40 years ago, 2nd June 1970 - Bruce McLaren
Discussion
Goodwood, Can-Am testing 40 years ago.
Some nice pics & video in memory
http://mclaren.com/home
And a minutes silence followed by a minutes noise at McLaren today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZHMjdzw0w0
Some nice pics & video in memory
http://mclaren.com/home
And a minutes silence followed by a minutes noise at McLaren today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZHMjdzw0w0
Edited by Total loss on Wednesday 2nd June 22:45
Total loss said:
And a minutes silence followed by a minutes noise at McLaren today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZHMjdzw0w0
Great gesture to the man.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZHMjdzw0w0
Legend.
Porsche: "Ve hav ze 917 und ze flat 12. Vot do you hav? We vill be victorious!"
Bruce: "Er, me n Denny?"
Porsche: "Ahh buggerschweinhund! But ze 917 wiv und ze flat 12 are ze best sportcar in ze vorld und ve are Porsche! You are Kiwi cowboys! Add ze tvin turbos!"
Bruce: Nope, still here!"
Porsche: "Add the Donnahue!"
Bruce: "Ah nuts, now the b
ds have done it. Denny?!"
Denny: "Yep?"
Bruce: "How we gonna beat Fritz?"
Denny: "Stick a fkin bigger engine in it, a big wing and we punt it round Goodwood and see how fast it goes."
Bruce: "Sounds like a plan."
The Bruce and Denny show.
Porsche: "Ve hav ze 917 und ze flat 12. Vot do you hav? We vill be victorious!"
Bruce: "Er, me n Denny?"
Porsche: "Ahh buggerschweinhund! But ze 917 wiv und ze flat 12 are ze best sportcar in ze vorld und ve are Porsche! You are Kiwi cowboys! Add ze tvin turbos!"
Bruce: Nope, still here!"
Porsche: "Add the Donnahue!"
Bruce: "Ah nuts, now the b
ds have done it. Denny?!"Denny: "Yep?"
Bruce: "How we gonna beat Fritz?"
Denny: "Stick a f
kin bigger engine in it, a big wing and we punt it round Goodwood and see how fast it goes."Bruce: "Sounds like a plan."
The Bruce and Denny show.
Are you guys familiar with the Bruce McLaren Trust?
http://www.bruce-mclaren.com/bruce-mclaren-trust.h...
It's run by Bruce's sister, Jan McLaren Storr, and other supporters.
2006 was the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team, and also the 40th anniversary of the start of Can-Am.
In recognition of the occasion, about a dozen members of the Trust, which is located in NZ, came to the northern hemisphere, first to Goodwood for the FoS, and thence to the States for a Can-Am thing.
I met up with them at Goodwood. They had arranged with the Goodwood people to allow me to take Jan and Cary Taylor, one of Bruce's mechanics, around the circuit in a McLaren. We stopped at the place where Bruce was killed.
Cary had been at Goodwood that awful day. He said that Bruce had been delayed that morning in getting to Goodwood from the factory, so he, Cary, had driven the warm-up, fettling laps to ready the car for his arrival.
He said that, on the fatal lap, from the pits the crew heard the crash and immediately knew that it could be bad.
After leaving the circuit that day, Cary had never returned until we were there in 2006.
With them on the trip was Greeta Hulme, Denny's widow, to whom I also gave a ride. She is a totally straightforward, down-to-earth nice person. You could not have guessed that her husband had been the World Champion.
Totally classy people, all of them.
Check out the Trust.
http://www.bruce-mclaren.com/bruce-mclaren-trust.h...
It's run by Bruce's sister, Jan McLaren Storr, and other supporters.
2006 was the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team, and also the 40th anniversary of the start of Can-Am.
In recognition of the occasion, about a dozen members of the Trust, which is located in NZ, came to the northern hemisphere, first to Goodwood for the FoS, and thence to the States for a Can-Am thing.
I met up with them at Goodwood. They had arranged with the Goodwood people to allow me to take Jan and Cary Taylor, one of Bruce's mechanics, around the circuit in a McLaren. We stopped at the place where Bruce was killed.
Cary had been at Goodwood that awful day. He said that Bruce had been delayed that morning in getting to Goodwood from the factory, so he, Cary, had driven the warm-up, fettling laps to ready the car for his arrival.
