mark donohue accident

He could drive a car in the 24-hour race at Daytona, a Trans-Am Car, an Indy car and a NASCAR car. Donohue won in 1972, driving for Penske. There was little question then that Donohue, who would testdrive the new car and help supervise its development, would come out of retirement. Porsche, Penske, and Donohue quickly started the development of the 917-30, complete with a reworked aerodynamic "Paris" body and a 5.4-liter turbocharged flat-12 engine whose output could be adjusted from about 1,100 to 1,500 bhp[citation needed] by turning a boost knob in the cockpit. He knew racing drivers couldn't come back. Begrudgingly, Donohue used Bettenhausens setup for the race. The Newtown Square facility was a small, 4,000 square-foot garage out back with a small bungalow in front of the shop. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske during a break in the Indy-car action at Michigan International Speedway n 1974. Of 55 Trans-Ams he entered, he won 29. Watts.) Mark contracted polio when he was 6, but he fully recovered. 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. He was, I feel, the finest road race driver this country has ever produced, Allison told Hemmings Motor News years later. 1975 Camaro Racemark GT Bob Bailey. He died on August 19, 1975 in Graz, Styria, Austria. It was at Hangsens funeral that Roger Penske approached Donohue to drive for him. But where other youngsters were souping up cars to impress girls, I was only interested in the mechanics, Donohue said. 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 He went on to assist TVR's David Hives in designing the Series 400 Griffith and then working on the ill-fated Bob Cumberford-designed, Intermeccanica-(Torino, Italy) produced Series 600 Griffith. Donohue held the record for 11 years, until it was broken by Rick Mears at Michigan International Speedway. That took a couple of years. No one knew, but Mark Donohue had just 10 days to live. 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. And, according to Cox, Roger certainly did his part in coming up with next projects.. Im sure David really missed out on a lot. [17] That race was Penske's first NASCAR win in a long history of NASCAR participation. And neither found what they expected. Acid-dipping car bodies was prevalent with competing Trans-Am teams also. Mark Donohue. 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". 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. 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 . Has Alonso made the right choice gambling on Aston Martin F1? It was an iconic car, iconic colors for the day and it really brings back memories. Czarnecki saw the brilliance, humor and darkness -- all part of Donohues character. 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 Donohues father was a patent attorney. In addition, the horrific events at the 1973 Indianapolis 500 and the subsequent death of his friend, Swede Savage, pushed him to quit. One night I was in Philadelphia and was following Mark to the old shop in Newtown Square. With Donohues methodical approach and his commitment to work for Penske fulltime that counted for a lot Penske said. Penske's first race shop in Newtown Square, Pa. All of these tiny little stories you get to put all of these puzzle pieces together and get a much better picture of my father. A friend once described riding in Donohue's Porsche 911 as a 'Wall of Death thing most of the time. Hed drive the truck, hed drive the race car, he would work on the car. 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 gave us a lot of credibility and was the keystone of our racing. The hotrod phenomenon came East from California and caught me up in it, he once explained. Its been 43 years since Donohues death, but he remains Penske Racings cornerstone. Penske warned that any disqualification would have the potential of motivating Chevrolet to pull all support for the Trans-Am series. That was the most striking thing I ever saw him do. 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 Mark Donohue. 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. Mark Donohue did not take a traditional route to racing or to Penskes side. It was August 9, 1975. The front of the car was torn away, leaving Donohue, still strapped to his safety seat, with his legs dangling outside the car. He won the Can Am championship in 197, the TransAm title in 1968, 1969 and 1971. 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. We were there to go racing.. 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. Foyt and Emerson Fittipaldi, among others tangible proof that, stock-car equipment being even, Donohue was a world beater. Donohue demolished Al Unser's IMS track record of 170.221mph with a 181.2mph practice lap on May 12, a day that still makes Penske chuckle. He was so gentlemanly, he was boring. 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. [2][6], Donohue won the SCCA national championship in an Elva Courier in 1961. It was always on to the next project.. 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. In auto racing, though, even thinking man's drivers can get killed by punctured tires. He began to spend more than time. That day at Indy, Bobby Unsers Eagle dominated the contest before Unser dropped out. But this was a safe driver, a man who knew his limits, his car's limits and didn't go over the edge, as they say in racing. The highlight of his entire career was winning the . 66 Penske Racing entry went on to win at Indianapolis in 1972 to give Roger Penske the first of his 17 Indy 500 wins. Donohue, no matter what he accomplished, couldnt rest. That got everybodys attention -- the polished wheels, the way our guys looked, the way the cars were prepared and obviously, the performance was good. The original Penske Racing team included Penske, Donohue, chief mechanic and crew chief Karl Kainhofer. In all, there were 57 major victories and more than $1million in purses for this pleasant, intelligent man who gave up a career in mechanical engineering because racing is what he wanted to do. 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. Amazingly, Donohue only suffered an internal derangement of his knee with meniscus damage and limited cruciate plus collateral ligament damage. Mark Donohue was 38 and a sports car champion and 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner. DON HUNTER, BILL OURSLER, THE MANUFACTURERS, Elana Scherr: On the Count of Three (Wheels), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. With his marriage to Sue falling apart, Donohues personal life was in turmoil. Mark Robert Bonhag, 56, of the Highland, Md., area was driving north on New Hampshire Avenue in the . Its made me realize its an honor to be his son. Several minutes later Donohue regained consciousness and spoke with his rescuers, who took him to Knittelfeld hospital. 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. The 1967 Z-28 won its last race by lapping the entire field of cars, causing suspicion throughout the paddock. The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023, The rookies looking to make their mark on F1 in 2023 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. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue's career, along with Roger Penske's Formula One aspirations, took a tragic turn. 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. this email address already registerd with us. "They posted me to the infield, taking care of people who got too much sun or had too much to drink," Olvey said. The 917/30 generally is considered one of the most powerful and most dominant racing machines ever created. [5][19] Donohue is buried at St. Teresa Cemetery in Summit, New Jersey. Mark Donohue Fatal Crash (Alternate Footage) Browse more videos Playing next 5:35 Airplane Crash Compilation 2015 SHOCKING FOOTAGE - Most Epic Plane Crashes Caught on Camera Fatal Ab Tak 4:59 Airplane Crash Compilation 2015 SHOCKING FOOTAGE - Most Epic Plane Crashes Caught on Camera Fatal punjabi & islamic tv 5:35 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. As an American driver, he had done it all. Although photographs of Donohue with the more aerodynamic 1974 Matador coupe exist and are published, he did not drive it in competition. Upstairs was a small room with a bed that had an outside private entrance. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue did not appear to be injured significantly. He flew under the radar a lot, but he was always there. Donohue, who also competed in endurance racing, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am,. Think about the championships we won together, the first Indy 500 victory for the team, three Trans-Am championships. He was young Roger Penskes equal. He will be ranked with A. J. Foyt, Dan Gurney and Andretti in the leading group of American drivers. He busted a gut when we got back to the shop. Then there was Marks other side. Donohue's death was announced by a spokesman for Roger Penske, a close personal friend and his team boss. Penske and Donohue did not stop acid-dipping after this, however. 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. Donohue disagreed. 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). Roger Penske and Mark Donohue following Donohue's IROC win in 1974. The guy that is most like Mark that Ive ever met is David, said Don Cox. He had one religion: testing. 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.

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