McLaren's fatal crash
On 2 June 1970, at Goodwood, McLaren was conducting routine testing in Hulme's intended race car when a tail securing pin went missing. Wind pressure ripped away the rear bodywork and wing and, devoid of its downforce, the M8D slid broadside into a marshal's post at well over 100 mph (161 kph). Bruce McLaren, just short of his 33rd birthday, was killed.
As a man he had always had the respect of his fellows and race enthusiasts the world over; as a combination of driver and brilliant engineer/designer he had no equal. Understandably the team took his death very badly, but somehow it kept going, its plight made no better by the severe burns Hulme's hand had sustained when his ride for the Indianapolis 500 caught fire.
'The Bear' was teamed with Dan Gurney when the shattered Colnbrook equipe faced the starter at the first 1970 Can-Am race at Mosport 14 June. Dan took pole but both M8D drivers got a fright from Oliver in the Autocoast; a controversial incident between Oliver and privateer Lothar Motschenbacher in the lapped M8A-based M8B let Gurney get clear to win, but the Ti22 was quick enough to stay ahead of the injured Hulme. Gurney won again at St Jovite while Denny took his turn at the next three venues. By Elkhart Lake in August Gurney had been obliged to quit because of contractual clashes but F5000/F1 McLaren pilot Peter Gethin was drafted into his place and won. At Road Atlanta it finally seemed that McLaren had met some worthy opposition when Vic Elford made his debut in the innovative Jim Hall Chaparral 2J which Jackie Stewart had driven earlier at Watkins Glen. 'Quick Vic' took pole position in the boxy white device which used a small auxiliary engine to suck the air from beneath its skirted chassis to produce ground effect and phenomenal adhesion, much to McLaren's consternation. In the event the 2J broke and both M8Ds crashed, victory falling to Tony Dean's outclassed private Porsche 908.
Thereafter the series was dominated by Hulme, but the paralysing speed of the Chaparral continued to turn cold the marrow of the Colnbrook team's bones. At the Riverside finale it was on pole by two whole seconds, (most runners would have given their eye teeth to pip a McLaren to pole by two tenths) and the protests began to fly. Eventually, to Hall's disgust, the 2J was outlawed. But if that produced a huge sigh of relief at McLaren the future was only partly rosy. After a backflip at St Jovite, Oliver proved an M8D baiter in the Ti22, while Peter Revson had proved quick, especially at Donnybrooke where he ran Hulme close from pole position, in the Lola T220. At least one potential enemy was converted to ally status when Revson was signed to partner Hulme for 1971, but the downside was that Stewart would replace him at Lola, where an all-new bullet-nosed T260 was taking shape.
