Mark Donohue Talladega Speed Record - Porsche 917-30
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- Опубликовано: 8 авг 2018
- On August 9, 1975, Mark Donohue set the closed course speed record at Talladega Superspeedway driving a Porsche 917-30. He averaged 221.160 mph around the circuit, reaching a top speed of 241 mph at the end of the straightaways. This record came only one week before Donohue was fatally injured in practice for the Austrian GP. The world record would stand for only four years but remains as the fastest lap around Talladega.
Clip taken from OldSchoolNascar's upload of the 1975 Talladega 500: • Video
221 mph with your feet sticking out ahead of the front wheels is brave! But 92 mph in the tractor/trailer is pretty damn impressive too!
92, get it right.
221.160 MPH
The bull haulers do 125 on the montana flats with 625hp cats.
Bill Elliot went over 218 mph in a "stock" car before restrictor plates. Cars were becoming airplanes at Talladega.
Bill Elliott 212.809 ( 1987 )
Incorrect. Know your facts before posting.
The late ‘80s NASCAR stockers were really streamliners, Elliot’s Thunderbird was shaped for speed.
@@hpolpolsixe3670 Tbf, look at the roadgoing T-bird of the time. The Thunderbird Turbo Coupe was pretty damn close to the stock cars in shape. They were both streamliners because, as is often the case with humans, things got competitive.
The roadgoing T-Bird Turbo Coupe had a drag coefficient of 0.35 or so. I shit you not, that's better than a Bugatti Veyron. Ending those aero wars has to be NASCAR's single biggest mistake.
Pretty much when every racing series figured out how to use aerodynamics, all bets were off until they had to change the rules lol.
F1 was even using ground effects in the late 70s / early 80s until the FIA banned it for being too dangerous (in other words, Ferrari lobbied to the FIA and complained about it like they always do when they can’t keep up).
Porsche 917/30 Can-Am a.k.a. the Turbo Panzer. Such a beautiful car.
CanAm cars should be brought back. Donohue was fearless, RIP.
He was the best in Can AM cars, with great driving skills.
His book was awesome too!; lots of insights. Highly recommended!
@@johnstuckaiii
Donohue wrote a book?! Holy crap, I will have to find it. When did he have time to write a book? He was a busy guy right up until his passing. Young guy really. In circumspect besides his I hope Roger writes one.
upside downdog The Unfair Advantage. It has been published again in the last decade or so.
And yeah I agree he was always very busy as heck it seemed.
I'd love to hear what you think about it.
And yeah I've thought for years that Penske should write a book especially about those times.
The closest thing to a modern Can-Am car is the 919 Evo (watch the on-board video for the Nordschleif record lap. It's insane.) I doubt they'd have an actual series for cars like these again though because of modern safety standards.
Donohue's death was a great loss for motorsport. I thought Penske wouldn't get over it. When I see the record of this team, heading with the "Captain", until now: respect.
Mark Donohue was a class act and saw him many times in the Can-Am cars at Laguna Seca.
And 10 days later, Donohue was gone forever.
1975?
Is this thing reliable. A irmoto won't work on a tire that needs patched .
I'm glad I stayed to the end or I would have missed the semi!
Me too! I'm a driver and it was a hot seeing that rig on the banking.
Hmmm I may have to take my baby out there
80 mph with a set of doubles and a short wheelbase single screw tractor will get your attention.
Semi's are good. Full boners are better.
Spoiler alert
Dont forget the Party goin' "Down" in back !!
I was there that weekend
I was supposed to drive in the IMSA Camel GT race. But it got rained out. On most tracks, we raced in the rain, but wouldn't have been safe on that high banking.
BTW, I remember Mark very well. I considered him a friend. Still miss him.
