Mark Donohue Memories Paul, Great site. I grew up in New England and my parents where involved in the SCCA since the 50's. Mom was in Registration, Dad, Flag and communications. Lime Rock, Thompson (old and "new"), Bryer, Watkins Glen where the regular hang outs. For 3 or 4 years we went to the 12 hours of Sebring and the SCCA runoffs at Road Atlanta. Being young I was a "go-fer" at many of the tracks. Or I was selling posters, programs, and leather goods, whatever. I don't remember when I met Mark, it may have been at Thompson or Bryer when I would do drawings of guys race cars in the tech inspection line and leave them in their seats. (I was 6 or 7) I do remember Mark giving me rides in almost all the cars he raced. Sometimes from the tech inspection to the paddock or around the track. I would sometimes hang out and play with David. (I have not been able to meet up with David ever since) Any way, one day We were at a race and a very close friend Charlie Rainville, Charlie was one of the of the "Movers and Shakers" in the SCCA at that time, and he said, "Hey Chris, I want to introduce you to someone" (Again, I was 6 or 7) Charlie marched through a crowd up to the winners circle and said "Chris, This is..." and Mark looked down and said "HEY CHRIS!, come over here!" I turned to Charlie and "Oh him, I know him!" and walked over to Mark. One Lime Rock Trans Am Mark took me for a ride around the track in the Camero. Leaving the pits my little helmeted head was just above the passengers door, first lap, the top of the helmet was just visible, second lap I had disappeared. In the car I remember thinking, I had seen mark race a bunch of times, he's a good driver and I was his little buddy, he'd never put me in danger...."Boy that was scary!" After, my Mom was furious, I was a minor and not suppose to be out on the track, My Dad said Peg, It's OK he was with Mark. Like that made the rule bendable. Mark was over for dinner and he was telling my dad that he had a ride in F1. My Dad, said "Mark I thought you where retired?" Mark said, "Yeah...But its Formula One Ralph!" My parents had had many friends killed in racing and I remember them expressing concern that Mark should stay retired. But Mark really missed the racing I think and he just talked about what a great opportunity it was to race F1. I live in LA now I go to the Long Beach Grad prix, but I miss the New England tracks, the Trans Am and Can Am cars, and most of all the people. We have a little reminder in our shop parking lot, Bill "Murph" Mayberry was Penske's chief mechanic and car preparer for many of the early efforts. (Trans Am, F5000, Daytona) (He died a couple of years ago) We have his old Winnebago motor home. Many race strategies where planned there I'm sure. My parents bought it from Murphy in the 1970's. After a little rubbing compound to take off the "Mother Murphy" painted under the drivers window, we spent many years traveling to the races in it and hosting many of those after race, corner workers, parties that you here about. It was not uncommon for people like Sam Posey, David Hobbs, Paul Newman, Bob Sharp, Bob Tulius, Revson, Penske, Folmer, Bonduraunt, Barber, and of course Mark Donohue to be hanging out telling stories and swapping lies. I was just a kid and these where just my parents friends. Boy, I wish I had paid more attention. I have many old photos and my mom always had a movie camera in her hand. (How about footage of the pace lap of the 69 or 70 Trans Am at Bryer from the Pace Car of the first Trans Am race at Sebring?) I'm trying to get these digitized and will try to forward some to you. Keep up the good work, Chris Gilman My only personal contact with Mark Donohue was on a race track - Summit Point in the spring of 72 at a private test day ($70 for the day, I think it was) I had a new Lola T-204 Formula Ford and was just starting racing Nationals. Mid morning a new slant back transporter pulled in with Penske's Formula 5000 Lola t-192. It was white with no lettering or decals - brand new and Donohue was there with two mechanics. Later that day I was out on the track turning some laps when just before the last turn before the main straight I saw something coming up on me fast in the mirrors and by about a quarter of the way down the straight Mark blasted by me like I was standing still! I could hear the roar of his Chev.V8 in my car over my wound-out 1600! I can still see it today. I never talked to Mark but all through my racing days I felt like I had some kind of connection to him. Thanks for this website. Tim Musser I think it was late 1970, I was 13 yrs old, I lived 4-5 miles from Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario Cal. After school, I would ride my bike straight out to the 'new' speedway, and for a week or two, I would hang around this one garage where the guys were always racing. Well, they weren't racing, they were testing, it was Donohue testing the Lola T-192, which they would race in the Questor Grand Prix. I had no idea who Mark was, what his accomplishments were prior to this, all I knew is he drove a racing car, and it was neato..... so I hung around and was a go-fer, somebody on pit road would tell me to go back to the garage and tell so-and-so that somebody needed this or that tool, and i'd run back to pit road. I don't recall anyone else testing at the same time, so they had the track all to themselves. I do remember Mark liked to be left alone with his thoughts sometimes, so I said very little when things were quiet. Things were quiet a lot in the beginning. I was also fortunate enough to be out there in the beginning of the Porsche Can-Am project, and I also hung