mark donohue accident

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. He will be ranked with A. J. Foyt, Dan Gurney and Andretti in the leading group of American drivers. 8W - Who? - Mark Donohue - Autosport The Iconic 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Raced by Mark Donohue Is Up for Racing Heroes - Mark Donohue | Hemmings Event the win at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 created more sleepless nights, because the win did not come on his own terms. The $9500 price was a 50-percent premium over the fully optioned Camaro Racemark started with. Today, he works. Donohue chronicled his entire racing career in the book, The Unfair Advantage (co-written with noted motorsports and engineering journalist Paul Van Valkenburgh). 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. It comes up quickly and, at more than 90 degrees, is the slowest corner on this course. Browse 481 mark donohue stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. He was my original partner in racing, Penske told Autoweek. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/21/archives/mark-donohue-returns-to-die.html. He was, I feel, the finest road race driver this country has ever produced, Allison told Hemmings Motor News years later. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. They changed the grille and taillight to the 1968 model, and then painted both cars identically. And, according to Cox, Roger certainly did his part in coming up with next projects.. Aug 21, 2015, 4:28 PM. [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. Donohue qualified his Penske midway the grid, and took it to the morning warm-up session before the start of the race. There was also Earl McMullen and Bill Cox, who worked for the teams sponsor, Sun Oil. 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. On 09 August he reached an average speed around the 2.66 mile high-banked oval, of 221.120 mi/h (about 355 km/h), this has been a World record for several years.Donohue and the Penske team then made the trip to Austria. Police have not yet released his identity. Watts.) To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Instructions on how to reset your password have been sent to your email. . The driver must accept the risks involved, which I didand I spent my time in the hospital as a result.. Mark Donohue did not take a traditional route to racing or to Penskes side. He was very quiet, very unassuming, Mario Andretti told Autoweek. In 1968 he was USRRC champion again, winning five of eight, and he was also Trans-Am champion, winning 10 of 13. 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 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. The winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500 and the Can Am in l973. Forgot password? Coffay fled the scene. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. [12] In his first race for Penske, at Watkins Glen in June 1966, Donohue qualified well but crashed the car at the top of a hill, destroying it. We had the tragic crash in practice and he seemed like he was all right, but he ended up losing his life. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Oops! The latter passed away at 09h20 on Tuesday 19 August 1975, while being treated at a Knittelfeld hospital.Donohue was hit in the head by one of the catch-fence supporting posts and was knocked unconscious. Donohue. He answered, "It will never have enough power until I can spin the wheels at the end of the straightaway in high gear.". The Porsche engineers obliged, but the new ducts interfered with the bodywork closure pins that attached body panels to the car. 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). 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. Racing is a very weird circus that way. 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. In 1968, Donohue and Penske returned to defend their USRRC championship with the McLaren M6A Chevrolet. Donohue died in the one aspect of auto racing he Had not conqueredgrand prix. The No. Carrying the number 66, Donohue qualified 13 th for the California 500, but a burned piston ended his day early, on lap eight. But his thinking man's approach to racing, while successful on the track, was difficult off. In everything he droveeven an Elva Courier and a Cobra, cars he didnt develophe still won. 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. 66 McLaren/Offenhauser that Mark Donohue drove to win the 1972 Indy 500. 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. The 917/30 generally is considered one of the most powerful and most dominant racing machines ever created. Mark Donohue - Human Side of Racing Mercedes: New W14 sidepod design wont copy F1 rivals, FIA grants Hamilton medical exemption to wear nose studs, FIA grants Hamilton medical exemption to wear nose studs Sometimes, I would leave early and take my own car to the airport because I didnt want to put up with him. (Photo: Bob DOlivo / The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images). Seeing it in real life when you come into the museum here, I know one thing -- I fit in it really well. Goldberg Segalla, LLP, Albany (Mark Donohue of counsel), for respondents. Donohue's racing tradition is carried on by his son, David Donohue, a successful road racer in his own right. Donohues dad was often racing in the United States or Canada for a fledgling operation called Penske Racing. As a person, he was always fun to be around, but I always admired that work ethic he displayed when it was time to race., Donohue was known as Captain Nice. To some, however, Donohue seemed distant and was later nicknamed Dark Monohue., Donohue was a good guy, said long-time racing journalist Robin Miller, who was a young reporter for The Indianapolis Star when Donohue raced at Indy. It was. The setup he designed for his car didnt have as much speed as teammate Gary Bettenhausens setup. And given enough time just one more year, maybe he wouldve become Americas first world champion.. He was so key in the operation when he was there its something we had to rebuild. The doctors in Graz, Austria, said yesterday that the racing driver would have been crippled for life had he survived. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. He is really, really like Mark for good or ill. Ive worked with David for a little bit. 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. No one piece tells you what the puzzle is. 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. Choose a Username Available! He could drive a car in the 24-hour race at Daytona, a Trans-Am Car, an Indy car and a NASCAR car. 