Morning Qualifying – Happy Birthday, Mr. McLaren

Geschrieben von: Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr. am 30.08.11 » Partner- und Mitglieder-Blogs - hooniverse.com

morning qualifying happy birthday mr mclaren

Bruce McLaren in his "office" at the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours. Photo by Dave Friedman Today would have been Bruce Leslie McLaren’s 74th birthday. Many of you are already aware of his considerable motor sport accomplishments during his brief lifetime:

Bruce McLaren in his "office" at the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours. Photo by Dave Friedman

Today would have been Bruce Leslie McLaren’s 74^th birthday. Many of you are already aware of his considerable motor sport accomplishments during his brief lifetime:

Winner of the 1^st United States Grand Prix at Sebring in 1959 at the age of 22 years 104 days old, making him the youngest driver to win a Formula One race up to that time.
Two-time Can-Am champion in 1967 and 1969.
1964 Tasman Gold Star Series champion
Winner of the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans with Chris Amon
Winner of the 1967 Sebring 12 Hours with Mario Andretti

However, all you need to know about Bruce McLaren, the man, can be summed up by this story from his boyhood. At age 9, after suffering a fall, Bruce was diagnosed with Legg-Perthes disease which caused his hip joints to be malformed. The only available treatment at the time was continuous, in-patient, traction treatments at an orthopedic hospital, the Wilson Home in Takapuna. Falling in with a like-minded group of kids, Bruce organized secret night time wheel chair races down the winding, smooth downhill paths on the hospital grounds. The steering and handling of these chairs were less than ideal, and there were multiple shunts into the nearby flower beds. Thanks to Bruce’s leadership and the efforts of his comrades, no one got hurt and everyone made it back to their respective beds without being discovered.

Bruce McLaren in his Cooper T45 at the 1958 German Grand Prix. ©The Cahier Archive.

With the support of his father, Les, Bruce earned his competition license at age 16 and quickly distinguished himself on local circuits. In short order, Bruce earned the New Zealand International Grand Prix Association’s “Driver to Europe” scholarship. While the award paid Bruce’s way to Europe, it left him completely on his own upon arrival. So Bruce, with friend and mechanic Colin Beanland, set foot in England in 1958 without knowing a single soul. Jack Brabham and John and Charles Cooper took the pair under their wing and let them stay at the Cooper works while they learned their craft. McLaren and Beanland built their own Cooper F2 car while in residence at Cooper and quickly demonstrated that their capabilities were up to snuff. At the 1958 German Grand Prix, which featured F1 and F2 cars on the grid, Bruce finished 5^th overall and 1^st among the F2 entries in his Cooper T45. Among the F2 driver s bested by the Kiwi newcomer were Jack Brabham, Edgar Barth, Phil Hill and Graham Hill. Clearly, the big time wasn’t too big for Bruce McLaren.

Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren on the front row of the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix; McLaren would go on to win the race, his 2nd Formula 1 victory.

The following year, Bruce joined Jack Brabham and Masten Gregory on Cooper F1 squad. It was here where Bruce’s training in engineering school and the practical knowledge he picked up as a boy in his father’s garage really paid off. Bruce and Jack’s efforts in testing, development and preparation contributed to Cooper and Brabham winning the F1 constructor and driver’s championships in 1959 and 1960. After Jack Brabham departed Cooper in 1962, McLaren became Cooper’s #1 driver. Over the next four F1 seasons, Bruce would distinguish himself as a consistent point scorer.

Meanwhile, Bruce wanted to have his own team. He invited Tim Mayer, a promising American driver racing on Ken Tyrell’s F3 team, to join him in contesting the 1964 Tasman Gold Star series in Australia. Driving two specially built, 2.5 liter Climax powered Coopers, McLaren and Mayer dominated the proceedings finishing first and forth respectively. Tragically, Tim Mayer died in an accident while practicing for the final race of the season. For Teddy Mayer, Tim’s brother and manager, and mechanic Tyler Alexander, this tragedy marked the start of their long association with Bruce that ultimately led to the formation of McLaren Racing Ltd. in 1966.

The Mk II Ford GT40 of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon on its way to victory at Le Mans, 1966. ©Schlegelmilch

It was also in this period that Bruce expanded his career into sports cars, where he soon fell in with the team developing the Ford GT40. Once again, Bruce’s skill as engineer and test driver paid big dividends for the Shelby/Ford effort. With the introduction of the GT40 MkII for the 1966 season, McLaren found himself paired with fellow Kiwi, Chris Amon. At Le Mans, they overcame a poor wet tire performance to win the closest race in Le Mans history. Bruce would deliver another successful performance for Ford at Sebring, guiding their new GT40 MK IV to victory with Mario Andretti.

Bruce had always enjoyed racing in the United States, racking up a string of successful USRRC performances in an Oldsmobile powered Elva chassis. With the advent of the FIA’s Group 7 rules in 1966, essentially a Formula Libre series for sports cars, and the creation of the highly lucrative Can-Am Challenge Cup, Bruce’s new racing team was ready for action. After a 3^rd place finish in the inaugural season, behind Mark Donohue and John Surtees, McLaren teamed with fellow countryman Denny Hulme and a brand new car of his own making, the McLaren-Chevrolet M6A, for the 1967 series. McLaren and Hulme won 5 out of 6 races with Bruce barely beating his team mate to win the driver’s championship. Between 1967 and 1969, Can-Am became “The Bruce and Denny Show” with their bright orange McLaren’s winning 20 out of 23 races in that period, with Bruce winning the Can-Am title a second time in 1969. At the same time, McLaren Racing was hard at work developing their own open wheeled chassis for Formula 1, Indianapolis and Formula 5000. The Ford DFV powered M7A got its first F1 victory, with Bruce at the wheel, at Spa in 1968; Denny Hulme would notch two more victories for McLaren that season at Monza and Mosport.

"The Bruce and Denny Show" at Laguna Seca, 1969.

With his efforts bearing fruit on all fronts, Bruce set his sights on dominating Cam-Am again in 1970 with the new M8D. While testing the new car at the Goodwood circuit, the rear body work came adrift on the Lavant Straight. The loss of down force caused the car to spin out and strike a trackside bunker used as a flag station. The impact killed Bruce instantly. He was just 32 years old. In his 1964 book, “From The Cockpit”, Bruce wrote the words that summed up his approach his life: “To do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one’s ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.”