around some funny sounding guys that were testing (I think) for Goodyear. The funny sounding guys were Team Tyrrell. At the time, I had NO clue who they were. The very best of all this culminated when Mark would put my bike in the back of a rental (?) station wagon they had, and give me rides home, as it was dark by the time they were done, and my mom would come to the door and thank 'Mr. Donohoo' for bringing me home, which he did numerous times over the next couple of years. Fred Ensminger I was reminded about this incident when I was telling you about our family travels in 1968. We were traveling up the Jersey Turnpike in Mark's Z28 Camaro, heading for a Trans Am race at Lime Rock. Mark was driving, Crabby (Jim Travers of TRACO) was in the passenger seat in the front, and I was in the back. As we were speeding along about 75 mph, it began to rain. Just a word about Mark's Z28: it had a TRACO engine and it had wide racing tires on it with little tread. It had no power steering, so it was hard to turn the steering at low speeds. Mark purposely had no PS in order to exercise his arm muscles when he drove to keep himself in shape. Mark would loan his Z28 to me on occasions, and my boys loved it. I'd take them for a drive in it, and they were thrilled with the engine noise under WOT, the acceleration rate, and an occasional drag race with another car from a traffic light. Back to the story: After the rain started, Mark casually commented that we were hydroplaning. Then he said, "Watch this." And he quickly turned the steering wheel from full right to full left at 75 mph. We continued in a straight line, but it certainly got Crabby's and my attention, and we asked that he not do that again. And so he didn't. Best regards, Jerry I first became a Mark Donohue fan while watching a condensed-for prime-time-TV version of the 1968 Elkhart Lake Can-AM race. (Similar shows have been seen on ESPN under the title 'Glory Days') In this race, Donohue starts near the front but spins out early, going to the back of the field. The show traces his charge thru the pack to finish third behind the 'Bruce and Denny Show'. And since I lived in Philadelphia, Mark was a sort of hometown hero. Roger Penske displayed his race cars at a mall where I later worked. My greatest memory is the 1971 Pocono 500, the first race held at that track. I had just graduated from high school. I bought tickets early, pitroad seats, next to top row. Donohue started on the pole and dominated nearly the entire race. He lost the lead on lap191 briefly but stormed back to the lead in front of a huge crowd on the front straight. I have never experienced a more electric moment in racing, the entire crowd was cheering for him and there was no way they would let him lose! I had an 8mm home movie camera with me and captured most of action. Afterwards I wrote him a letter and recieved an answer on Penske stationary. It was the closest I got to meeting him. I have met his son David several times at races and he is just as approachable and unassuming as I've heard Mark was. The re-issue of the book 'Unfair Advantage' is a great read for any race fan. Dave Mueller Schwenksville, PA Paul, Great Website. Unfortunately I have no pictures from the Elva Courier days. I do have some from the 1965 Runoffs when he drove both a Formula Jr and a Shelby Mustang. I also have pictures of Mark from the early USRRC, Can-Am and Trans-Am. They are in the form of slides. I guess I can have them put on a disk? Woody Hair Memories: 1. Mark and Jay Signore racing Elva Couriers at Marlboro in the late 50s. They would run nose-to-tail and exhibit tail-out slides through the chicane right in front of the open grandstand. After his race Mark would come up into the stand to watch the remaining races. From the top row of that stand you could see 95% of the 1.7 mile Marlboro track. 2. At the Watkins Glen USRRC race in June 1966 Mark was driving Roger Penske's Lola T70 in perhaps it's second race. At the top of the uphill esses Mark hit the Genie-Chev of John Cannon that had spun out. Mark's Lola came to a stop beyond my view (thankfully). All we could see was the large black plume of smoke as the Lola burned up. The race was stopped while the mess was cleaned up. It was only later that we learned that Mark was not hurt. It was one of my worst moments as a spectator. Having heard there were web sites devoted to racing in the sixties, I thought I would add my nickel's worth. John Cannon was my ex-husband. We travelled the northeast SCCA circuit along with Mark and Jay for quite a few years, all three of them competing in Elva Couriers. John was from Canada (Montreal). Sadly, only Jay survives. JC was killed in a private plane crash in October 1999. Reading your letters from fans brought back a lot of memories of those when racing was a bit more fun and the drivers were more accessible. In reading about the Genie Chev crash involving Mark and John, I would like to add that Mark saved John's life on that day by taking split-second evasive action. John had spun on a blind hill and along came Mark... no place to go... What he did was no less than brilliant. There was a collision, but J. got off with heavy bruising and nothing more. Thanks for the memories Patricia Billing Cannon Dear Paul: I saw yoursite listed in autoweek magazine awile ago, so I decided to have a look. Congrats.. very well done! