The Unfair Advantage - Special Edition Hardcover [Hardcover]

Mark Donohue (Author), Paul Van Valkenburgh (Author)

Book Description

Series: Driving | Publication Date: September 2000

In 1974 Mark Donohue took a year off from driving at the height of his racing career and wrote a candid and revealing book about his journey through the world of auto racing - from amateur races in his own '57 Corvette to winning the Indy 500 in Roger Penske's McLaren M16.

Now, 25 years after it's original publication, The Donohue sons and Bentley Publishers have re-released a new edition of The Unfair Advantage. The new edition contains all of the original text. Expanded content includes photographs and separately appended material that fills out the Donohue story in words and pictures and provides historical context.

The Unfair Advantage captures a uniquely American blend of intellect and scrappiness. A graduate in engineering from Brown University, Donohue integrated creativity, openness to new ideas, humor, and his persistent will to win into every part of his approach to racing.

When Donohue puts that formula into words in The Unfair Advantage the result is as much an attitude and perspective as anything else. As such, it has had wide reaching and particularly personal impact for almost 30 years in the world of motorsport participants and enthusiasts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...Donohue's book is a must-read. -- LA Car, December 2000

...a gripping history of sports cars and road racing. -- Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2000

...must-read titles. -- AutoWeek, November 20-26, 2000

...the return of The Unfair Advantage means everything good -- Excellence, April 2001

Bentley Publishing brings back a book to introduce a singular American motorsports hero to a new generation of racing fans. -- Roundel, February 2001

Donohue tells . . . the story of how racing became a science as well as a sport. -- Automobile, February 2001

Donohue's storytelling evokes a time when modestly funded (and talented) guys made good. -- Sports Car Market, November 2000

Highly recommended. -- 911 & Porsche World, December 2000

Several car books have been released recently, and one that really caught our eye is The Unfair Advantage... -- Grassroots Motorsports, December 2000

The 25th anniversary edition of The Unfair Advantage brings back the long-sought-after title and adds more than 100 new photos -- Hot Rod, January 2001

About the Author

Mark Donohue gained fame in the '60s and '70s as a maverick breed of auto racer who used scientific and engineering skill to win his races. From winning amateur races in his college days as a mechanical engineering student at Brown to taking the checkered flag at the 1972 Indianapolis 500, Mark Donohue strove to understand the dynamics behind high performance, and then perfected his skill in extracting it.He also was a winning co-driver of the 24-hour sports car enduro at Daytona, and he set a world's speed record at Talladega.

Of course, racing has been called "the cruel sport;" Mark suffered many losses and disappointments too, both public and private. His life ended tragically at the age of 38 after a 1975 Formula One accident in Austria. But his legacy remains timeless. In fact, every successful driver today owes a debt of knowledge to Mark Donohue's pioneering work in applying science to speed.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: Bentley Publishers; 1 edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0837600731
• ISBN-13: 978-0837600734
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No auto library is complete without The Unfair Advantage, December 30, 2000

By 

Dom Miliano (Denville, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Unfair Advantage (Paperback)

I remember being in college in the '70's and seeing ads in Road & Track for this book. It sold back then for about $12.00 (first editions, no less!) Unfortunately, a full tank of gas in those days was $2.75 and a bag of White Castle hamburgers was less than $2.00, so the book was out of reach. And then it went out of print, became a classic and got further out of reach. About 8 years ago, I found a copy in our local library and finally got a chance to read it - which I did in one sitting. It was like having Mark Donahue sitting next to you spinning some yarns, telling tall tales and explaining "what it's like out there." I met Mark's son, David, a few years after that at a Porsche club meeting and asked if he had a copy of the book to sell! He told me he didn't even have one for himself. He did say that there was talk of doing a reprint and lucky for us, it has happened. If you want to relive one of the most exciting periods in racing (with remarkable insights into the growth of the Roger Penske juggernaught), by all means get yourself a copy of this book. I just received the soft cover version and it's a keeper. Another wonderful racing book is Sterling Moss's - "All But My Life."

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great insight into the complexity of motor racing, January 6, 2002

By 

Allan (Fredensborg, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Unfair Advantage (Hardcover)

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, dissapointment, 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 allmost all on-road racecar types of the era, including Nascar, Canam, Transam, LeMans, Formula 1, IROC, Formula A - unlike most other drivers, he was 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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST for a racer or race fan!, October 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unfair Advantage (Hardcover)

Mark Donohue was the thinking mans racer. He not only knew how to make a "plain Jane" into a race car but he knew WHY his steps worked. He had no need to worry about racing being a "black art"...He was an engineer who applied his knowledge to his racing projects and had fun while he was doing it. His book could be used for a "basic training" manual for a "racer-in-training". His untimely death "short-chainged" the racing world. If we were still graced with his presence, he would SHURELY have changed (for the better) the landscape of racing as we find it today. He is sorely missed but at least his memory and his book can teach us a few things about this "black art".