Remembering Mark Donohue

[Dayzer]

Mark Donohue was one of the daredevil drivers of the 1970's. He exuded boyhood charm, was a speed demon behind the wheel, and was a legend of US racing, with wins at Daytona, the Indy 500, and Trans-Am Champion. He was racing for Penske's F1 team in 1975 when tragedy struck at the Austrian GP...

Those of you who are fans of modern era F1 may remember a circuit in Austria called the A1-Ring. It was used up from 1997 to 2003, was the scene of the farcical Ferrari team orders race in 2002, and was remembered in particular for its stunning scenery, being set in the Styrian Mountains. However, this circuit was a pale shadow of its former self. Much like Hockenheim, Spa-Francorchamps & the Nurburgring, a vast behemoth of a circuit is buried under the new modern facilities. Fast and sweeping through the Austrian mountains, the Osterreichring, by the time of its final race in 1987, had an average speed of around 155mph, with drivers never selecting a gear lower than 4th. The circuit was regarded as dangerous even in those days, particularly around the start finish straight, which was very narrow, as well as the Boschkurve, a 180 degree fast right hander, that had a barrier lining the corner...

Rest of the article

I've always felt Mark was one of the forgotten drivers of the 1970's, particularly outside of the US. Also, he plain and simply shouldn't have died.

[dxk1]

This is a great piece on Mark. I agree with you. He was a legend and could be fast and competitive in anything he drove. Mark and Roger Penski were an unusually successful match and together they took on all comers in many different forms of racing. I especially remember Mark kicking major butt in the CanAm Series in that Porsche 917 turbo. There is a really nice tribute to him on Ash Automobilia at the following link: http://ashcom.homestead.com/Donohuetribute.html

DK

[GMiranda]

Thanks

[formerf1champ]

He died a little while before i was born. However, I'm left with the impression this guy would be in the top 5 of all time American drivers. Am I wrong?