Mark Donohue was the archetypal all American racing driver. He became synonymous with legendary team owner Roger Penske and, together, they experienced great success in sports car racing and at the Indianapolis 500.
Early Racing Career of Mark Donohue
Donohue was born in New Jersey in 1937 and, after school, went on to obtain a mechanical engineering degree. This would form the basis for the intimate engineering knowledge he would come to be renowned for throughout his motor racing career. Donohue referred to this knowledge as, "the unfair advantage," and used the phrase as the title for his charming and self effacing autobiography.
Donohue, like so many drivers, began his motor racing career by hillclimbing. He won his first ever event and thrived at the discipline. A major break came when Walt Hangsen approached Donohue and asked him to partner him in a Ferrari. Hangsen was a talented and established racing driver. Soon, Donohue was a Ford works driver. In 1966 he finished third at Daytona and second at Sebring with Hangsen in a GT40. Sadly, the pair's success was brief. Hansgen suffered fatal injuries while testing a GT40 at Le Mans early in 1966, after crashing into a barrier which had been placed across an escape road.
Can Am and Trans Am with Roger Penske
Despite Hansgen's death Donohue's career continued to gather momentum. Roger Penske entered him in the popular and competitive Can Am series. Donohue rewarded his faith by finishing second in the championship to John Surtees.
Donohue went on to become one of the most successful drivers in Can Am racing, winning the title in 1971 and 1973. In the latter season Donohue tamed the incredibly powerful Sunoco Porsche 917/30, which was capable of producing around 1500 bhp. His 1972 Can Am racing season was interrupted by a nasty crash at Road Atlanta.
In Trans Am racing Donohue was also a multiple champion, again driving for Penske. He also found time to win the inaugural IROC (International Race of Champions) series, beating a field of international stars in identical cars.
Formula 1 and the Indy 500 with Penske
Donohue and Penske made their Indy 500 debut in 1969, culminating in a seventh place finish and the Rookie of the Year award. Donohue was quickly up to speed at the famous circuit but it took until 1972 for him to score the most prestigious victory of his career there.
Donohue's Formula 1 debut came in a Penske entered McLaren at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix. In wet conditions he proved to be a sensation and finished on the podium in third. Despite this his Formula 1 career stalled and just a couple of years later he retired from motor racing.
Penske decided to launch a Formula 1 team in 1974, using his own car designated the PC1. It was enough to persuade Donohue to come out of retirement and the new team made its debut in Canada towards the end of the year. Donohue continued driving for the 1975 season, but it soon became apparent that the PC1 was not competitive. Penske decided to switch to a March chassis instead, and Donohue was driving this by the time of the Austrian Grand Prix.
Donohue's Fatal 1975 Austrian GP Crash
During the morning warm-up session for the Austrian Grand Prix Donohue's March suffered a tyre failure. The car was catapulted off the circuit and landed behind the guard rail. Donohue was knocked out but regained consciousness when rescuers arrived, including defending World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi.
Donohue appeared to have survived the crash relatively unscathed but when he complained of feeling unwell he was taken by helicopter to hospital in Graz. Despite emergency surgery on his brain Donohue slipped into a coma and died two days later on August 19th, aged 38. Manfred Schaller, a 21 year old marshal, also died after being struck by debris during the crash.
Donohue left behind a wife and two sons. One of them, David, went on to become a racing driver himself. In 2009 he was part of the winning team at the Daytona 24 Hours, a race which his father had won in 1969. Mark Donohue was inducted into the American Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
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