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. We had a polished yellow tile floor in our garage in Gasoline Alley and took everything out at night and cleaned the floor. Together, they took on Trans-Am, then turned their attention to the Indianapolis 500. A 25-year-old passenger in the Infiniti, a woman from Olney, was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital. Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? "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. 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. By 1973, the "Captain Nice" nickname he had earned earlier in his career was being supplanted by the nickname "Dark Monohue". And neither found what they expected. But Donohue knew that time was running short and his skills and reflexes weren't getting any better. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. Back to Victory Lane, Every Indy 500 Winner from the Dawn of Time, In search of Team Penske racing legend Mark Donohue. Losing a driver is something you cant replace. Mark was an engineer from Brown University, Penske said. One-hit wonder: Mark Donohue and his 1973 Riverside win helped elevate Driver who fled fatal Olney crash gets 20-year sentence. 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. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. 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. [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's death was announced by a spokesman for Roger Penske, a close personal friend and his team boss. If he didnt test a car before a race, he didnt have his Peanuts security blanket and would fret that his edge was lost.. Its a goal he had and a goal he checked off. The guy never gained that flashy status. On January 21, 1973, the NASCAR Cup Series opened its season with a road course race at Riverside International Raceway in California. And I know that Roger loved him. Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked unconscious. There, he was Godthat was his way of distinguishing himself. His divine touch extended to his street cars; a friend once described riding in Donohues Porsche 911 as a Wall of Death thing most of the time., The relentless pursuit of perfection eventually took its toll. He tinkered his way all through Pingry School, Brown University and a job as a mechanical engineer with the Pulverizing Machinery Corporation in Summit. Donohue previously had debuted in Formula One on September 19, 1971, with a Penske-sponsored McLaren at the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park, finishing on the podium in third place. Penske and Donohue did not stop acid-dipping after this, however. 500-mile (800km) SCCA endurance event, which he won. It is there at Saint Teresa Cemetery and Mausoleum that Donohue is buried alongside his mother and father. Unfair Advantages: The Life and Times of Mark Donohue Make sure you track out all the way for Turn 7. The Penske grand prix car proved a disappointment and Donohue's best finish this season was a fifth place in the British Grand Prix. Drs. Stephen Olvey and Terry Trammell in Motorsports Hall of Fame of Most of Donohues wins (28) came in Trans-Am, the United States Road Racing Championship (12) and Can-Am (10). Prior to a race, he would sit in the back of the transporter by himself in the dark and think about the race, Czarnecki said. Appeal from that part of an order of the Supreme Court (Platkin, J. The two proved to be like-minded peas in a pod. Mark Donohue at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, Today, we have specialists, but Mark was such a versatile guy, he drove everything for us.. He had one religion: testing. He did the job for Roger, no question. A motorist was killed early Tuesday in a single-car crash in Montgomery County, police said. 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 The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. The driver of the Honda was killed. * Most laps led. [4] He was survived by his wife and two sons from his first marriage. 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. Mark felt he had to devote all his time to the team. Donohue won. Strange and smart, but very driven., The drive set Mark Donohue apart and made him the winningest driver in Team Penske history. "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 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. Mark Donohue is killed during a practice session for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. Mark Donohue began racing at the age of 22 in a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette . Airport would have sent a stock Camaro flopping around. But he was still, a great driver. Fellow racer and former teammate Sam Posey called Donohue, a gunslinger who also happened to have designed the gun.. At about 09h45 he left the pits again for another testing run. The driver must accept the risks involved, which I did and I spent my time in the hispital as a result., See the article in its original context from. 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. And my wife gave me permission, so when something like that happens you have to go. We will get back to you in 24 hours. 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. Donohue raced in several NASCAR Grand American races and a NASCAR pony car division from 1968 until 1971. 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 won many races for us and the first IROC championship with the Porsche. He was on for a second appearance at the Glen, but a practice accident saw Mark being replaced by David Hobbs. It was an epic stomping; he led over 361 miles that day, and in perusing the finishing order Bobby Unser finished fourth while West Series drivers Ray Elder, Jimmy Insolo, Jack McCoy and Richard White, all of whom made regular stops at Riverside, finished third, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively it was clear this was a race decided by the interlopers, the kind of race we no longer see in modern-day NASCAR, where drivers have been cross-trained and educated on technology and data to the point each race contains 38 different versions of the Donohue prototype. PART II: Penske's L&M Porsche, The Untold Story of Can Am's Most Famous I think I was the first guy to assert that Mark was a better driver than an engineer, says Bedard. Donohue, 38, Dead Of Racing Injuries - The New York Times 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. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. He had been a national amateur champion and the Sports Car Club of America driver of the year in 1965. With the Corvette money, he also bought a trailer to hold the car and a station wagon to tow the trailer.. 