practice There was no real color out of it. [citation needed]. Fellow racer and former teammate Sam Posey called Donohue, a gunslinger who also happened to have designed the gun.. That day at Indy, Bobby Unsers Eagle dominated the contest before Unser dropped out. To those who work at the cemetery, Donohue is simply known as The Race Car Driver to visitors looking for his gravesite. We used to clean our garage out every night, and that was something people didnt understand.. 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 Mark Donohue drove the Porsche 917-30 Can-Am after making various aerodynamic and suspension modifications. He tried to get a car dealership; that didnt work. 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. We had a polished yellow tile floor in our garage in Gasoline Alley and took everything out at night and cleaned the floor. 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. The bumpy, rain-soaked course around J.F.K. Why "grounded" Hamilton remains confident in Mercedes' F1 recovery. We will get back to you in 24 hours. He is known for Formula 1 (1950) and The Trans-Am Challenge (1972). I used to hate riding with him to the airport, said Don Cox, a former chief engineer at Penske Racing when Donohue was with the team. But Donohue knew that time was running short and his skills and reflexes weren't getting any better. Watts.) Donohue dominated the 1967 race, driving a Lola T70 MkIII Chevrolet for Penske. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. The search for Mark Donohue concludes in the upscale community of Summit, New Jersey just outside of New York City. We went to the Speedway in 1971 and we had this card that translated the speed on the stopwatch to your average speed. Stay close to the outside curbing, brake hard, and turn in . 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. 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. Search instead in Creative? 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. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Begrudgingly, Donohue used Bettenhausens setup for the race. The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. I dont remember him changing a bit.. ', On Wednesday morning, August 20, 1975, the phone rang in my dingy beige apartment in Burlington, Ontario. He wanted to know how we were doing. Mark Donohue racked in 59 career wins for Team Penske in several different series. Conversely, Mark had one of the greatest senses of humor of anybody I ever met. Your message has been sent. From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. The driver of the Honda was killed. 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. [citation needed] He graduated from Brown in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.