Sorry you missed the race. It might have rained, I don't remember, but WE DID race. Top ten: Stuck (BMW), followed by Gregg(RSR) , Haywood (RSR), Holbert (RSR), Carter (Camaro), Dyer (RSR), Posey (BMW), O'Steen (RSR), Kemp (RSR) and Felton (Camaro)
@@Cmoredebris you mean someone LIED on the internet?
@@jsnyder253 Those darn witnesses always spoil it.
Rain never stopped our IMSA races, although fog did red flag a Daytona 24hr.
georgedyer Your blue and yellow Porsche RSRs were my favorite...great looking cars, and i always pulled for you. Congratulations on all of it and 1977 Sebring win
@@davenorman6717 Those 1974 RSRs were great race cars and we were fortunate to get one of the factory cars, in just our second year of racing. It took a couple of weeks and a few rolls of tape to figure out the livery for the Mexico Blue #30.
Fast forward 47 years and we're almost finished building a replica of the '77 Sebring RSR and will have some video soon.
There's something I sincerely love about how Donahue speaks. He sounds more like a shy scientist who just so happens to be trusted with that part of the experiment than most race drivers of the era.
Buddy Baker going 200 mph in a muscle car must have been a crazy ride
That cat only knew one way to drive that was lead foot it lol..
that was not a muscle car, it was a highly modified stock car.
It was an Audi, who cares...
To Hell with the Indy car and the modified Porsche, The Dodge Guys nailed it first.
Paul Mack actually it may have been easier to drive with the weight, horse power and the fact the track is not exactly smooth. the record car is light and squirrelly
Brilliant, I never knew their was footage of this and its a great memorial to Mark.
This footage is amazing! This is so cool! Thank you!
A little Darty….at 220 MPH...yeah that will get your attention. Great job by Mark.
Yeah...my 997 TT is a little darty at 190 mph and that is only for a brief straight speed run, I can't imagine doing it on a banked track.
@@stevefowler2112 lol
That shows how happy that beast is to take a corner and then proceed to demolish a straight. Only limiting factor? Fuel and tires. What a machine.
I now own a '18 GT2 RS...the Chief Engineer has said it is a 223 mph car but they weren't comfortable with the cup2 at that speed and didn't want to use specialty tires so it is electronically limited to 211 mph. I have had it at the terminal velocity a couple times, once on a deserted 4 land divided state road in rural central florida. Before it was recently repaved the GT2 would got "a litte darty" to the point my heart went into my throat as it squirmed a bit at about 207ish over some bumps...it was quite the ride, as I took up both lanes getting her straight again. Luckily there was no traffic.
@@stevefowler2112Good story! I live in Central Florida, what road was that?
WHAT AN AMAZING PERSON MARK WAS!!! Love and respect...
Sad he would be killed not long after this I think.
$175k car, worth $10m now
OH HELL YES! I'm glad I found this! I remember seeing it that weekend on tv.
I met Mr Donohue at the Greater New York Auto Show in 1970. He was a reserved sort of individual and delight to meet. He signed my brochure and chatted for a minute or two. Sad that he left us so early in his life.
In 2011, the racing school I had been with for five years pulled the plates in a NASCAR vehicle and I went 184 mph at Dega. Track administration had a fit and thankfully the racing school advised them that I was authorized to go at that speed. They took the heat; not me. I can really relate to Donahue's comment that you don't feel the car will be able to make the turns in one and two and three and four, but you just have to keep the throttle down and trust the tires will adhere to the track. The g's in the turns are unbelievable. They are so forceful that at the end of the ride, my underside of my right upper arm was totally bruised from the banging on the side of the seat. I could not comprehend going any faster like Foyt, Donahue and Elliott, the latter in a Cup car at those 200 plus speeds. Rusty Wallace took the plates off once and also went over 200 mph. Those cup cars with that speed are airplanes without wings.
you should listen to Dale Jr talk about his first time testing at Talledega... he had never driven anything other than late models at Myrtle Beach, dad tells him not to lift in the corner or he will blow the engine... he goes foot to the floor flat out from the time they dropped the car to the time he came back into the pits... he litterally thought he couldn't lift at all. lol
Rusty Wallace did WELL over 200 in those unrestricted test runs, at one point he was clocked around 240mph coming off the tri-oval.