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". 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]. He turned out to be a real partner of mine. He joined Roger Penske, a former sports car rival who had set up his own team, the following year as a fulltime professional. 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. 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. He won the first event he entered, a hillclimb[2] in Belknap County, New Hampshire. I realized then that if I wanted to do better in this business I had to spend more time on my car, he said. 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. The 1975 season turned out to be a difficult one for Donohue and Penske. The car did a series of cartwheels, and Donohue broke both legs. When he came out, he was a different person. He sustained a fatal head injury from the crash. Every dime I had I put into cars, he said. He finds the same things funny. 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. He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. As an American driver, he had done it all. "They posted me to the infield, taking care of people who got too much sun or had too much to drink," Olvey said. I could see what was coming, he said. 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. When Donohue took the Ferrari to Le Mans, the car attained only 205 mph on the straight versus the Porsche 917s 235 mph. 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. Mark Donohue Fatal Crash | PopScreen [17] That race was Penske's first NASCAR win in a long history of NASCAR participation. 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 | Hemmings Donohue was hit in the head by a fence post and knocked . He died in 1975 a day after a crash during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. With Roger Penske, you are always going to have good equipment. He obsessively lived at the shop, working as many as 20 hours a day. Mark Donohue (1937-1975) - Find a Grave Memorial He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. "Going down the back straightaway, the wing, which produced a tremendous amount of downforce at high speeds, came off the back of the car," Donohue claimed. ), (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap). Seeing another man driving your car, a car you know so well. Donohue co-drove in the No. He was a partner, he was a friend and a critical piece of the foundation of our race team.. 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 was a . Despite this, Donohue still dominated the series, even though he suffered three DNFs during the season due to mechanical problems with the M6A. He died from severe head injuries sustained August 16 in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at Graz, Austria. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Its as if his father is in his presence. The book was re-released in 2000 by Bentley Publishers (Cambridge, Massachusetts). We think we've made a major discovery. George Follmer, Donohue's old Trans-Am teammate, took over testing the 917-10 for Donohue, who said: It just doesn't feel right. A friend once described riding in Donohue's Porsche 911 as a 'Wall of Death thing most of the time. It is core to the myth of Mark that he was just an okay driver but a genius engineer. 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. When Penske Racing took delivery of a Ferrari 512M, for instance, they immediately fabricated a bigger rear wing. [2][6], Donohue won the SCCA national championship in an Elva Courier in 1961. I could see myself helping to develop the Formula One car, setting it up and then having some younger hotshot driver take over. 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. Mark returned [a year later] because he realized he wasnt good at anything else. They were just forging ahead, David Donohue recalled. He finished the race in his McLaren-Offy setting a record speed of over 162mph (261km/h),[16] which stood for twelve years. The hotrod phenomenon came East from California and caught me up in it, he once explained. Mark wasnt an emotional guy. He did it at Talladega, Ala., in the turbocharged Porsche he drove to the 1973 CanAm title. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. My friends began warning me., Racing was becoming an obsession, but in 1965, he realized: Maybe I can make a living out of something like to do. Everything You Need to Know to Master Road Atlanta - Car and Driver We used to clean our garage out every night, and that was something people didnt understand.. He tried to get a car dealership; that didnt work. Revson's death made it almost inevitable that Donohue would come out of retirement. Mark won the 1972 Indianapolis 500 when David was just five. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. There was little question then that Donohue, who would testdrive the new car and help supervise its development, would come out of retirement. A doctor's take: Jules Bianchi brain injury 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. He was helped by Emerson Fittipaldi, Bob Evans and Hans-Joachim Stuck, who arrived to the scene of the accident and parked their cars. Secrets of the mysterious 1975-77 Camaro Racemark GT For Donohue, there was little time to grieve, as his own Le Mans debut was looming. In all, he won 57 major races and more than $1million. The 38yearold Donohue underwent a threehour operation at a hospital here Sunday to remove a blood clot from his brain. 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. The track chosen for the speed record attempt was the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. 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 Mark . Donohue, too, recognized the accomplishment as something of a walk-off home run for his career, briefly retiring following his IROC championship before returning later that year with Penske to compete in the final two Formula 1 races. Showing Editorial results for mark donohue. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. To those who work at the cemetery, Donohue is simply known as The Race Car Driver to visitors looking for his gravesite. With Donohues methodical approach and his commitment to work for Penske fulltime that counted for a lot Penske said. It was August 9, 1975. 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. Instead, the Racemark GT had Bedard, also a racer, showering praise.

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