The car that conquered the Indy 500
The Indianapolis 500 is billed as ‘the greatest spectacle in racing’. First held in 1911, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a modern day capacity of 400,000, making it the biggest single-day sporting event on earth.
Having triumphed at the Can-Am series, Bruce McLaren decided with characteristic optimism: “Let’s have a go.” After all, many of his Formula 1 contemporaries like Jack Brabham, Colin Chapman, Jim Clark and Graham Hill had tasted success at Indianapolis in the 1960s.
At first, disaster
We arrived for the 1970 event with the M15, effectively a single-seater version of the formidable 1968 Can-Am-dominating M8. Immediately competitive thanks to a range of technical innovations, catastrophe struck in a practice session, with a 180mph fuel fire that engulfed the driver, Denny Hulme.
Denny survived after jumping out at 70mph. We came home a disappointing 9th and 22nd, with only the prize for engineering innovation to show for our efforts. Much worse was to come just three days later. Bruce McLaren was killed testing the new M8B car at Goodwood, in England. Although he would never know how successful his McLaren team would later be at Indianapolis and elsewhere, everyone who has worked here since has been determined to carry out the great man’s ambitions.
Fulfilling the dream
Having learnt a huge amount from our growing Formula 1 success, especially from our aerodynamic innovations, our M16 would go down as one of the most successful cars in the history of the Indianapolis 500. Competing in 11 races, we took three victories, four second places and two thirds; an astonishing return for such a small team, but a fitting tribute to the ambitions of our founder.