Mark Donohue lost his life and Vittorio Brambilla crashed after winning the race.
The 1975 Austrian Grand Prix saw a popular winner but also the loss of a true great. During the morning warm-up session his Penske entered March suffered a tyre failure at the fast Hella Licht corner. The resulting accident caused the death of a marshal as Donohue’s car plunged off the track, into catch fencing and an advertisement hoarding. Donohue appeared to have survived the crash without major injury but passed away two days later from a brain haemorrhage.
The race was run in treacherously wet conditions, with Vittorio Brambilla taking pole. The colourful Italian, known affectionately as ‘The Monza Gorilla’, went on to take the only win of his Formula 1 career in the rain-shortened race. Celebrating with both hands out of the cockpit as he crossed the line he then promptly crashed into the pit wall. James Hunt was second for Hesketh and Tom Pryce third in his Shadow.
A year after the loss of Donohue, Penske had a happier time at the Osterreichring in 1976, with Ulsterman John Watson taking the first win of his Formula 1 career, and Penske’s only Grand Prix win. Behind him came Jacques Laffite and Gunnar Nilsson. Hunt started from pole and set fastest lap but was only fourth at the finish.
Another team scored their only win at the circuit in 1977. Alan Jones took victory for Shadow, followed by Niki Lauda’s Ferrari and Hans Stuck’s Brabham. In 1978 Ronnie Peterson used the Lotus 79’s ground-effects to take pole, fastest lap and victory. Patrick Depailler drove a storming race from 14th on the grid to finish second. Gilles Villeneuve was also impressive, going from 11th to third and appearing on a Formula 1 podium for the first time.
Rene Arnoux began a sequence of three consecutive pole positions at the Osterreichring in 1979. The Frenchman also set the fastest lap in the race but victory went of the way of Jones and Williams. Villeneuve had made a scintillating getaway from fifth on the grid to lead the first three laps. He eventually finished second, ahead of Laffite’s Ligier.
It was Arnoux’s Renault team-mate, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, who won the race in 1980. Trailing him home were the Williams duo of Jones and Carlos Reutemann. Arnoux again set the fastest lap of the race. In 1981 Arnoux finally made it to the podium in Austria, albeit in second place. Laffite won for Ligier with Nelson Piquet third for Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team.