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is George Rutledge. I helped start the Shelby American Automobile club in 1975 with Austin Craig, Rick Kopec and Ken Eber. I was on the board of directors of the club for 10 years. Of couse Mark Donohue drove GT-40's for the Shelby Ford team in 66 and 67 and I was always interested in his participation for years. But my facination with Mark goes back long before 75. In 1967 My mom and dad sent me out to my uncle in Cincinnatti for a summer "gift" My uncle took me to mid ohio to see the scca class races and you guessed it Mark Donohue was there. I was only 14, but I remember it like yesterday. I even have a color 8mm movie of thisrace. (which he won) I started goingto the indy 500 with my uncle in 1971. In 72 I guessed that Donohue would win and he did in that beautifull Sunoco blue and yellow car. (personally the most beautifull that penske fielded) My uncle was quite amazed as he had been seeing indy 500's since 1948 and had not guessed a winner for many years, and I only on the 2nd race!! But i must confess, that I did not really know his career untill I got his book "unfair advantage from a local libray. The book so intriged me that I never brought it back and have it to this day. (minus a compensation to the library for a overdue book) Any way, I thought I would let you know that I do have some good B+W photo's of Mark at indy time trials in the late 60's, color slides of the 72 indy 500 with his car, and some 8mmm color movies of indy and mid ohio. You are welcome to examine them if you want. I'm sure you have been inundated with people offering just such a thing and perhaps you are already burried with photo's. If that is the case, let me just congratulate you once again on preserving the memory of one of America's great but almost forgotton road warriers. As AJ Foyt so aptly and quietly remarked at Donohues funeral in New Jersey, He simply put a wreath on Mark's casket that said "champion of Champion" And so he was.. Hi Paul: I have checked out the UnfairAdvantageRacing web site and found it very interesting. I followed Mark Donahue's Penske road racing from the mid-sixties until he died trying F1. I was only a spectator in the 60's, and became a corner worker in the early 70's, where I then had much closer contact with both the racing and the racers. Perhaps one of my favorite memories of Mark (and I have many of his racing feats) was the way he treated all of us corner workers. The best I recall, he is the only driver who would stick around 'till the end of the day, and then join the corner workers when we all came in from the corners to relax and party a bit after a long hot day. At one of those post-race visits at Road America, he joined us on the track guard rail and just chatted for a while. I have enclosed (see attached file) a picture of Mark and my wife as we all relaxed with a real pro and a genuine nice guy! We enjoyed those visits and really felt appreciated when someone like Mark would stop by our worker gatherings to thank us for our efforts. I eventually raced a 1969 AMX in SCCA, and later a 1966 McKee-Olds Can-Am sportsracer in Vintage races. Those years of road racing from the 60's and 70's were simply the greatest. I have enjoyed actually racing the cars of that era, and especially enjoyed watching the pro's like Mark as he raced and won in almost all of it. As a spectator, corner worker and driver, I had ample opportunity to watch Mark in many of the Penske cars, and to take lots of pictures. I have slides of Mark in a dozen different Penske cars, in six different series (USRRC, Can-Am, Trans-Am, F5000, Indy, and Endurance), and at several tracks (Road America, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Indy). If you are interested in seeing or using them, I could try to get them converted to disc and send them that way, or could lend you the slides themselves (as long as I got them back for my collection). Some slides are of Mark talking or relaxing outside the cars, while many of them are action shots on the tracks or stills of his cars in the paddock. I'm sure you'd enjoy seeing and perhaps using some of them. Use whatever you'd like for your web site, and let me know about the slides. Mike Odell, Forget-Me-Not SportRacing Nice site, dedicated to an outstanding person. I was privileged to see him drive at Riverside International Raceway, several times over the years. At the 1969 Trans-Am there I was entered in a supporting race in my MGB roadster. Sitting in my car at tech inspection, waiting for the wheel wigglers to finish their job, I glanced up as Mark Donohue strolled by. He smiled encouragingly as he looked me in the eye, and I remembered that there was MG racing in his background, too. Frank Sheffield, frank@fsheff.com Now, aside from being a car and racing enthusiest over the yrs., I knew of Mark who occasionally came by my dad's shop for parts, to look at cars or chat with my dad and the mechanics or others who hung out there. My dad said most of these guys never bought anything, but we had a lot of laughs! I remember the first time I met Mark when he came to my dad's dealership for some car parts for his Elva Courier that was parked out front (white with red or blue stripe?