On the afternoon of 15 August, 1976, John Watson took the checkered flag at the Osterreichring to snag his very first Formula 1 victory during the Austrian Grand Prix.

A normally momentous occasion for any driver, Watson has admitted that there was “a sense of irony” in taking victory for Penske Racing, whose driver Mark Donohue had been killed at that very track the year prior.

John Watson recalls an ironic first F1 win

The atmosphere of the Penske Racing garage at the Osterreichring on the morning of 15 August, 1976 must have been a heavy one. Race day for the Austrian Grand Prix had arrived with an emotional heft not uncommon in Formula 1, but its expectation wouldn’t make things any easier.

It was to be a strange event. Just two weeks before, Austrian driver Niki Lauda had suffered major burns in a wreck at the Nurburgring, and Ferrari abstained from making the trek to Austria in protest of James Hunt’s victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. The fate of the race itself had been up in the air, and fewer fans than expected had turned up, in part due to the violent thunderstorms that had wracked the Styrian region in the build-up to the race.

But for Penske Racing, it meant something more.

In the mid-1970s, American business magnate Roger Penske had managed to succeed in nearly every motorsport discipline he entered. He’d taken wins at the Indianapolis 500. He’d taken Trans Am and Can-Am championships. The one major hurdle left to climb? Formula 1.

In late 1974, Penske phoned his long-time right-hand man Mark Donohue with a proposition. Yes, Donohue had only just retired from racing, instead taking over the running of Penske’s various racing operations. But Roger was looking to go full-time in Formula 1, and there was but one driver he wanted behind the wheel of the car that would be called the PC1.

Donohue contested the final two grands prix of 1974, then dedicated himself to spending the off-season transforming the PC1 into a formidable machine. Yet for all of his hard work, the F1 season began with a series of miseries, and Penske had instead purchased a March 751 chassis to round out the year.

But during Sunday’s warm-up session ahead of the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue crashed. One of his Goodyear tyres had failed, sending him rocketing off the full-speed Voest-Hugel turn and through several layers of catch fencing and promotional billboards.

Though he’d been briefly knocked unconscious at the scene, Donohue was able to speak to his rescuers at the scene. After a brief examination in the medical centre, he returned to the Penske garage for a full debrief.

Then, Donohue began to complain of a worsening headache.

He was helicoptered to a hospital in Graz, where he underwent surgery for a brain hemorrhage. He never regained consciousness; two days later, Donohue died.

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To call Donohue’s death a tragedy would have been an egregious understatement. One of America’s finest racing and engineering talents was gone, killed from injuries sustained at the wheel of a car fielded by his closest friend.

After abstaining from the Italian Grand Prix in 1975, Penske Racing was back for the close of the season with Northern Ireland’s John Watson behind the wheel. And it was Watson who signed on for a full season of competition with Penske in 1976.

“In those days, the paddock was a more open, friendly place than it is today,” Watson said in an interview with the Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys podcast, set to be released on August 19.

“You’d walk around and you’d talk to other teams and competitors and form friendships. And one of those was with Penske’s team.”

Watson was close to team manager Heinz Hofer, and it was Hofer who extended the offer of a ride.

“I was delighted to be able to accept,” Watson explained, “because I felt that was a step forward.

“I think that by reputation, what Roger was doing in motor racing was always considered to be first class. The team, the quality of the people, the whole Penske operation — as it is today — was run at an extremely high level, a very big level.

“For me, it was an opportunity which I felt there’s no way I can turn down.”

At the time, Watson was only in his third year of Formula 1, having bounced between smaller outfits for select races during those seasons. What Penske was offering was one thing that would transform his career: A full-time ride.

The start of 1976, however, was a challenge. Penske’s new car, the PC3, was plagued with issues, forcing the team to engineer an upgrade — the PC4 — to debut midway through the year.

“End of ’75 into ’76, there was a regulation change, which I felt had a detrimental effect on the PC3,” Watson explained.

“So then Roger went to the team and to Geoff Ferris, who was the engineer designer, and said, Geoff, I want you to make me a new car, which became the Penske PC4.

“That car appeared in the middle of the season, and initially it wasn’t particularly competitive, but after a few little adjustments and changes, the car became a very good car.”

Almost instantly, the tides turned. Watson secured back-to-back podiums in the French and British Grands Prix. After a seventh place at the challenging Nurburgring, he had qualified second on the grid for the start of the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.

