Bruce remained a world-class driver but more and more his maturity allowed him to be comfortable that others were quicker and that his future lay in design, building and development. McLaren Formula 1 cars were then produced and Bruce won Spa in 1968 in his own McLaren-Ford and later that year his team driver, Denny Hulme, won the Italian and Canadian GPs in McLaren-Fords.
During all this time, the planning was going on inside the heads of Bruce and Teddy Mayer which was to lead to the pinnacle of his overall career-the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series for Group 7 sports cars. McLaren Racing Ltd. won support effort from Chevrolet, Goodyear, Reynolds and Gulf and produced the McLaren car that won five of six races in the 1967 series, four of six in 1968 and all 11 in 1969. This superb domination of the series had many rewards and just before Bruce's death, the Royal Automobile Club was ready to announce its presentation of the Seagrave Trophy to him for these outstanding performances.
But now Bruce McLaren has stopped. Suddenly and awfully, we shall all stop seeing the most famous and attractive grin in all of motor racing; waiting for the hesitation while he carefully thought something out before replying calmly, quietly and firmly. And waiting too for the chance of an accompanying funny remark which would in its turn produce a deep booming laugh which rippled up his whole small body into the laughing eyes. Can there have been in the history of the sport a more universally loved figure? Did anyone ever hear so often a man who, listening to a conversation in which some unpleasant individual was having his character assassinated, find some redeeming feature and defend him?
He would say that he had had a marvelous life; that he hoped we wouldn't forget him and that we would always talk about him and of the myriad of exciting and happy times. We won't ever forget and we will do as he would want. All his many friends are thinking of his wife and his daughter and extend their deep sympathy to them and to his parents.