-how the heck I remember, who knows!) I saw Mark race a few times when he was with Penske. A little more history... My dad was Niels Andersen - in the car business most of his life. He passed away at age 97, 1 1/2 yrs. ago. He came to summis from Plainfield as a Desoto/Plymouth dealer in '54 to take on Pontiac franchise when Desoto was put to sleep. In '57 he decided to do something novel and put wierd looking foreign cars in the showroom.This attracted people and the rest is history! Renalt, Jaguar, Roots Group, Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Volvo (first Volvo dealer in North East) were amongst the franchises he had over the years. There were a few yrs. when he and his friend Walt Hansgen shared the Jaguar business in Westfield. Walt was getting big on the National and International circuits so eventually he assumed the whole business as I remember. I'm assuming you who Walt was. I'm finding lot's of things written about him now. Have more detail on walt if you'e interested. Those years were priceless to both of us I'm sure. It was my youth and these guys and the other Euro. and American road racing aces were my heros- very few great ones since as I'm sure you'll agree. I had the right stuff for a while but followed another career elsewhere. Anyway, have to go walk the dogs and cook a turkey. Hope to here from you soon. Thanks for your devotion to someone elses passed accomplishments. Bill -- gdnatured1@aol.com PS Saw the web site in Vintage Racecar mag. Hansgens on the center spread_that cought my eye and bought it while brousing through car mags. in Barnes Noble. Paul, I just got finished looking at your site, & want to thank you for helping keep Mark's memory alive. I too was a big fan of his. I never got to see Mark race, but I got to meet him and Roger Penske at Rockingham, N.C. in 1972 . Dave Marcis was driving the AMC Matador for them, and they were at the race. I got all three of their autographs, and still have them. For an 11 year old that was a big thrill. Once again, thanks for such a wonderful tribute to a great champion. Mark Moore Hi Paul, I was able to check out your web-site today and it's very good. Mark was my favorite driver for many years and I followed his career closely. My son, Mark Daniel Smith, was named for Mark Donohue and Dan Gurney. They both had the skill and style I admired. Nice guys DO finish first (a lot of the time). You are welcome to any of the photos that my brother Pat has at his site. He has possession of the slides that they were produced from. So I will e-mail him tonight and let him know he can send you some pictures. I only wish I had taken more shots when I had the chance. Those days will never be here again and the difficulty of taking decent pictures in today's racing atmosphere is extreme. You just can't get close enough to shoot a good photo or they put so many fences between you and the car that it simply isn't possible to get a decent shot. Of course, safety is much more an issue now than it was in the 60's (when a lot of these pictures were taken). Your site brought back a lot of memories for me. In 1968 I had traveled back to the United States from Navy duty in Okinawa for a 30 day leave. I planned the trip around the Can-Am races to be held at Riverside Raceway in late October. I was given a ride to my motel on the Thursday prior to the race by a local car dealer and mentioned to him that I had come a long way to see the race. He asked if I would mind going back to the track to see the public relations director and possibly get some media interest going as the race fan who had traveled the furthest distance to see the race. We did this and the next day I was given a tour through the pit area with a track photographer and got to meet many of the drivers. I was introduced to Roger Penske while Mark was on the track getting some practice laps. To my suprise, Roger asked me if I would like to hold the pit board for Mark's lap times as he sped by at unreal speed. I was actually hanging over the wall with the board. Pretty heady experience for a 20 yr. old racing addict. I was never able to find out if the pictures the track photographer took ever came out. I would give anything to have some of those pictures today. The memories are very treasured. I've got to get back to work now. Keep up the great work on your site. We need to remember the classic golden days of racing. They won't be back. Take care. Mike Smith Dear Paul. Just a note to say what a great web site.I have been a big fan of Mark's from the TransAm days.Saw him twice at Bryer track in Loudon N.H. around 70/71 P.J. or Follmer won both years.Also saw him in practice at Indy in 1973.Those were the days of drivers like Mark,Mario,A.J ,Gurney could and did drive everything and well. Keep up the great work........Tom....... Memories: 1. Mark and Jay Signore racing Elva Couriers at Marlboro in the late 50s. They would run nose-to-tail and exhibit tail-out slides through the chicane right in front of the open grandstand. After his race Mark would come up into the stand to watch the remaining races. From the top row of that stand you could see 95% of the 1.7 mile Marlboro track. 2. At the Watkins Glen USRRC race in June 1966 Mark was driving Roger Penske's Lola T70 in perhaps it's second race. At the top of the uphill esses Mark hit the Genie-Chev of John Cannon that had spun out. Mark's Lola came to a stop beyond my view (thankfully). All we could see was the large black plume of smoke as the Lola burned up. The race was stopped while the mess was cleaned up. It was only later that we learned that Mark was not hurt. It was one of my worst moments as a spectator. Woody Hair Arlington, VA I live in Fairfield, Connecticut. Unfortunately Mark's Elva Courier was scrapped, or so I am told. Some people tried to track it down, I think Lew Schulz, the owner of S&R Cars, the Elva dealer in NJ was one of them. Anyway I sold it to a racer in Pennsylvania who raced it a few more years and then sold it to someone in West Virginia who apparently scrapped it. Aside from its historic value, it had some really special parts by the time I sold it; things like one of the strongest MGA engines outside of a BMC factory (plus ours had more than a several hour life expectancy) with all the racing parts BMC, California, and an engineer owner (me) could