One of F1’s biggest names celebrates a notable milestone today (2 September) asMcLaren reaches the ripe old age of 50.
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Limited was formally incorporated on 2 September 1963, when the 26-year old New Zealander mustered together a small crew of committed individuals to design, build and race cars bearing his own name, operating from a small, cramped workshop in New Malden, Surrey.
From that tiny base, the team migrated through various premises in Colnbrook and Woking, before settling upon its current site at the McLaren Technology Centre, home to all of the team’s businesses, and workplace to more than 2000 people.
For any organisation, that’s quite an incredible transformation. Yet the company’s sporting successes have equally blossomed beyond measure since those early days.
Bruce McLaren took his team into F1 at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix – and, since that day, no team in F1 has scored more victories than McLaren’s 182. Elsewhere, the team dominated the iconic North American Can-Am sports car series, taking 43 wins between 1967 and 1972, won the Indy 500 three times between ’72 and ’76, and took the Le Mans 24 Hours on its first attempt, in 1995.
The team’s great champions – Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton – are all household names and legends of motorsport, while McLaren’s long-lasting relationships with some of the world best-known brands have also set new standards in the world of commercial and sporting partnerships.
A lengthy list of blue-riband partners includes the race team’s current title partner, Vodafone, global brands such as ExxonMobil, Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline, Santander, SAP and the Hilton Group, and world-class consumer brands such as TAG Heuer and Hugo Boss, both of whom have partnered McLaren for more than half its existence – a phenomenal achievement.
The organisation’s current scope is particularly broad, having grown from a humble racing outfit to encompassMcLaren Electronic Systems, which supplies technologies to every team in F1, NASCAR and Indycar, andMcLaren Applied Technologies, which applies expertise to a wide range of industries from elite sport and healthcare to energy and product design.
In 1993, the road car division, McLaren Automotive, launched arguably the purest and most focused supercar in history, the F1, perfectly honouring Bruce’s legacy. Even 20 years on, it is still regarded by many as the greatest supercar of all time. More recently, it has successfully launched both the ground-breaking 12C and 12C Spider high-performance sports cars and the superlative McLaren P1TM – Woking’s newest and most exciting supercar.
However, the 50th anniversary is merely the starting-point for even more ambitious growth, as the company increasingly establishes itself as one of the world’s most dynamic high-technology companies.
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Simon Pagenaud wins another crazy race at Baltimore
Simon Pagenaud has collected his second career win in a very eventful Baltimore Grand Prix presented by SRT.
“The car was fantastic, as you can see on the first stint,†said Pagenaud. “I struggled there for a bit, but we picked up in the middle section there. We got very lucky on the restarts; we didn’t get collected. I pushed hard on the last restart against Marco (Andretti) and TK (Tony Kanaan). Awesome job for the HP team. They’ve been awesome this weekend and I guess it’s good for the championship.â€
Up until lap 48, the race was very clean with Will Power and Scott Dixon leading a majority of the laps. Bourdais assumed the lead on lap 33, as he was off sequence from Dixon and Power and held the lead until lap 40 when he made his pit stop. The yellow flew a lap later for Justin Wilson’s contact with the barrier in turn 7. The leaders (Tristan Vautier, Sebastian Saavedra and Helio Castroneves) all pitted under the yellow, with Castroneves hitting one of his crew members during his stop which he was penalized for. Bourdais cycled back into the lead, and the yellow was extended a few laps longer for Ryan Hunter-Reay stalling on the course.
When the race restarted on lap 48, Graham Rahal made contact with Scott Dixon, spinning him out and collecting Castroneves, Newgarden and James Hinchcliffe. On the restart on lap 53, Dixon made a move on the inside of Power and Power dove to the inside to pass Bourdais and sent Dixon into the wall, ending his day and causing huge championship implications.
“The No. 15 (Graham Rahal) should have received a penalty (for spinning us) and the No. 4 (Oriol Servia) car passed us on a yellow,†said an upset Dixon. “So that restart near the end was a complete botch. On the restart I had an overtake advantage on (Will) Power, it must have been in fourth-gear, so they can’t complain about wheel spin. Then I got beside him and he ran me straight into the wall. Then, they wouldn’t bring the car back.â€
Power was just as shocked as Dixon was. “I thought I had a really good run on Bourdais and I was going to the inside to get around him and I thought I hit a bump or just lost it on cold tires,†he said. “I really had no idea that (Scott) Dixon was there. I actually didn’t even know until I got back to the pits and they told me. I feel terrible for him and his team. All I can do is tell them how sorry I am and move on to Houston.â€
They weren’t done wrecking however. On lap 57, Bourdais was spun by Oriol Servia in turn 1, involving Vautier, Saavedra, E.J. Viso and Simona de Silvestro to some degree or another and blocking the track. The race restarted on lap 62 and only lasted one lap before the next yellow flow for another multi car calamity in turn 3 which involved Wilson, Hinchcliffe, Servia, Ed Carpenter, Rahal and Bourdais.
Marco Andretti, with front wing damage, led the field to the final restart on lap 67. The wing damage at first did not seem to affect Andretti, but on lap 69 Pagenaud made his move going into turn 1 and completed the pass. Pagenaud was not out of the woods, as he drove wide in turn 7 and Sebastien Bourdais made a bold move for the lead. The two barely touched, but Bourdais couldn’t stay in front and was passed by Pagenaud, Andretti and Josef Newgarden. From there Pagenaud extended his lead despite front wing damage and crossed the finish line 4.1592 seconds in front of Josef Newgarden. Continue reading Simon Pagenaud wins another crazy race at Baltimore
Audi take Brazil in 6-hours
Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer drove the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro to victory in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the fourth round of 2013 World Endurance Championship. They led the No.2 Audi with Rebellion Racing’s Lola Toyota LMP1 driven by Prost-Heidfeld-Beche.
The LMP2 class was won by the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan with John Martin, Mike Conway and Roman Rusinov driving.
In LMGTE Pro, the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella pipped the Aston Martin Vantage of Turner-Mücke.
Thanks Formula1blog