What a great video celebrating a great accomplishment by one of the great drivers of all time.
The narrations was excellent.
The best car and driver of all time. What a loss to racing when Mark died.
Ironically, Penske & Donohue's ultimate dream actually killed him. F1. We watched him annihilate a strong CAN-AM field in Penske's Sunoco sponsored "Panzerwagen" at Riverside in 73. Damn thing was so quiet, you heard the tires hitting the ripple-strips as it approached.
@@bhaggen I'm no longer a penske fan but Both Mark and the 917 are both my GOAT car and driver. Sure there's been driver's that are possibly better then Mark but his driving AND engineering expertise made him virtually unstoppable. As for the 917...upgrade the brakes and the car could still be competitive even today.
Trance 9 Mark was both an amazing driver and as you said had great engineering expertise, very very few have ever had that
@@Sean-if7rp I didn't see anyone say it was.
@@trance9158 maybe upgrade a couple more things besides the brakes. Differential would probably be one
Great to see footage of this.
Bill Elliott set the fastest lap in NASCAR history, running 212.809 mph at Talladega Superspeedway on April 30, 1987. In a stock car! With a production American V8.
Mark Donohue was the nicest racer ever. Really like watching him in the Trans Am series.
Very cool footage!
Wow that’s such a neat video. Loved the vintage canam and Indy cars.
He would be dead 10 days later after a crash in Austria.
Bummer..🏁
Austrian Grand Prix
In a Trans Am Firebird hitting a bridge abutment on an American track.
@@jimrobcoyle what ?
fuck yeah thats whats up
Classic right channel audio with pops and a great video commentary. I miss the value our media once provided.
He was very successful in the Trans-Am series driving the AMC Javelin as well.
John Ray Enterprises still runs his trucks on the track. His shop is about a mile and a half from there. He has the Union 76 Ball observation tower that used to be in the turn 4 infield behind his home which is there as well.
In 1986 using my issued Decatur Radar I personally clocked Buddy Baker testing in a Oldsmobile Stock Car on the Back Straight at Talladega over 217!! Timing told us he was averaging over 200.
@@billybob042665 Awesome Bill from Dawsonville...those Ernie Elliot engines were unbeatable!!
@@billybob042665 I kinda prefer the term "restrictor plates" over "throttle body fuel injection"...it certainly rolls off the tongue a lot easier!
@tacbear - Yup, old Ernie had created the trump card for Ford in those soft alloy cylinder heads he crafted, which allowed a little higher compression ratio and thus, more power! American genius at work!
@@Loulovesspeed those were high swirl heads from a Texas company called Endyn, special super high compression pistons, cam, too, Larry Widmer also did the aerodynamic work on the body, theoldone.com
And just over 10 years later, in 1987, A.J. Foyt would once again set a world closed course record in the 1987 Oldsmobile Aerotech. A 4 cylinder, turbo charged monster, that was built by 2 different companies for the same purpose: to go over 267 miles per hour. And the records they set, have yet to be broken to this day.
@LRulesTheWorld - Yes, a great feat, but that wasn't done on Talladega's 2.6 mile track, it was done on a Texas track that was 7.7 miles. Would have been interesting if the 917-30 had run on that track! The Aerotech was 1,000 HP where the 917-30 was 1,100 HP at 19 psi of boost. For short periods, the driver could manually up the boost pressure to a staggering 32 psi which produced 1,580 HP. Would have been a different story then!
Done with a GM Quad 4 twin turbo.
@@Loulovesspeed Ifs & buts don't count.
