Forgive me if ive missed it but searches gave no results... this is the 52nd Anniversary of the founder of McLarens passing?
Posted 02 June 2022 - 17:30
Forgive me if ive missed it but searches gave no results... this is the 52nd Anniversary of the founder of McLarens passing?
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Posted 02 June 2022 - 17:40
Indeed - June 2, 1970 - what a very, very sad day that was.
Today - happily - has been much, much better...
DCN
Posted 02 June 2022 - 17:58
I remember the day well, but forgot is was 52 years ago. Just about 2 weeks before the opening Can-Am at Mosport.
When Dan Gurney came around on his first lap in Bruce's car there was a huge lump in everyone's throat. Bruce was hugely popular locally, as he was wherever he traveled.
Edited by D28, 02 June 2022 - 17:58.
Posted 02 June 2022 - 18:08
I remember leaving the office via the back entrance in Maiden's Lane and walked down the allyway towards the Strand, opposite the exit of the cut-through I saw a poster on the evening newspaper stand "Bruce McLaren Dead." It hit me like a punch in the solar plexus, I didn't expect to see that on a weekday afternoon.
Posted 03 June 2022 - 02:39
I remember leaving the office via the back entrance in Maiden's Lane and walked down the allyway towards the Strand, opposite the exit of the cut-through I saw a poster on the evening newspaper stand "Bruce McLaren Dead." It hit me like a punch in the solar plexus, I didn't expect to see that on a weekday afternoon.
Yet really testing is often more dangerous than racing. Trying different things, untested parts breaking,
And ofcourse few if any safety crews at the track.
And this is just from things that have happened to me. And people I know.
With Bruce,, surprisingly for a bloke of his stature in the sport he has never had a thread on here'
Edited by Lee Nicolle, 03 June 2022 - 03:39.
Posted 03 June 2022 - 05:15
There are 26 TNF threads with ‘Bruce McLaren’ in their title. Several are tribute threads, others cover various specific aspects of his life and career. Here’s the longest-running tribute thread, started in 2004:With Bruce,, surprisingly for a bloke of his stature in the sport he has never had a thread on here'
Posted 03 June 2022 - 06:22
There is a thread in the archives titled 'Charmers'...
From memory, Bruce was the first person mentioned in that. You should read it.
Posted 03 June 2022 - 09:41
I remember leaving the office via the back entrance in Maiden's Lane and walked down the allyway towards the Strand, opposite the exit of the cut-through I saw a poster on the evening newspaper stand "Bruce McLaren Dead." It hit me like a punch in the solar plexus, I didn't expect to see that on a weekday afternoon.
My experience was exactly the same, and I had a similar reaction. I was on the top deck of a 73 bus travelling to Kings Cross when I saw an Evening Standard placard, I boarded my train in a daze. The only other motor racing related event that's had such an effect was Stirling's crash at Goodwood in 1962. That graphic photo on the front page of a newspaper showing him being extricated from his wrecked car shocked me to the core, so much that mum kept me off school for a few days, I think she even took me to see our Doctor. He wasn't very sympathetic, told Mum I'd be over the shock in a day or two, but that photo is still in my memory just as clearly today, the St John nurse holding poor Stirling's hand...
Posted 03 June 2022 - 10:40
Re the Moss pic, this is covered in the excellent The Day I Died by Mark Kahn. It's over 20 years since I read it, so this may be wrong, but I recall that nurse was named and said she was just 19, that kinda stuck with me.
Back on topic, nice to see McLaren remembering.
https://www.mclaren....-cars-made-him/
Posted 03 June 2022 - 12:52
Re the Moss pic, this is covered in the excellent The Day I Died by Mark Kahn. It's over 20 years since I read it, so this may be wrong, but I recall that nurse was named and said she was just 19, that kinda stuck with me.
Young Annie Strudwick, she & Stirling stayed in regular touch until his death.
https://www.sussexex...-legend-2537281
Edited by kayemod, 03 June 2022 - 13:49.
Posted 03 June 2022 - 13:14
Re the Moss pic, this is covered in the excellent The Day I Died by Mark Kahn. It's over 20 years since I read it, so this may be wrong, but I recall that nurse was named and said she was just 19, that kinda stuck with me.
Back on topic, nice to see McLaren remembering.
They do much to honour Bruce to be fair, the website has loads of historic content, there is a statue of him alongside his cars on the boulevard in the MTC and they have a 'minute of noise' when they fire up the M8C, the biggest tribute IMO and thanks to Zak for driving this is the return to Papaya, like Wiliams with the dark blue, a Mclaren without a title sponsor has to be orange!
Posted 07 June 2022 - 03:51
I remember watching an interview with Jack Brabham later in his life (don't ask me which one I can't remember), but a couple of things really stood out to me from this.Yet really testing is often more dangerous than racing. Trying different things, untested parts breaking,
And ofcourse few if any safety crews at the track.
And this is just from things that have happened to me. And people I know.
Posted 07 June 2022 - 04:55
That is spot on. Jack had known Bruce since he was barely 17 and regarded him a) as a fine young man - b) as his protege - c) as a highly-rated, talented, reliable and loyal team-mate - c) as a developing very good, practical engineer - and d) as a worthy (and trusted) on-track rival. He also knew the family very well and felt a distinct degree of responsibility towards them in looking after their son and brother up here in the northern hemisphere. That was an almost paternal sense he never lost, and in conversation he would say that was the hardest part of all to deal with upon Bruce's death. He recalled what he had told him about testing, and one could always see the pain in that memory.
But what great times these two great men had shared...
DCN
Posted 07 June 2022 - 17:12