Graham McRae

New Zealand racing driver (1940–2021)

Graham McRae

McRae in 1970

Born| (1940-03-05)5 March 1940
Wellington, New Zealand
Died| 4 August 2021(2021-08-04) (aged 81)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality|  New Zealander
Active years| 1973
Teams| Williams
Entries| 1
Championships| 0
Wins| 0
Podiums| 0
Career points| 0
Pole positions| 0
Fastest laps| 0
First entry| 1973 British Grand Prix

Graham Peter McRae (5 March 1940 – 4 August 2021) was a racing driver from New Zealand.

He achieved considerable success in Formula 5000 racing, winning the Tasman Series each year from 1971 to 1973,[1] and also at the 1972 L&M Continental 5000 Championship in the United States.[2]

McRae's single outing in the Formula One World Championship was at the 1973 British Grand Prix on 14 July 1973, where he retired in the first lap.[3][4] McRae also competed in the 1973 Indianapolis 500, finishing in 16th position and earning Rookie of the Year.[5]

## Racing career

[edit]

McRae was born in Wellington, New Zealand.[6] As a qualified engineer, McRae competed in local sport car racing and hillclimbs in the early 1960s, notably at Levin and began to compete seriously in the 1.5 twin cam formula, which used an old F3 chassis.[7]

After running a dated Brabham chassis, McRae built a slim, McRae, National Formula car which dominated the 1968–69 series,[8] beating talented opponents in David Oxton, Ken Smith and Bert Hawthorne.

He also ran in the four NZ rounds of the Tasman Series,[1] and McRae proved surprisingly competitive at the tight Levin circuit where McRae, 160 hp down on power qualified 1.8 seconds slower than Jochen Rindt and almost equalled the time of GLTL Team Leader Graham Hill in a mishandling Lotus 49. This performance secured McRae the NZ Driver to Europe scholarship for a few 1969 F2 races where he ran in the upper midfield in an ageing Brabham BT23.[9][10]

Before entering Formula One, McRae placed third in both the 1970 Guards European Formula 5000 Championship[11] and first in the 1971 Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship.[12] He won a number of rounds, but was hindered by some accidents, one serious, and impatience which earned him the nickname, 'Cassius' (after the boxing champion) reflecting his strut and belief in the greatness of his own talent.[13]

Fields were strong in European F5000 at this time and McRae was competing against former F1 drivers Brian Redman, Trevor Taylor, Mike Hailwood and Frank Gardner, all world class drivers and Peter Gethin and Howden Ganley in works backed McLarens. McRae was Tasman Series Champion three years in a row, from 1971 to 1973,[14][15] also taking the US F5000 Championship crown in 1972, with three race wins.[16] The US 5000 championship win in 1972 was a noted achievement against competent F5000 and World Championship sports car drivers David Hobbs and Sam Posey and McRae won a lot of money and laurels, and drove with control despite also competing in the 1972 Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship, in which he placed third.[17]

In the combined F1/F5000 International Trophy, McRae finished seventh, the first F5000 car and for a while had run ahead of Graham Hill in a F1 Brabham BT34 and kept up with the F1 McLarens of Denny Hulme and Peter Revson, this reflected the very good race car set up skills of McRae on his Leda F5000. McRae would probably have got a regular F1 drive if he had not been a difficult customer and probably too old at 32 in most teams' eyes to be developed as a serious F1 driver. He was offered a drive in F1 at Nivelles when Jackie Stewart suffered an ulcer, but could not fit it into his demanding programme. He did race for Frank Williams in the British GP the following year but it was an uncompetitive chassis, and a good start was ruined by the multi-car crash which stopped the race after a lap.

In 1973, he faced much stronger competition in US F5000 with F1 drivers James Hunt and Jody Scheckter having far better financed efforts and more support. McRae also contested the 1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship, but recorded only one round win, at Mallory Park.[18][19] 1974 was McRae's last good year and despite lack of finance and contractual disputes over his new McRae GM2 and its Talon derivative, McRae finished eighth in the US F5000 series and would have been fifth if he had not lost third place with tyre failure at Las Vegas, where he was running ahead of Unser.[20]

After writing off the GM2 in practice for the Oran Park, the Tasman round at the start of 1975, McRae contested the US F5000 National Travellers Cheque series, in a Lola T332 which showed promise in the heats, finishing fourth behind J.P Jarier at Watkins Glen and second in a heat at Laguna Seca to Al Unser, ahead of Warwick Brown and qualifying eighth at Long Beach, but never finished better than eighth in the main race during the series. McRae debuted his new GM3 at the last US F5000 race in Riverside in 1976, and retired from midfield.[21][22]

