DAVID DONOHUE
David Donohue has firmly established himself as a champion racing driver with an impressive resume that includes time spent in Touring Cars, Prototypes, NASCAR Stock Car and Craftsman Truck Series. He was an integral part of the Brumos Racing family, driving a Brumos Racing Daytona Prototype in every Rolex Sports Car series race from 2003 through 2010. In 2009 he co-drove to victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. David and co-driver Darren Law joined Action Express Racing in 2011, sharing three podium finishes and 3rd place finish in DP driver points. David returned to Action Express Racing in 2012 with an all-new Corvette Daytona Prototype finishing 4th in points. David was the 2013 Rolex-24 hour GX class winner in Napleton Racing’s Porsche Cayman.
Donohue began racing in selected races in 1992, with his first full season being 1994 when he won the Bridgestone Supercar Championship in a BMW M5. Donohue continued his association with BMW in 1995 and 1996 and is credited with the first-ever podium finish for BMW of North America’s M3 GT racing effort.
In 1996 Donohue joined Chrysler’s fledgling Super-Touring program where he won the first ever Super Touring car race in North America in a Dodge Stratus and went on to capture the CART Super Touring Driver’s Championship in 1997.
Joining Daimler Chrysler’s Dodge Viper program for the next three years, Donohue co-drove a Dodge Viper GTS-R to a 1998 GT-2 class victory in his very first drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took six GTS class victories in the American Le Mans Series in 1999 and 2000.
2001 saw Donohue on ovals as he drove three races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and twelve Busch Grand National Series before returning to road racing in 2002 as a long-distance specialist for Panoz Motorsports in the ALMS’s LMP 900 class.
In 2003 Donohue joined Brumos Racing in their Porsche-powered, Daytona Prototype in the Grand Am’s new top class. In 2005 Porsche enlisted Donohue to drive their Carrera GT road car to a closed course lap record speed of over 196 mph and a closed course flying mile record speed of over 198 mph. In addition to his racing duties in 2006, Donohue was also an IROC test driver for the season.
Since 2017, Donohue has raced up America’s Mountain seven times in the Time Attack 1 and Open divisions of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He has set the Time Attack 1 division record twice in the past seven years, most recently setting a new record of Fastest Porsche Up The Mountain in 2023 with a 9:18.053 finish.
Today, Donohue serves as a Driver Advisor in race control at various IMSA events as well as coaches privately.
-
2024 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Time Attack 1 Division Winner
2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Time Attack 1 Division Winner (Division & Porsche Record)
2022 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Time Attack 1 Division Winner
2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Time Attack 1 Division Winner (Division Record)
2014 Porsche 918 Client Relationship Manager
2013 Rolex-24 hour GX class winner
2009 Rolex-24 hour overall winner
2005 Set production car speed record
2003 Grand-Am Rolex Series runner up
1998 24-Hours of Le Mans GT-2 Champion
1994 IMSA Bridgestone Supercar Champion
1991 EMRA GT Champion & Rookie of the Year
1988 PCA most improved driver award
-
2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Time Attack 1 Division Record
2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Time Attack 1 Division Record
2014 Porsche 918 Spyder Client Relationship Manager
2013 Rolex-24 hour GX class winner in Napleton Racing’s Porsche Cayman
2011-2012 Driver #5 Daytona Prototype in Grand-Am Rolex Series for Action Express Racing, finishing third in the championship 2011, and fourth in 2012.
2009-Rolex-24 hour overall winner with Brumos Racing by a margin of .016 seconds
2006 International Race of Champions (IROC) test driver.
2005 Driver Porsche Carrera GT for Porsche Cars North America to set closed course production car speed records with Jay Leno (198.97 average MPH for flying mile, 196.3 average MPH for flying lap)
2003-2010 Driver #58 & #59 Daytona Prototype in the Grand-Am Rolex Series for Brumos Racing. 2nd in championship in 2003, 4th in 2008. Rolex-24 Champion in 2009 in the closest finishing 24-Hour to date.
2002 Guest driver for Porsche Supercup at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
2002 Driver American Le Mans series for Panoz in LMP-900 class at Sebring, Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans
2001 Driver in 12 NASCAR Busch Grand National and 3 NASCAR Craftsman Truck races for Team Renzi
1998-2000 Daimler/Chrysler factory driver in Chrysler/Dodge Viper GTS-R in the FIA International GT Championship and American Le Mans Series with multiple wins and Manufacturer’s Championships
1998 24-Hours of Le Mans Champion in Chrysler Viper GTS-R in GT-2 class
1998 Dodge factory test driver for their NACSAR Craftsman Truck program
1996-1997 Daimler/Chrysler factory driver in Dodge Stratus for the CART North American Super Touring Championship. 1997 Driver and Manufacturer’s Champion with 10 poles and five wins.
1995-1996 BMW North American IMSA GT driver in BMW M3GT
1994 IMSA Bridgestone Supercar Championship Driver and Manufacturer’s Champion
1993-1994 Driver IMSA Bridgestone Supercar Championship in a private BMW M5
1993 Driver in selected races in IMSA’s Firestone Firehawk Series for ICY Racing’s factory Saturn program
1992-1993 Driver in selected races NASCAR Busch Grand National Competition
1991 GT Champion & Rookie of the year in Eastern Motor Racing Association in a Porsche 944 Turbo Cup
1990-1991 Shop Manager, Don Galbraith Motoring, independent German automotive specialist.
1988 Porsche Club of America's most improved driver award
-
Product Expert (2013–present): Produce and lead a technical presentation for McLaren Automotive for targeting invited media, current, and potential customers as well as engage these participants in high performance driving exercises.
Journalist (2013-2014): Wrote driving experience and impression articles on new Porsche models for Excellence magazine (GT3, 911 Turbo and 918)
Driver/Racing Coach (2006-present): Interact with aspiring drivers to improve their driving techniques as well as their data acquisition use and media interaction.
Track layout and facility consultant (1998–present): Consulted on track and facility layout for ISC’s Kansas Speedway, Liberty Bell Motorsports Park, Infineon Raceway Sears Point, and New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Media and Public Relations Product Expert (1995–present): Introduce and demonstrate new products with Porsche Cars North America’s Media Relations department.
Public Speaker (1993–present): Featured speaker for multiple Porsche Club of America, BMW Club of America, Sports Car Club of America and various local group functions and meetings.
Driving Instructor (2003–2009): Driving instructor for the Porsche Driving Experience at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham Alabama.
Publishing (1998–2000): Coordinated and edited the republishing of Mark Donohue’s autobiography, “The Unfair Advantage” with Bentley Publishers.
Product Spokesman (1994–1998): performed for sales training and product evaluation videos for Bridgestone/Firestone, Michelin and BF Goodrich tire companies.
Training (1992–1996): Conducted product and driver training for Saturn Corporation’s Sales, Service and Marketing employees at their Spring Hill, TN Plant.