@@wymple09 - You sound like an expert on the subject! Lol
Saw him race in the Trans Am series in Louden New Hampshire. A few years later my Dad and I met him at a car show in Boston. He stood and talked with my Dad and I for a half hour. He told us about how they were building this 917. Very friendly and unassuming. He had an engineering degree from Browns University, and really understood how to set up a car.
Very knowledgeable, then he was gone.
$175,000 , how times have changed😎
Peter Cavellini you are right. If I was making the kind of money that I am now in the 60's I would be a very wealthy guy.
That's 1.08 mil. In today's money
@@GrandTrunkWestern85 more
@@hondamanvtec2894 Probably a bit less, actually. Purchasing power of $175,000 in 1975 = $797,000 in 2017.
www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/relativevalue.php
I'd buy a 917 at that price :) In a heart beat.
Damn. They interviewed one of the Indy car guys a couple years ago. They talked about him "saving" his car from a crash, as it slid a little on one of the banks (wasn't at this track.....I think it was at Indy). His reply was that he didn't save anything. He said when you're going that fast and the car starts to slide, you're just in it for the ride. Crazy.
I have very very few typical 'sports heroes', but Mark Donahue and Mario Andretti are clearly at the top of the list. Donahue was originally born in the town (Summit NJ) just a few feet away from mine and is also buried there. I was very young when he'd passed so I'd obviously never got to meet him. But I am fortunate to have met Mario on quite a few occasions now as I am friendly with his grandson/Indycar driver Marco.
I do believe that Donahue likely would have gone on to be as well rounded/multi-faceted/accomplished (in some ways he was already there) of a driver as Mario ended up being. :-)
Whitehall Pa agrees with your post 💯. Andretti's have always been our local racers,along with Sage Karam from Nazareth as well. Donohue was one of the best, RIP to a master
Mario is a fake... AJ is the man...
Mark was just as talented a driver BUT also a Ivy League engineer who developed all those Penske cars...
Love that 1970s Racing Era... always was great.. always on the edge.
I remember Rusty Wallace taking a more modern stock car out on either Daytona or Talladega without a restrictor plate. Those cars are so aerodynamic and had about 900 hp that he was doing somewhere near or over 235 going into turns 1 and 3. I also remember him saying something like he couldn't run it to its theoretical limit because the car was getting buffeted around too much and wasn't very stable, and that it was too fast for anything resembling safe racing. Still, I wonder what an F1 car with proper gearing and its lowest downforce setting could do. I also wonder what a low downforce oval package on the current Indy Car would do. Might be almost as cool as Bobby Isaac taking that Charger Daytona out to Bonneville to set some records.
Gil de Ferran's closed course record at Fontana is here on RUclips to watch. Not F1 but Indycar...
Just think what Indy cars did this year at the 500.
229 avg with much less banking.
Awesome
You think it would start to mess with your vision at those speeds...talladega isn't exactly boulevard smooth as I've heard some drivers say.
@@topmech71 You have a point. I drove Daytona almost 15 years ago with Petty Driving Experence. At that point they would let us go about 150 and it was smooth. It was a few years before the 2010 repave. Going another 80 mph would make a big difference as to the vibrations and the ability to see clearly. Great observation, sir.
It was Talladega, at the end of a test of radio commumnication equipment. I remember Rusty saying that if they had the time and resources to do a proper set-up he thought they could do a lap at 250mph.
Awesome footage of a legendary driver and the legendary 917/30.
And how about the truck footage at the end! Pretty neat.
Captain Nice..... Mark was a class act! Its amazing how archaic Talladega was back then. Rickety bleachers, weeds and brush, barley a guard rail......wow. The track surface looked rough!
Larry Drozd Barley? I believe they use it to make beer.
@@jumpinjojo Oh well...sue me.
Larry Drozd You're welcome for the spelling correction.
@@jumpinjojo Worked at a sign company a while back.my boss painted 8 signs on the walls of a pool: No Life Gaurd on Duty. That was problem....this?................meh.