develop. Also things like the hubs were aluminum and designed by me (I broke a stock front hub at Lime Rock in the esses and had but lost a great 3 wheel Elva photo of me going off in the boonies with the 4th wheel following along side.) It had a whole lot of aluminum replacement parts, interior panels, bell housing mounting plate, etc. When Mark sold it to me, the rules were pretty much show room stock less muffler and windshield. During the time I had it, things changed to allow building a dedicated race car. The Elva importer, Freddy Opert, helped greatly by certifying as factory options anything we could think of to help the car. The EP Couriers had a MGA 1622 cc engine. Also there were Couriers with MGB 1800 cc engines that raced in C Production. One of the Bridgehamption Double 500 Pro Races (pre CanAm series but similar) had an AP through DP preliminary race. I loved Bridgehampton and always did well there. Bridgehamton was all high speed sweeping bends over undulating sand dunes and just made for the Couriers top end power, handling, and aerodynamics. Anyway we entered the Courier in CP, claiming we had a race prepared MGB engine we dropped in it. Actually it was the same old1622 engine two classes down. The only special prep was cutting the center bar off the E on the side of the car to make it look like a C. We got a 2nd in class, with a Lotus Elan taking 1st. People were suspicious but no one protested the possiblity of our having a smaller than legal, unpowered engine. Probably they didn't want to know. I don't have a lot to add about Mark's racing that you don't already know but a few items about the goings on at that time might be interesting. Thanks again for the website. Bob Gaunt Paul Baxter, a friend of mine, suggested I visit your web site. I worked at Watkins Glen from 1971 - 1998, and ran the rescue team from 1975 - 86. While testing the Porsche one weekday there were lots of problems that required a lot of time to fix. Mark came down to Pit One, where we were running the race control radio system around the track, and sat down and visited with us for at least an hour. I always brought a large jug of iced tea for our crew, and Mark had a few glasses with us because it was such a hot day. After awhile a mechanic came over to tell Mark the car was ready to drive. He jumped it and took off out of the pits. We immediately began getting urgent messages from the corner stations that Mark was almost out of control, he put a wheel off going through the turn, it looked like he was trying to set a lap record, etc., etc. At the end of the first lap Mark drove into the pits and locked up the brakes. He jumped out of the car like it was on fire, and ran behind the pit stalls. I dropped my headphone and ran back there. Mark was 'watering' the fence behind the pits. After he relieved himself he continued the test. When he was done he came over to see us and pointed to the iced tea jug and laughed. He said the first time he touched the brakes going out of the pit lane his bladder almost exploded, and he had to drive all the way around the track to take care of the problem. My last memory of Mark was in January, 1975. He was hired to appear at the annual sports banquet in Elmira, NY. I was in my last year of high school, and my principal knew of my interest in racing. He arranged for me to ride with the banquet committee member who was going to pick Mark up in Rochester, two hours away. When we got there it was snowing, but Mark got off the plane with just a lightweight summer suit on, because he had just flown up from Brazil, where it was summertime. I let him wear my overcoat and rode with him to Elmira. Instead of driving him back to Rochester that night I arranged for Mark to ride back with Bob Weiss, who played basketball with the NBA Buffalo Braves. A few minutes after Mark left he came back with a sheepish grin on his face, and handed me my overcoat. He said "I wouldn't want to steal your coat." That was the last time I saw him. I have quite a few signed photos of Mark, including several I took myself, plus the Sports Ilustrated photo, and the official Indy photo personally autographed by Mark and Roger. Thanks for having the web site. The memories are great. Mike Semel My wife and I worked the pits for the 24 hours of Daytona for several years when the SCCA was in charge. Mark and Roger Penske were not the biggest names then so they were very approachable. Everything you have written about Mark is right on. You need some pics of his days in the L&M Porsche Can-Am car. I have some of my pics from 24 hours in the Blue Sunoco 512 M before and after the race. The car, after 24 hours was mostly duct tape. Mark hit a 911 Porsche that pulled out on the track in the middle of the night and did a serious number on the right front suspension. The car was in the pits for over 90 minutes for repairs, yet he was competitive at the end. Going in for rain tires with less than an hour left was a deciding factor in Pedro winning. The first six hours of the race between Mark in the 512M and Pedro in the 917 were some of the most memorable racing I have ever seen. Chris Economachi (s! ! p) was a track announcer and he was going crazy. I remember the 917 destroyed a transmission around 7 am and they brought the car in with Pedro in holding a comfortable lead over Mark. By the time they got the transmission fixed, Mark had gotten within striking distance of overall leader and took the lead as they were buttoning up the 917. The battle began again and both cars overtook the 312 Ferrari that was in the lead and the duel began again with just as much vigor as it had started with 18 hours earlier. I