Mark Donohue – Other | The “forgotten” drivers of F1

1971 Labor Day. Photo Paul Castagnoli

1973

1973 -Donohue would attempt the record in a Porsche 917/30, the car he took to victory in six out of eight races in the 1973 Can-Am season. The 917/30 was a heavily modified open-top version of the 917 that gave Porsche its first Le Mans win, sporting a 5.4-liter twin-turbo flat-12 and riding on a longer wheelbase. Porsche says the car made 1100 hp in race trim, but on the dyno, the engine was apparently good for 1500. It weighed around 1800 pounds. The 917/30 was so fast, it was effectively banned from Can-Am after 1973. For the Talladega run, the 917/30 was fit with two intercoolers, and made around 1230 hp according to Porsche. After one run, Donohue came straight into the pits rather than take a cool-down lap. As a result, the back of the car caught fire. It wasn’t damaged and he pressed on, eventually running a lap at 221.16 mph. On the straights, he was reaching over 240 mph. Foyt was characteristically defiant when asked about Donohue’s new record, promising he’d soon go for 230 mph. He eventually took the record for fastest speed on a closed course in 1987, lapping a Texas test track at 257.123 mph in an Oldsmobile Aerotech. Sadly, Donohue was killed the week after the Talladega run, when he crashed due to a tire failure during his qualifying run before the Austrian Grand Prix. Amazingly, his Talladega is still a record for the Alabama track. The fastest NASCAR lap was a 212.809-mph qualifying run by Bill Elliot in 1987. After that race, NASCAR started running with restrictor plates at the track, effectively sealing Donohue’s record in place. Photo Michael Reid – info via https://www.roadandtrack.com/

1973 Watkins Glen. Photo John Singer