R.I.P. Mark. You were good. I can't imagine the g's going into 1 and 3. Gil Fearon (sp) I heard almost passed out in the corners with an Indy car in 2005.
I’ve driven that track with a few NASCAR vehicles and keeping your foot in it is the toughest job going in turn 1 and 3... the first time. Lol. Foot to the floor all the way, baby.
Didn’t hit 200 mph but 180 is still quick.
Bill Elliott's Ford Thunderbird at Talladega in 1987 hit an average speed of 212.809 miles per hour.
I'm just sayin'
You have to give the Eliott's credit. They were using a real 351 Cleveland production block and heads to produce the power necessary for setting the record. Today's Nascar engines have little if anything in common with modern production engines.
Was this before or after they forced Elliot to raise the roof line for the third time.
@@amc401nash6 actually they were using high swirl heads from Endyn, (with smaller ports and valves), special super high compression pistons and a specifically ground cam. Ernie Elliott lied through his teeth to keep this a secret. Look up archived articles from Hot Rod and Circle Track at theoldone.com or The Soft Head article, Larry Widmer is the genius behind Elliot's engine and aero work on that swoopy Thunderbird.
Thank you!
2:29 GORGEOUS car!
Mark was my guy, I will never not feel tears welling up, but I can't not watch, I'm glad my Mom was the one to break it to me, if I had seen it on the news I would have had a heart attack. I still like to go back and read "The Unfair Advantage" and imagine he lives
Years later, everybody was doing 200Mph until restrictor plates restricted enthusiasm.
All extraordinary men. All different personalities. Each to be admired.
92 😧😳🤯
Gotta love the 70s
to think this 917 can still destroy a current day NASCAR .... 917>all other race cars
@SJ - Absolutely - no question.
With a restrictor plate?
Easily
Pay close attention to the interview at the beginning with Donahue in the car, putting his helmet in. He genuinely meant it when he said "it HAS to be done."
You can't teach that. You either have "that" or you don't.
Boa noite !!!!
Absolutamente fantástico.
Muito obrigado pelo vídeo e parabéns pelo canal.....
Abraço do Brasil.....
12 years later AJ drove the experimental Oldmobile Aerotech to a closed course record of 257 mph at the 7.7 mile Fort Stockton test track. This stands as the closed course speed record. On a regular race track the record is 241 mph set by Gil De Ferran at the California Speedway in 2000. This was a qualifying run for a CART series race.
Test tracks don't count. If they would then the Mercedes C111-IV reaching 403,978km/h (251,019mph) on the Nardo ring in Italy counts too. That was on the 5th of May 1979. It was driven by Mercedes test driver Hans Liebold. The Mercedes was so slippery (drag-coefficient of only 0.191) it only needed 500hp to reach that speed on the test track.
The Aerotech arrived 8 years later (in other words you should have said *4 years* later Donahue's record was broken *not* 12 years later) and developed some 1000hp. Yes, twice the power of the 1979 Mercedes. It would appear is wasn't as aerodynamically slippery.
Nardo is a test track built in 1975. And quite a lot of endurance records have been set on that track. To my knowledge they still stand.
Never heard of Nardo? Well, shame on you.
@@paulallen8109 I have to admit I never heard of the Nardo ring and my interest is piqued. When Foyt/Aerotech team did the run in '87 they had to make 2 runs (Clockwise and Counter Clockwise) within 30 mins of each other for it to be recognized as an official time. I assume the Mercedes group (and other records you mention) did likewise? I need to do some research... thanks for the info!
@@paulallen8109 Nardo has fallen into disrepair and is too rough to attempt such high speeds now.
Earths astronaut.
There were some other recent articles, this wasn’t just the can-am car dusted off and repainted. Porsche and Penske had to do quite a few mods and the engine was only good for a couple of laps.
His son contributed by saying 'ᵥᵣₒₒoOoₒₒₒₘ' every time he drove by.