The car featured Perspex windows in the cockpit (like the Tyrrell P34), so the spectators could watch Graham at the wheel. But with the US F5000 regulations being changed to require the cars to carry Can Am sports car bodies, McRae took a year to revise the GM3 and unsponsored he could not pay for competitive engines, and privateer competition against the Haas or Paul Newman teams was hopeless. In 1978, he won his fifth F5000 title, the Australian Drivers' Championship.[23]

## Death

[edit]

McRae died on 4 August 2021 at the age of 81.[24][25][26][5]

## McRae Cars

[edit]

McRae GM1

In 1972 McRae, Malcolm Bridgland of Malaya Garage, and car designer Len Terry built a new F5000.[27] The car was initially designated the Leda LT27 following Terry's designs.[27] McRae used the name Leda GM1 for his personal car.[27][28] In mid-1972 McRae and London insurance broker John Heynes bought out Bridgland and set up a United Kingdom company McRae Cars Ltd at Poole, Dorset.[29] As from 1 July 1972 the Leda was renamed the McRae GM1. Fourteen of these cars were built between 1972 and 1973. It achieved considerable success in the British Hill Climb Championship, driven by Roy Lane.

A one-off McRae GM2 was built in 1973 and the design was subsequently sold to Jack McCormack who built five examples under the name Talon.[30] A single GM3 followed in 1976 and this was later developed into the GM9 Can-Am car.[30]

McRae followed this up in 1993 with a replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster. It was based around a 2.0-litre Porsche 914 with a five-speed gearbox. McRae had imported a Porsche 356 Speedster from Vintage Speedsters of California to make the moulds for his production kits.[31] Being a technical perfectionist, McRae's Spyder is an accurate replica of original built by Porsche in 1954 and 1955.[32] Some McRae Spyders are powered by a Subaru engine.[33] In June 2000, McRae set up the New Zealand based McRae Cars Ltd. Since his illness in 2003, no more of these cars have been made and the existing 38 models are in high demand. The company was struck off the register in June 2003.[34]

Former McRae GM1 owner and driver, Alister Hey of Queenstown registered McRae Cars Limited again in 2010.[35]

## Indianapolis 500 results

[edit]

| Year  | Car  | Start  | Qual  | Rank  | Finish  | Laps  | Led  | Retired

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1973 | 60  | 13  | 192.030  | 15  | 16  | 91  | 0  | Header
Totals | 91  | 0  |
| Starts  | 1

|

Poles  | 0
Front row  | 0
Wins  | 0
Top 5  | 0
Top 10  | 0
Retired  | 1

## Complete Formula One World Championship results

[edit]

(key)

Year  | Entrant  | Chassis  | Engine  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10  | 11  | 12  | 13  | 14  | 15  | WDC  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1973 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | Iso-Marlboro IR | Cosworth V8 | ARG
| BRA
| RSA
| ESP
| BEL
| MON
| SWE
| FRA
| GBR
Ret | NED
| GER
| AUT
| ITA
| CAN
| USA
| NC  | 0

## Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

[edit]

(key)

