The story of Mark Donohue

Total 911 examines the glittering career of Mark Donohue and his influence over Porsche’s decorated racing history

Never a big name in Europe, at home Mark Donohue was celebrated as a true American hero. He won amateur and professional championships, took the Transam cup twice, won the Daytona 24 hours and the Indianapolis 500. But he was also instrumental in winning the Canam championship for Porsche, and for honing the competition 911 and firing its meteoric top-class career…

Amechanical engineering graduate of Brown, an east coast Ivy League university, Donohue celebrated his success by purchasing a brand-new Corvette, which awakened an interest in motor racing. However, he quickly realised that he could hardly race the Corvette competitively when he barely had enough money to run it on the road. He met a certain Roger Penske, already a seasoned club racer, who pointed out that motor racing was expensive and the only way to do it properly was to go “first class”. Donohue followed this advice, abandoning half-measures such as racing on remoulded tyres. His effort would be “first class” and this characteristic would define his competition career.

He began with two British sports cars: an Elva Courier, followed by a more powerful but evilhandling Daimler SP250, learning to repair glass fibre and modify suspensions; in rebuilding the Daimler’s crankshaft he acquired basic machining skills and his practical understanding grew. Experience racing a Cooper in 1963 taught him the significance of castor angles and suspension geometry, and racing a borrowed Shelby Cobra made him see the importance of preparation and teamwork. Subsequent seasons saw him picked to share veteran Walt Hansgen’s Ferrari 275 LM, a Lotus Formula Junior and finally a Mustang which he turned into a serious racer. He also discovered harsh commercial realities, falling out with his sponsors and losing the race team he had built up. But in 1966 he was selected as part of Ford’s assault on Le Mans and marked the beginning of his career as a professional driver for Roger Penske.

Penske had stopped racing in 1965 to concentrate on business, part of which included fielding a race team in the potentially lucrative environment of US motorsport. He invited Donohue to join him