FORMULA: Family ties: Donahue ready to fulfill dream of driving at Indy

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 28, 2001

INDIANAPOLIS - Two years ago, the realization hit David Donohue with swift certainty.

He was turning test laps in an Indy Racing League car owned by Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway. When he finished, someone asked him if he wanted to race in the Indianapolis 500. Right then he knew it: He had to race at Indianapolis.

"It's been a goal of mine for a long time," Donohue said. "I didn't realize how important it was to me until a couple of years ago when I did a partial test in Panther's (Racing) IRL car at Texas. Ever since then, it's meant so much more to me to go to Indy."

There's no doubt that while he turned laps in the Panther car at Texas Donohue began to feel a special connection to his late father, 1972 Indianapolis 500 winner and American racing legend Mark Donohue. Now David Donohue is fulfilling that dream and following in his father's footsteps by racing at Indianapolis, but in a different type of car than his father. David Donohue will drive in the Porsche Pirelli Supercup races Sept. 29-30 during the SAP United States Grand Prix. Donohue will drive the No. 2 Porsche AG 911 GT3 Cup car as a teammate to newly crowned Indy Racing Northern Light Series champion Sam Hornish Jr.

"OK, it's not the Indy 500, but it's the mystique of the facility," Donohue said. "It's such an icon of motorsport, hallowed ground, to go there in anything. It means a whole lot. It was a big, bright star in my father's career."

Like his father, David Donohue is a diversified driver with experience in many different kinds of racing since his professional career started in 1994. He has competed in sports cars, touring cars, the NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series and Indy Lights.

Donohue, from Malvern, Pa., has enjoyed the most success in his career in sports cars. He drove for the GT-2 class-winning team in a Dodge Viper GTS-R factory car in the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours. He also earned five victories in the American Le Mans Series and posted podium finishes in the FIA GT Championship in 1999 in the Viper.

In fact, he received the invitation from Porsche to drive one of its guest cars in the Supercup race at Indianapolis while racing a sports car, competing in an American Le Mans Series race in August at Mosport Park at Canada.

"My father drove for Porsche, and I've always been friendly with the Porsche people," Donohue said. "I consider it a huge honor. It's a wonderful opportunity to drive a Porsche factory car."

Despite his winning experience in sports cars, Donohue quickly accepted an invitation from Porsche to test a 911 GT3 car identical to those used in the Porsche Pirelli Supercup series last week at the company's testing facility near Stuttgart, Germany. He tested Sept. 19 and became comfortable with the 370-horsepower, 2,500-pound, rear-wheel drive car quickly.

"It wasn't completely alien," Donohue said. "It was different, but the car gives really good feedback. I always describe a car I don't like as haunted. This car is really friendly and forgiving.

"From a driver's standpoint, seat-of-the-pants standpoint, you get good feedback. There's nothing surprising about it. The impressive thing for me is that even when you're sliding it, you still have a good amount of grip. You can really slide it around and dirt-track it without it getting snappy."

But Donohue knows that there's a big difference between a test session and a race, especially a race filled with drivers who compete full-time in the Supercup series and have much more experience. The two Supercup rounds at Indy are the season-ending races for the series, and Donohue wants to find a balance between being competitive and not interfering with drivers racing for a championship.

"I really just want to have fun," Donohue said. "That's what they want me and Sam (Hornish) to do. It comes down to a points chase for those in the regular series. So it's a very important race for the regular competitors.

"I'm not fooling myself that I can go in there and show everyone how to do it. For me, I just want to have some fun and do a good job for them. I'm going to try hard. The goal is to keep the thing clean."

And to fulfill a desire to race at Indy.

Text provided by Paul Kelly

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