Mark was a great driver. Clearly
AJ Foyt is one of the greatest all around drivers ever. Total Badass!!!
Well this took an unexpected turn
That's really hauling ass. As for the big rig I'm gonna have to ask if I can see his log book 🙃🚨🚔👮
Wonder if the trailer is filled with Coors from Texarkana...?
10 days later and Mark died in Austria, he was one of the best
Gil de Ferran obliterated the record in 2000 with a run of 241.428 MPH at Fontana (California) in an open-wheel CART car. And Fontana is only 2 miles around, while Talladega is 2.66.
1975 vs 2000, tire technology, aerodynamics, power to weight ratio, engine/aero technology.... can't compare.
Memory serves me correctly the NASCAR record at Talladega was set by Bill Elliott in 1987 at 211 and a half or a little bit better than that. That's phenomenal for a NASCAR. That was the same year that he was over 2 laps behind can One race due to some problems in the pits. And he made up both laps under green flag conditions and still won the race.
Yeah. That race is on RUclips.
Couldn’t believe it when I heard like you.
Mark Donohugh was Great to be Sure, but John Greenwood’s Spirit of 76 ZL-1 Corvette hit 236mph at a Endurance race at Daytona.
That's awesome! But Porsche 917s topped 240mph on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. Without a turbocharger.
I was there that day. We were in turn 3 in the infield. What’s funny is the fact it was not that loud and didn’t look that fast.
The tractor trailer was a surprise. Everyone thought it was fall off the banking.
I saw him live race the 917 Riverside.
I was at Silverstone in 1975 and a friend offered to take my picture with Mark Donohue, and I told him, no, Mark will be around forever. ‘Let’s get some with the European drivers’.
Mark’s next race was in Austria . . .
Great day...
@@christianmotley262, what do you mean?
Legend.
RIP Donohue Had no idea what kind of driver he was until Ive watch this video, now I know.
oh boy my right ear is loving this
Ricky Rudd (correct me if I'm wrong) ran 228 around Daytona in a NASCAR Cup car with the speed-limiting restrictor plate taken out. Indycars and CART have also circulated at up to 241- 242 mph. The fastest ever around a track was A.J. Foyt round a five-mile tyre company test track in Texas in a special called an Oldsmobile Aerotech---270 if I recall rightly.
Correction: this was Rusty Wallace.
An Indy car could run around 'Dega at record speed without breaking a sweat, now.
Nah - Indy and F1 cars give away too much drag for downforce. At a banked track, you don't need it. I think Driver61 has a good discussion of it.
Mark Donohue always had The Unfair Advantage...gone way too soon.
Guess one can have an unfair advantage & bad luck?
A.J. Foyt did come back to Talladega in an Oldsmobile Aerocoupe in 1987 to break the Mark Donahue speed record.
Was at Talladega that day,there was a guy went in reverse around the track for a record also lol
Was Donohue fearless? I couldn't know but he certainly was serious about getting the job done
and coming out on top..
Rip one of the greatest
Does anyone remember Bill Elliot stock car record qualified at over 212? Lynn St James drove IMSA Ford testat 226mph(fastest ever time at that track)
It’s frustrating that no one does this stuff anymore…
Fearless and RIP in same sentence...
TELL Me, At 215- 221 mph, when does the stability/performance/safety factor set in?
About 160
I know the film is old but it sure does not sound like a 917 when it goes by.
That's because the can am cars were turbo charged.
Poor Audio quality
If you ever want to hear some real noise,check out the greatest Hillclimber ever,Georg Plasa BMW V 8 Judd powered
Rest in Peace Mr. Donahue
1966 NASCAR is still the most impressive to me, actual 60's stock cars modified doing 160+ at Daytona. They were even faster than the Indy cars for a time, and had the highest average speed for any circuit race up to that point while using actual stock cars that were modified, not specific ground up no holds barred race machines or speed trial machines.