He said that, on the fatal lap, from the pits the crew heard the crash and immediately knew that it could be bad.
After leaving the circuit that day, Cary had never returned until we were there in 2006.
With them on the trip was Greeta Hulme, Denny's widow, to whom I also gave a ride. She is a totally straightforward, down-to-earth nice person. You could not have guessed that her husband had been the World Champion.
Totally classy people, all of them.
Check out the Trust.
DJC said:
Legend.
Porsche: "Ve hav ze 917 und ze flat 12. Vot do you hav? We vill be victorious!"
Bruce: "Er, me n Denny?"
Porsche: "Ahh buggerschweinhund! But ze 917 wiv und ze flat 12 are ze best sportcar in ze vorld und ve are Porsche! You are Kiwi cowboys! Add ze tvin turbos!"
Bruce: Nope, still here!"
Porsche: "Add the Donnahue!"
Bruce: "Ah nuts, now the bds have done it. Denny?!"
Denny: "Yep?"
Bruce: "How we gonna beat Fritz?"
Denny: "Stick a fkin bigger engine in it, a big wing and we punt it round Goodwood and see how fast it goes."
Bruce: "Sounds like a plan."
The Bruce and Denny show.
I hate the facts to get in the way of a good story, but I didn't think Porsche/Penske/Donohue had a concerted effort at the Can-Am until 1972. There were 917s here and there until that time (the 917Ks entered the Watkins Glen races in 1970/71 when the World Championship of Makes shared the billing with the Can-Am for example and the spyder version which Jo Siffert campaigned), but the turbocharged "Panzers" weren't running in 1970, were they? I'll have to consult the Pete Lyons bible when I get home to confirm. Porsche: "Ve hav ze 917 und ze flat 12. Vot do you hav? We vill be victorious!"
Bruce: "Er, me n Denny?"
Porsche: "Ahh buggerschweinhund! But ze 917 wiv und ze flat 12 are ze best sportcar in ze vorld und ve are Porsche! You are Kiwi cowboys! Add ze tvin turbos!"
Bruce: Nope, still here!"
Porsche: "Add the Donnahue!"
Bruce: "Ah nuts, now the b
ds have done it. Denny?!"Denny: "Yep?"
Bruce: "How we gonna beat Fritz?"
Denny: "Stick a f
kin bigger engine in it, a big wing and we punt it round Goodwood and see how fast it goes."Bruce: "Sounds like a plan."
The Bruce and Denny show.
Less pedantically, thank you for bring the anniversary of BM's death to one's attention. Apparently that rare man in motor racing - one who received universal respect and admiration from his peers.
DJC said:
Ahh, I deliberately left a timeline out there Chev 
It was an in the spirit of kinda thing. To my rose tinted mind, its more in keeping with Bruce and Dennys humour
Haha well I hate to be that tIt was an in the spirit of kinda thing. To my rose tinted mind, its more in keeping with Bruce and Dennys humour
t, but I just can't help myself! Also, did you see about John Grant's horrific accident at Brands Hatch last weekend? The reports claim it's an M8C but looks to be from the M8D/E/F family to me. Awful thing to see within a couple of days of the anniversary of BM's death in a similar car. Deeply, uncomfortably bad. http://www.rexfeatures.com/set/1188828 This is less than a year after the BRM P154 endured a similar fate at Brands. So glad I wasn't there - heart-breaking but at least John Grant appears to be on the mend.
I took this photo of a Lola T160 at Donington last year - the chassis is probably fairly similar to the McLaren. Not hard to see how they might buckle like that...
I took this photo of a Lola T160 at Donington last year - the chassis is probably fairly similar to the McLaren. Not hard to see how they might buckle like that...
chevronb37 said:
Deeply, uncomfortably bad. http://www.rexfeatures.com/set/1188828
'Kin hell
That reminds me of the pictures on the Dave Purley thread. Jesus. I hope the driver gets better soon.
Mazda Baiter said:
chevronb37 said:
Deeply, uncomfortably bad. http://www.rexfeatures.com/set/1188828
'Kin hell
That reminds me of the pictures on the Dave Purley thread. Jesus. I hope the driver gets better soon.
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff