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 enlarge | Authors: Mark Donohue, Paul Van Valkenburgh
Publisher: Bentley Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.00
You Save: $10.95 (44%)
New (18) from $14.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 63864
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 325
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0837600693
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.72092
EAN: 9780837600697
ASIN: 0837600693
Publication Date: September 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews:
Changes your life September 23, 2004
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Donohue's apparent candidness and ability to give about the right amount of technical detail without getting boring weaves you through a history of this period of racing when a few guys could do all the race prep. They lived a hard life on the road. Donohue divorced. A rare look from an engineer driver's point of view and the sometimes austere and lonely life of racing. Roger Penske was his team owner and is commented on from Donohue's point of view. Somehow this book changes you as a person as you seem to experience Donohue's racing life though an un-glossed writing style. This style is part of the secret of the books greatness. Though it was likely edited by someone it was NOT "normalized" to be a standard bland coffee table book. Instead it remains in character to the situations and people involved. A rare look into someone else's professional life. Highly recommended.
The Unfair Advantage of Intelligence January 21, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a book I waited to be reprinted for a long time. Mark's honesty about his weaknesses and fears is a sign of his strength and desire to be the best. I admired him for his accomplishments and even more for his drive after reading this book. He helped make Roger Penske the racing legend he is. Will we ever see a man like Mark again? I doubt it!
The Unfair Advantage December 6, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
It has been 30 years since Mark Donohue won the Indianapolis 500 (1972). My, how time flies! Mark was the at the peak of his career when his life was snuffed out in a race car crash. Mark Donohue and Roger Penske completely revitalized autoracing and changed everybody's thinking about how to run a successful auto racing team. Mark and Roger took auto racing to new levels of professionalism. Gone were the days of t-shirts and oily blue jeans, replaced by clean uniforms. Gone were the days of hamburgers and french fries, replaced with healthy food for the crew. Gone were the days of towing of the race car on an open trailer pulled by a rusty old pickup truck, replaced by semi-trailer trucks. His book "The Unfair Advantage" should be manditory reading for any race car driver or business professional. If you expect to get a head in the game of life, you should read this book.
Read it , its great. October 11, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A book of this size usually takes me 1-3 days to read. This one took 2 weeks and I hated having to put it down. Its the story of a man whose only ambition was to be the best in his chosen profession. The book is full of interesting stories about the development of his race cars and driving techniques. A must read for anyone who enjoys motorsport.
 Great insight into the complexity of motor racing January 6, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Being thirtysomething and more familiar with European than American motor racing (for inexplicable reasons there seem to be a great divide there, as also Mark Donohue alludes to) this was not first on my list of must-read's. However, unable to escape continued references in Autoweek and picking up interest in technique and technical aspects through own amateur formula racing I decided to buy this book in November - with no regret.Donohue, while refraining from sidetracking into his personal life, nonetheless comes across as a whole human being, complete with anxiety, jealousy, hopes, fears, enthusiasm, disappointment, pride and competitive spirit. I would have liked to work with this man who was a gifted driver and a great pioneer in motorsports. His achievements were many and hereof his innumerous victories and role in building the Penske empire merely a part of the story. Donohue developed the "American", a.k.a. modern driving technique of braking, turning and accelerating in one smooth integrated action. He made strides in understanding aerodynamics, suspension geometry, "bumpsteer", tyre applications and basically all other aspects of driving and setting up a race car. He drove almost all on-road racecar types of the era, including Nascar, Canam, Transam, LeMans, Formula 1, IROC, Formula A - unlike most other drivers, he were involved in several completely different race programs in the same season; a tremendous effort. Reading this book will give you an appreciation of the complexity of setting up and keeping a race car competitive. It will not teach you how to do it but you may just have the interest to find out once you have been smitten by Donohue's indomitable thirst for knowing what makes a car do what under which circumstances and what you in turn can do to get the most out of it.
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