Year  | Entrant  | Chassis  | Engine  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1969 | Graham McRae  | Brabham BT23C F2  | Cosworth L4 | ROC | INT | MAD
DNA | OUL |  |  |  |
1970 | Graham McRae  | McLaren M10B F5000  | Chevrolet V8 | ROC | INT
Ret | OUL
DNS |  |  |  |  |
1971 | Graham McRae  | McLaren M10B F5000  | Chevrolet V8 | ARG | ROC | QUE | SPR | INT | RIN | OUL
9 | VIC
1972 | Crown Lynn Potteries  | McRae GM1 F5000  | Chevrolet V8 | ROC
DNS | BRA | INT
8 | OUL | REP | VIC
12 |  |
1973 | Graham McRae Racing  | McRae GM1 F5000  | Chevrolet V8 | ROC
Ret | INT
Ret |  |  |  |  |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Tasman Series Archives". Official Website For The Tasman Revival Sydney Motor Sport Park. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
2. ^ MacKay, Ross (7 August 2021). "Look back in history Sunday: Vale Graham McRae". Talk Motorsport. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
3. ^ "Graham McRae | | The "forgotten" drivers of F1". www.f1forgottendrivers.com. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
4. ^ "Graham McRae". www.nzigp.co.nz. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
5. ^ a b "Obituary: Graham McRae - king of the racing track in cars he built himself". Stuff. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
6. ^ "New Zealand motorsport world mourns 1970s champion Graham McRae". Stuff. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
7. ^ "Graham McRae 5 March 1940 - 4 August 2021 | infonews.co.nz New Zealand News". www.infonews.co.nz. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
8. ^ "Graham McRae – Brilliant race car pioneer". VelocityNews. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
9. ^ "BLAST FROM THE PAST: Brabham BT23C". OVERSTEER. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
10. ^ "Graham McRae | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
11. ^ Brown, Allen. "Silverstone, 15 Aug 1970 « European Formula 5000 « OldRacingCars.com". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
12. ^ Brown, Allen. "Thruxton, 1 Aug 1971 « European Formula 5000 « OldRacingCars.com". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
13. ^ Bidwell, Peter (17 September 2021). "Obituary: Graham McRae - king of the racing track in cars he built himself". Stuff. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
14. ^ Shackleton, Zane (4 August 2021). "Graham McRae passes away". VelocityNews. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
15. ^ arggrant (3 June 2020). "S5000 HERITAGE SERIES – GRAHAM MCRAE". S5000. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
16. ^ "Graham McRae – F5000 | The "forgotten" drivers of F1". www.f1forgottendrivers.com. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
17. ^ "Graham McRae | The "forgotten" drivers of F1". www.f1forgottendrivers.com. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
18. ^ Brown, Allen. "Zandvoort, 30 Sep 1973 « European Formula 5000". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
19. ^ "Graham McRae 5 March 1940 - 4 August 2021". infonews.co.nz. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
20. ^ "McRae « F5000 « OldRacingCars.com". www.oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
21. ^ Brown, Allen. "Riverside, 17 Oct 1976 « US Formula 5000". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
22. ^ "Article: McRae GM3/GM9". www.theroaringseason.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
23. ^ "VALE: GRAHAM MCRAE".
24. ^ "Kiwi motorsport legend Graham McRae dies". Speedcafe. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
25. ^ "Graham McRae passes away". VelocityNews. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
26. ^ "Kiwi Formula 5000 legend Graham McRae dies, aged 81". Autocar.co.nz. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
27. ^ a b c Brown, Allen. "Leda LT27 and McRae GM1 car-by-car histories". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
28. ^ Official Programme, 37th Australian Grand Prix, Sandown (20 February 1972)
29. ^ "McRae photographs and McRae technical data - allcarcentral Car Magazine". allcarcentral.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
30. ^ a b McRae, Oldracingcars.com, Retrieved on 2 July 2013
31. ^ Porsche 356 Speedster Replica - Dave Bray Archived 19 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 1 February 2016
32. ^ Porsche Spyder – The James Dean Legend – 181, Eion Young, New Zealand Classic Car magazine, 16 October 2007
33. ^ "8W - Who? - Graham McRae". Forix.com. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
34. ^ New Zealande Companies Office - McRae Cars Limited - Registered number 1046252
35. ^ Upgrade moves F5000 racer up the starting grid, Steve Ross, Otago Daily Times, 13 February 2010

## General references

[edit]

* Profile at Grandprix.com

Graham McRae sporting positions

| Sporting positions

Preceded by

Graeme Lawrence

|  Tasman Series
Champion
1971-1973  | Succeeded by

Peter Gethin

Preceded by

Frank Matich

|  Australian Grand Prix
Winner
1972 and 1973 | Succeeded by

Max Stewart

Preceded by

Mike Hiss

|  Indianapolis 500
Rookie of the Year
1973 | Succeeded by

Pancho Carter

Preceded by

Warwick Brown

|  Australian Grand Prix
Winner
1978 | Succeeded by

Johnnie Walker

Preceded by

John McCormack

|  Australian Drivers' Championship
Champion
1978  | Succeeded by

Johnnie Walker

* v
* t
* e

Formula One drivers from New Zealand

* Bruce McLaren (1958–1970)
* Tony Shelly (1962)
* Chris Amon (1963–1976)
* Denny Hulme (1965–1974)
* Howden Ganley (1971–1974)
* Graham McRae (1973)
* John Nicholson (1974–1975)
* Mike Thackwell (1980, 1984)
* Brendon Hartley (2017–2018)
* Liam Lawson (2023–present)

* v
* t
* e

Tasman Series Champions

* (1964) Bruce McLaren
* (1965) Jim Clark
* (1966) Jackie Stewart
* (1967–68) Jim Clark
* (1969) Chris Amon
* (1970) Graeme Lawrence
* (1971–73) Graham McRae
* (1974) Peter Gethin
* (1975) Warwick Brown

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template