remember one lap where both cars came side by side, out of turn 4 of the main track heading for the start finish line where they needed to be braking to head back into the infield. Mark held his line and forced the 917 to back off. Chris E. said both men came thru the timing on turn 4 faster than any car had ever gone before. I think it was 220mph. He was one of the greatest engineers ever to set up a car, which was one of the reasons he was such a successful driver! We watched Roger and Mark in action with the 911 before the beginning of the race. Mark would take the car out for a couple of laps and come back in and tell Roger how to later the setup to make it go faster. True understanding of man and machine relationship. I doubt if there will ever be a more complete race car driver! John Croes Paul, I was fortunate enough to see Mark race several times at Riverside and other tracks. He and Parnelli were awesome in the Trans-Am cars. Mark was smooth and Parnelli was brutal, both were equally fast, the difference in their styles was very noticeable. I may have some old 1969 era photos, if I can find them I'll down load them to you. Norm Marshall The second picture in photo gallery 4 was almost certainly taken at Marlboro Raceway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (the track was abandoned about 1975). The road racers used a 1/4 mile (1/3??) stock car oval as part of the raceway. The picture you have looks like Mark and Jay exiting the oval onto the "road course" portion of the track. That's why there appears to be a hump. . .There was a hump, and the cars would usually leave the ground for a short distance there. Mark and Jay Signore both raced frequently at Marlboro starting in, I believe, 1959. . .though it could have been 1960. Both Mark and Jay were driving Elva Couriers at that time. Mark's was, as I recall, white. Jay's, I believe, was blue. At the time, I was driving a white Triumph TR-3. Mark, Jay, and I became pretty good friends. . .Mark's parents and mine would frequently sit in the stands together at Marlboro and watch us race. At that time, I believe my TR-3 probably had more power than the Elevas of Mark and Jay. At any rate, I usually qualified in front of them. However, I never stayed ahead of Mark for an entire race. He usually passed me in a corner known as "Cappy's Corner". . . a decreasing radius right hander that lead back the oval. I can't make out the cars behind Mark and Jay. But, the 3rd car (on the right) looks like a TR-3A. If it is, I might very well be Bob Tullius, who just started racing a TR-3A in 1961. (I sold my TR-3 and bought a Lotus-Bristol Mk 10, so I wouldn't be in that picture if it was, indeed, taken in 1961.) The 4th car in the picture looks black, and looks like it could also be a TR-3A. If it was, It would likely be Eddie Diehl, who started racing at Marlboro in, I believe, 1960. I raced in E-modifed class, and won the 61 and 62 E-modified championships at Marlboro. Mark started racing for Roger Penske in 1962, I believe. In 1963, I left the area to work in Las Vegas. While out there, probably about 1964, I saw Mark at one race. He was driving one of Roger's CanAm cars. Charlie Hayes (another Marlboro alumnus) was there with Dan Blocker's ("Hoss" Cartright of the TV series) car. I had a long talk with Mark, sitting on the ground in the pits, about the tradeoffs of professional racing vs. engineering (I forgot to mention, Mark and I were both engineers with a common interest in racecar engineering). I think we both felt we had made the right decisions. That was the last time I saw Mark. I sense from your comments about Mark's mother that you were quite fond of her. She was, indeed, a very nice lady. I've probably said too much, or at least not enough of what you were interested in. . .but you did ask for comments! If you have any questions, send me a note. Take care. I love your website. Dave Sharp Just want to tell you how much I'm enjoying your Mark Donahue site and to pass along my favorite memory of Mark. It was the fall of 1960 in Vineland, N. J. and I was a college kid who'd discovered and fallen in love with racing. I had attended the SCCA National or Regional, can't remember which, and cheered my favorite E-Production driver as he dominated the field in his Elva Courier. After the races I wound up at the Setter Inn where the trophies were to be awarded. The beer was flowing liberally and everyone was in high spirits by the time Mark arrived. Several of his racing buddies proceeded to pour an entire pitcher of beer of his head. Mark, still in driver's suit, just grinned and joined the fun. I never got to know Mark personally but I knew his early mentor and friend, Walt Hansgen, another great driver and all around good guy. Walt and Mark were every bit the tough competitors in the track and every bit the nice guys that they were reputed to have been. The world, especially the racing world, is a sadder place without them. I think I have some pictures of Mark in his Elva Courier, I'll look through my photos from the 60's and see if I can find them. If I do, I'll try to get a scan for you. Thanks again for jogging my memories of two truly special racers. Tom Just read and enjoyed the memories sent by others. I luckily was fortunate enough to meet and talk with Mark several times over the years at various Porsche club events and races at Elkhart Lake, but as a med student in "73 or '74 I vividly remember going to our local Porsche dealer on a rare afternoon off in school for some parts for my 914, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and who is standing alone at the back of the building? Mark Donohue, one