He died 10 days later in austria because of an accident. Racing in that days really was dangerous-
Amazing speed for that period of time.
Amazing speed for any time. Don't discount those 1970's cars as dinosaurs, I'm quite sure a good number of them would blow away today's cars.
Very Cool!
But what is going on here with YT?
34 of the 54 comments on this video are from the past week, where the video has been up for months.
Some interesting suggestions from YT is showing up in my recommendations.
I've seen recent similar commentary on other much older posted videos.
Not really complaining, I like the mix of stuff I have not seen before.
At first I thought it was because I have taken to regularly to deleting my watch history...daily if I remember to.
Wanted to see if that would change up the recommendations algorithm.
But it appears to be 'wide spread'.
Just youtube testing out some algorihms on the masses.
One of the last social media sites/apps I use, allmost all getting out of control (Spotify randomly deleting stuff from my playlist and dont let me get started on the facebook face recognition training). We will one day live in a world where big companies will commit coups on goverments because their power will be limited by laws. You could allready argue if companies like amazon, google or facebook hold more power than a governing body. USA will be safe propably for a longer time, but I recommend Africa or remote Asia when this revolution starts.
(sorry this post got a little bit out of control :P (and sry for bad english))
Rolex 24 @ Daytona ?
Where's the mention of Charlie Glotzbach going this fast in a Daytona? I think he did well over 200mph in that Mopar.
Another fearless one...Chargin Chuck they called him.
a 1971 Porche 917 had the fastest average speed record at the 24 hours of Lemans and it stood for 30 years.....lots of things changed but the record stood
the track changed the most and that's the primary reason the record lasted as long as it did.
Mgn Totally different car.
thevmanvj
The car that you are referring to is the Porsche 917K… Blasting down Mulsanne straight at LeMans at 246 mph.
This is the 917/30… Different in many respects… The 917K had a slightly shorter wheelbase, and had an enclosed canopy. The 917/30 had an uncovered cockpit, a considerably longer wheelbase, and this monster was turbocharged. The 917K was a normally aspirated, fuel injected and air-cooled flat-12.
Afterthought: the circuit has been changed by leaps and bounds since 1971. Beginning in 1972, with the addition of the Porsche Curves, bypassing the dangerous S-curve at Maison Blanche (White House). This was followed over the years by realignment and re-profiling at the corners of Tetre Rouge, and Mulsanne Corner. In addition, the Mulsanne Straight has been broken into three pieces with the adding of 2 chicanes.... this was done in compliance with a mandate by the FIA.
One of racing nice guys gone far too early rest easy Mark
221 mph in the mid 1970s
Just how insane were people back then.
In 71 Derek Bell had a 917 up to 248 on the mulsanne. Flat out wide open 1 minute the 917 is such a special car. There's a video of him talking about it.
@@badgers1975 not only that but the fastest car at LeMans did 251mph on the Mulsanne straight for 24hrs by a Peugeot WMP88 in 1988.
I've got the 1:18 model of this car. The front and rear shells open up 😍
Being named Jay, A. J. Foyt was my favorite driver.
But during those years the 917 was my favorite car.
Whataya gonna do? I was a kid!
Awesome car and driver! Tim Richmond going 240mph in a taped up NASCAR Monte Carlo was very impressive as well. IIRC, that was his top speed though. Don't know if they timed an entire lap.
If you know anything about the Porsche 917 / 30 Mark Donohue is either very brave or very crazy!
Pinski racing? What planet is this from?
If you really have admiration for Mark, I encourage you to read "The Unfair Advantage" by Mark. He covers his entire career in racing, from beginner to F1. Unfortunately it kind of just ends.
Didn't rusty Wallace in a test run a 221 mph avg in 2005?
Were phony sound effects?
We still have that original Cam2 Bodywork and wheel covers.
Wow! There must be an interesting story in how you got them!
I always wondered what happened to Cam2 Oil...google to the rescue!
He was one fast race car driver.