Production Journal

Launch Day

At the A1GP in Taupo the world was finally told of the plan to bring the remarkable story of Bruce McLaren to the big screen. At 9:30am on Saturday morning producers Barrie M. Osborne and Michael Garlick appeared before the press with the support of many of the people who were part of Bruce’s story. These included Patty McLaren, Bruce and Patty’s daughter Amanda McLaren, Eoin Young (writer and friend), Walter Willmott and Bruce Harre (original McLaren mechanics), Chris Amon and Sir Jack Brabham (close friends and drivers), Phil Kerr (manager and friend), Anita Hulme (Denny Hulme’s sister), Jan McLaren (Bruce’s sister), and drivers Emerson Fittipaldi and John Watson.

To mark the occasion the track was later graced with the presence of some very special cars, driven by some very special drivers.

Bruce McLaren’s 1959 Cooper Climax was taken out on to the track by former Formula One World Champion and Bruce’s very good friend and mentor, Sir Jack Brabham. In keeping with the spirit of his era Sir Jack never bothered with overalls or helmet, he simply climbed in wearing slacks and a shirt and blazed out on to the track.

A McLaren M4, resplendent in the famous McLaren orange, was driven by former McLaren driver, and winner of several Formula One races, John Watson. Chris Amon took to the track in a Ford GT40. This was the model of car in which he and Bruce, some 41 years earlier, had captured the Le Mans title for Ford.

And lastly there was the McLaren M23 Formula One car. Emerson Fittipaldi, two time Formula One World Champion, accepted an invitation to drive this car for Sunday. On the flight over he decided that maybe he would also take it out on the Saturday. He arrived at the track on the Friday, saw the car and immediately said “get my helmet and gloves”. He didn’t hold back and his only complaint was that there wasn’t enough fuel in the car because he wanted to drive for longer.

Over the weekend Bruce was remembered in a lot of ways. Obviously he was spoken about at the press conference by many, but there were other, less public ways in which he was brought to mind. Like the original mechanics catching up as they once again toiled on the cars of McLaren. It served as a reminder that while for most of us Bruce’s story has long since passed into legend, for a few he was a friend, a brother, a husband, a father, and in his passing he left behind a void that is still felt to this day.

More images of the event, including larger versions of those featured here, can be seen in the Images section.