of my long time heroes! He was in town as an expert witness for Porsche to drive a car involved in an accident where POA was being sued and he was waiting for the lawyers to show up. I slowly walked up to him and couldn't believe my eyes! I remember saying "What the hell is Mark Donohue doing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?" He smiled, probably surprised someone there knew who he was, and we were able to chat one on one for nearly a 1/2 hour! Needless to say, I was in heaven. Later, I passed him on a nearby street, both of us in Porsches! I can say I passed Mark Donohue! I'll never forget it. I was at a Porsche club concours when I heard about his accident- when he died two days later I felt like I'd lost a member of my family. To see his son race , especially when he drove the 917-30 a few years ago, is almost surreal. Thanks for rekindling my memories! Stu Lehr, West Des Moines , Iowa (I still have my original copy of Unfair Advantage- wouldn't part with it for anything!) As far as I am concerned Mark Donohue is one of the best drivers ever and certainly a true champion. I followed his career weekly from about 1965 to his final race. I was a kid in the sixties and my father road raced in Southern California's Cal Club in a self designed Can Am car (A Sports Racing in Amateur Racing)....That's another story. Anyway we attended Can-Am races to get the hot tips and occasionally ran our A sports racer in Regional support races on Can Am Saturday's. Our pit passes gave us access to the paddock areas at Laguna Seca and Riverside Raceways. Here are the races I attended in order to see my favorite drivers from the 1960's....Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney and Jim Hall. 1. 1965 Riverside Can Am 2. 1966 Riverside Can Am 3. 1967 Riverside Can Am 4. 1968 Las Vegas Stardust Can Am 5. 1973 Laguna Seca Can Am 6. 1973 Riverside Can Am and IROC I watched Mark announce his retirement at the 1973 Riverside Can Am. I recall he was on the podium after winning the Can Am and he was being interviewed on the PA. When the announcer asked Mark what his future plans were, he kind of said "that's it...", not really a specific statement about retirement. However the announcer jumped on it and asked Mark if that meant he was retiring and Mark said "yeah I suppose that's it...". So the announcer goes on and on about how we had all been privileged to see Mark's last race and all, but Mark didn't really sound too sure about it. He was tired after running and winning two races that day and it was hot as hell and the end of a very long season. I remember driving the 4 hours home feeling really glad my dad and I decided to attend Riverside in what turned out, at the time, to be Mark's last race. I had seen a lot of good drivers die in the sixties and now here was a good guy getting out while he was on top. My father and watched Mark and the Porsche 917-30 at the 1973 Laguna Seca Can Am and the car was SPECTACULAR! Totally unbelievable acceleration and handling. It looked good on a short course, so we decided we just had to go to Riverside two weeks later to see this monster car whistle down the mile long back straight......Donohue estimated the car would see over 240 mph at Riverside. Of course the SCCA wanted a better TV show for the inaugural IROC Race so they made Cal Club run the short course which cut the back straight in half. It didn't matter. Mark blitzed both the IROC and the Can Am easily. Keep in mind my father, George and I were no strangers to fast cars. We ran 170-180 mph in our small block chevy ASR car. However the Turbo Porsche was a shock to the senses when it blasted around the course even when it was weighted down with 750 pounds of gasoline required to make the full distance non-stop. We knew the Can Am Series was dying and the staff running the SCCA would probably keep screwing with the rules until they killed it off. We figured this was the last time we would see the "big show". So we set up at Turn 1 for the start of the race to watch the field come over the turn 1 bridge. The pros took this turn flat out in 4th gear without lifting.....a very hair ball and dangerous place. At the drop of the green flag Mark gave the Porsche the 1200 horsepower boot and he rocketed away from the field and hammered over the turn 1 bridge drifting both ends and sawing at the wheel like a sprint car driver does on dirt.....He was in control, scary fast and heading right at us...... Anyway...here's my memory. The crowd standing at Riverside's turn 1 fence was five deep in those days. It was a typical laid back, casual, "been there done that," Southern California road race crowd. Well, as Mark's Porsche came over the bridge, for an instant, the machine was aimed right at us, drifting, howling, and still accelerating hard....at that same instant I heard several spectators scream in terror and at least 100 people actually jumped away from the fence and start running for a few yards in full panic.....they had never seen anything accelerating at them so fast and they were convinced Mark was never going to make the corner. I mean the race was only a quarter mile old and the entire Can Am field was way, WAY back THERE for crying out loud! Truly unbelievable acceleration for a road racer.... As soon as the fans realized Mark was had it in control they came back to the fence whooping and cheering. The spectators who had watched the Porsche on Saturday only laughed because that's exactly the way we jumped when we saw Mark qualify the car on near empty tanks and full boost. What a great ride that car must have been. Paul...to this day I have attended hundreds of races and I