The death of Mark Donohue and the fall of Penske Racing in Formula 1

August 17, 1975. In warm-up for the Austrian Grand Prix, American icon Mark Donohue loses control of his March 751 after a tire fails. He careens through a metal Armco barrier and trackside signage and is knocked briefly unconscious in the wreckage. Against all odds, Donohue seems fine and heads back to the garage — where he begins to complain of a worsening headache. He's rushed to a local hospital, doctors urgent to operate on what has been diagnosed as a brain hemorrhage. 

It's not enough. Two days later, on August 19, Mark Donohue dies from injuries he sustained driving a Formula 1 car run by his longtime friend and racing team partner Roger Penske.

For many motorsport fans here in the United States. Penske Racing's foray into Formula 1 remains one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ of all time, for so many reasons. What if Mark Donohue hadn't come out of retirement to race and develop the F1 car? What if Donohue had won Penske's first race? What if John Watson had been able to win more, to entice more sponsors, to give the team a reason to continue? What would Formula 1 look like today with a stronger American presence back in the late 1970s?

We won't ever know. But this week on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're going to dig into what we do know about Penske Racing in Formula 1, Mark Donohue's death, and John Watson's triumph — which remains the most recent Grand Prix win by an American team.

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Episode Bibliography: 

The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue

Interview with John Watson

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/04/09/Settlement-reached-in-Donohue-case/7324513406800/

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1998/73/professional/

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1975/35/austrian-grand-prix-16/

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a61VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J-ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6311%2C5102237

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/20/archives/donohue-38-dead-of-racing-injuries-mark-donohue-is-dead-of-racing.html

https://www.historicracing.com/driverDetail.cfm?driverID=2759

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-2005/16/nigel-roebucks-legends-7/ 

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-2021/51/roger-penske-the-motor-sport-interview/

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1974/42/canadian-grand-prix-13/

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1975/26/the-formula-one-situation/ 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/398676916/?match=1&terms=%22eden%20donohue%22 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/115605105/?match=1&terms=eden%20donohue%2C%20goodyear&_gl=1%2abwy9fu%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.newspapers.com/image/622389810/?match=1&terms=%22eden%20donohue%22%2C%20goodyear&_gl=1%2a2uh6x%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.newspapers.com/image/437277431/?match=1&terms=%22eden%20donohue%22%2C%20goodyear&_gl=1%2a2uh6x%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds