Bruce Mclaren

NO ONE MAN'S contribution to motor racing during the 1960 - 1970's was greater or more important than Bruce McLarens'. He left New Zealand in 1958 on his country's "Driver to Europe" plan. His first race overseas was at Aintree and his first major success was at the difficult Nurburgring track in Germany in which he won the Formula Two class and took fifth overall. Only four established Formula 1 aces finished ahead of him.

At the end of The following year he won his first Grand Prix at Sebring in the United States, the youngest driver ever to have won a world championship Formula 1 Grand Prix event. His record still stands. In 1960 Bruce finished a close second in the World Championship behind his team leader Jack Brabham. Within three more years he was building his own racing cars and providing Ford with immeasurably in its vast Ford GT40 program. Ultimately Ford was successful, Bruce winning the 1966 Le Mans 24 hour race and in 1967, the Sebring 12 hour event.

In 1967 Bruce with his McLaren Can-Am Team became Can-Am champion, the first of five consecutive years the McLaren Team would win the championship. So completely did Bruce and his countryman Denny Hulme dominate the series, it became known as - "The Bruce and Denny Show". Opponents often felt like they were racing only for third place.

But at the same time, Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd was a force in single seat racing. The team won three championship Formula One events in 1968 and one in 1969. In 1970, the team entered USAC racing with its new Indianapolis car, the M15. Only one other team had ever been active in all three spheres of racing at once.
In June 1970 Bruce McLaren died in a testing accident at the Goodwood circuit in England. At first the loss was unfathomable, but the legacy he left - thoroughness, clear thinking and hard work - carried the team to yet another year of Can-Am domination. The new cars that McLaren Racing built for the 1971 season showed that Bruce's aim for high levels of enthusiasm was carried on.
Reprinted - Courtesy of Eoin Young McLaren! The Man, the Cars and the Team