Asked about what made the car so great, Watson replied, “I think the car was just ultimately a better car in every sense.

“In terms of the car, the level of grip, the level of balance of the car, drivability, consistency — all the things that you need in a race car to start being more competitive and ultimately to start winning races.”

Then, Watson begins to describe the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

“It was a funny day…” he began, trailing off as memories swept in.

“First of all, we were quite competitive in qualifying,” he said. “I think we’re on the front row of the grid, if I remember.

“And the day started, it had rained and the track was part wet, part dry. So very difficult conditions. There were about four or five cars in a leading group of cars., and the lead was swapping and changing all the way through.

“But finally, maybe after 15 or so laps, the race settled down into a pattern, and with me leading the race.

“From that point forward, I was able to control my pace. I was sufficiently fast to remain ahead of the competition, and the car was a perfect car throughout that race.

“It did all that I would want a car to do. The car was competitive, it was consistent, and I was able to drive it in a way, which I like to drive a car.

“And you wonder, why do you win races? Actually, winning a race is in some respects, the easiest part of being a racing driver. But it’s getting to the level of being able to win a race.

“It’s finding that level rather than just simply winning it.

“And it’s the evolution of the car. It was a combination on that day of the car, tires — believe it or not, tires even in those days played a part — engineering in the car, I did a very good job.

“Remember, there were no pit stops, nothing of that nature in Formula 1 at that time, so once the race began, the control of the race was very much more in the hands of the driver than it is today.

“You’d simply, you’d start the race, you would have a full tank of fuel, one set of tires, and you had to then sort of modulate your driving to ensure that you didn’t overwork the tires. In other words, maybe push too hard too quickly. It was a different style of racing, a different sort of philosophy as a racing driver, how do you get the best out of your car and maintain a level of performance from the start all the way through until the finish?”

“And what did that win mean to you?” Watson was asked.

“It meant everything,” he said. “Everything.”

Continuing, he added, “On a personal level it was the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

“I come from Northern Ireland, which is a small part of United Kingdom, and I had a childhood dream. Coming from Northern Ireland, there wasn’t a huge legacy of professional Formula 1 racing drivers.

“I consider myself to be a pathfinder. And to actually fulfill that dream and stand on the podium as the winner of a Grand Prix with a garland around your neck…

“It was a surreal moment, and is one of the pivotal points of any racing driver’s life, the first time you win a race, win a Grand Prix.

“It’s a memory which is indelible. And whatever else you might achieve in your life, it remains indelible.”

Heading back to the team, though, presented a unique challenge.

“I think there was a sense of irony, almost,” Watson mused.

“Precisely one year ago, Roger and the Penske team had lost the driver who was synonymous with Roger’s racing. Over many, many years in IndyCar, in Can-Am, in Trans-Am, whatever, Roger and Mark were two people joined at the hip.

“Then all of a sudden that partnership is broken, as it was with Mark and Roger, in 1975. Then we come back to Austria.

“Okay. I was not a part of the team when that tragedy occurred. But I know that Roger and Heinz and team members must have had a sense of foreboding when they turned up in Austria.

“Because all of a sudden, while they might compartmentalize all their emotions — which is what you have to do, frankly — they are human beings after all. And maybe in moments of privacy or whatever they might have had reflection and thought about, a year ago, our driver died as a consequence of an accident. And while it wasn’t the fault of the team, it was an incident that occurred.

“And look, we’re only human. We’re only human.

“So I think that there’s a lot of reflection from the team, but as I have mentioned likewise and earlier, motorsport is a business. It’s not just about, ‘let’s go racing for fun at weekends.’ It’s hard-nosed, professional, this is the real deal. This is the real deal.

“I think that everybody performed at the highest professional level that would be expected of Roger’s team.

“And I say, ironically, we walked out of that race the winners of the Austrian Grand Prix.

“Honestly, even now, I think about it — it’s the irony.

“How did that happen? Why did it happen? Are there forces beyond what we understand or can communicate about or with?

“Why would we have left Austria in ’75 after such a terrible outcome, and then one year later walk out of Austria, the winners?

“How do you rationalize that?”

That day marked a turning point in Watson’s life. Though Penske Racing’s Formula 1 operation closed its doors at the end of the season, Watson had established himself as a driver capable of winning major events. He signed with Brabham for 1977, then moved to McLaren for 1979.

To this day, John Watson remains the last driver to win a grand prix for an American Formula 1 team.

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