have never seen spectators break and run from a car that was fully in a driver's control....I was totally impressed that Mark and this incredible car could rip apart a person's perception of the law's of physics.....We didn't care a wit that the race was a runaway for the Penske Porsche with no real competition. My father and I could have watched Mark drive that Porsche all day by himself on an empty track... Take care and good luck with the Web site..... Scott Vilander, BSME Santa Barbara, California I just stumbled across your website, and the words and pictures made my heart pound. I am about 10 years younger than you, but have been a big fan of Mark's since about 1970. I had the benefit of my father being willing to take me to Mosport racetrack in Canada for a variety of races, including F1 and I always thought our hero was an awesome man. Later on in life, when I raced a Bomber stock car, it was painted red, white, and blue just like the Javelins. Overall, I just want to say thanks. Rick Nemeth Today I purchased a copy of CLASSIC & SPORTS CAR. In it was a letter that you sent to the magazine. In it you asked if anyone had a memory or anecdote regarding Mark Donohue you might be interested in hearing of it. I did not know Mark or ever speak to him. However when I was "younger" I went to see my first auto race. I was living in California and went to Riverside Raceway. I liked Porsches and the first IROC series was run with them. I'm sure you know all about that series and how Mark won it. The memory that I have forever from that was how I was awed at how Mark drove in that race. I was so enchanted as a result of viewing him that day that I became an auto racing fanatic as a result. I have followed F1 for the last 25 years. The great sorrow I have is that I know given the chance Mark would have been a World Champion. Much more than that I sense he was a fine person. I had the good luck to meet his son a few years back. I was at the Montery Historic races and spoke with him. I conveyed to him how much his dad had had an effect on me as well as so many others. He was most kind and I felt that his kindness must have reflected on how his father must have been. I know this is not much. But you can add me to the many others who can say that Mark had such an effect on them. Best Wishes............Jim Valcarcel -- Phoenix, Arizona PS. I too am 46 years old. Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your web page on Mark Donohue. I have a similar experience with Mark when I lived in England in 1974-6. My wife and I were at Silverstone (I'd have to think hard to remember if it was for the International Trophy race or the Grand Prix) eating breakfast at our hotel near Silverstone. There were few seats available so when Derek Bell and Mark walked into the room they spied two open chairs at our table. Europeans don't mind sitting down at any table if there is an open chair! We exchanged pleasantries and I was like you when you first met him. Here I was sitting at a table with a hero of mine! I wasn't speechless, though, as I shared with Mark the races that I'd seen him drive, especially the Porsche 917 Can-Am car. We continued to talk but Derek and Mark became absorbed in a discussion of the vagaries of the Silverstone track as Derek used the napkins to draw the proper line through the corners for Mark! How I wish that I'd grabbed those napkins up and kept them. Talk about memorabilia! I'm writing a book on Frank Nichols and Elva Cars. I was interested in the photograph or scan in "Photo Gallery Four" showing Mark and Jay Signore in Elva Couriers in the early 1960s. Can you tell me where you got the photo or what magazine the photo appeared in? Have you been in contact with Jay Signore? If so, could you provide his particulars? Are you aware of anyone who has photographs of Mark in his Elva days? Thanks for your help. Regards-Jeff Allison One of my favorite mental pictures of Mark is just like the one you have from Indy where he is sitting againts the pit wall. I saw him do that when he was sorting out his car. He'd go into such a deep concentration that nothing disturbed him and would last for quite a while. When he was through he would call Don Cox over and Mark would give in detail, every change and setting he wanted on the car. When it was completed he would go out and the car would be perfect. In my mind he was one of the very first engineer-drivers and many of the better drivers later followed his example. I first met Mark when I was Competion Sales Manager for Shelby American and Mark was driving a GT350 for Dockery Ford. We sent him alot of parts and information and of course quite a few checks for his wins. Chuck Cantwell was the GT350 engineer and sent him many technical bulletins and all the information he could. Mark was always respected as a driver and as a person at Shelby American. As you well know, you do not enter anyone's garage in Gasoline Alley! The doors were always closed and the windows closed and blacked out or covered. Mark was sitting on a workbench in front of his car talking with Roger and Don. This was at a time when the "sporty type" drivers were not respected or even accepted at Indy. Suddenly the door swung open and in walked Al Unser. Everyone was shocked, we could hardly breath, Al didn't look left or right but straight at Mark. Al walked up, stuck out his hand and said, as I remember it, "Mark, anyone that can handle a car and take it around here like you is OK with me!" He then turned around and walked back out, not looking at anything! Pretty classy! After that Mark was really accepted by everyone there. Pauls Email- Paul@UnfairAdvantageRacing.com