New Zealand mourns pioneer Graham McRae – Formula 1

Only one race in F1, which lasted a few hundred meters due to a throttle problem. Still, the footprint it left Graham McCray In the automotive field, it has been of great importance, especially for New Zealand, a country that certainly does not have an engine in its DNA. The former driver and builder passed away on August 4, 2021 at the age of 81.

Graham McRae went down in history for being a driver who competed and won the steering wheel of the cars that bore his name because he built them. He started at home developing a Maserati for hillclimb races in New Zealand, and won a scholarship to take part in some F2 races in Europe in 1969. Once on the Old Continent, McRae British racing car manufacturer bought Leda and renamed it McRae Cars Ltd. Renamed Leda LT27 F5000 by McRae GM1 (Graham McRae 1), the car was a huge success. However, the single seat that the audience remembers most nostalgia for is the GM3 where spectators can see what was happening inside the cockpit through panes of glass.

McRae won the Formula Tasman race three times (in 1971, 1972 and 1973) and participated in the 1973 British Formula 1 Grand Prix at the wheel of an ISO team sponsored by Marlboro Frank Williams. In the same season, Graham McRae also competed in the Indianapolis 500, where he finished 16th, thereby taking the title of Rookie of the Year – Rookie of the Year – from that edition. Rest in peace, Major.