1965 McLaren Elva Oldsmobile M1A

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Tourist Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in 1965.

It was listed in the programme of the event as a McLaren Elva Oldsmobile M1A and was driven in the race by Bruce McLaren. The race was run in two heats each of 2 hours duration and the winner would be the car that covered the greatest distance in total. The winner was Denny Hulme in a Brabham BT8, completing 138 laps, but the 4½ litre Oldsmobile engine in Bruce Mclaren's car developed an oil leak in both of the heats and only managed a total of 30 laps.

1965 RAC Tourist Trophy

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner on the first lap of the RAC Tourist Trophy race at Oulton Park in May 1965.

Leading is John Surtees in the Team Surtees Lola-Chevrolet T70 followed by the McLaren Elva-Oldsmobile M1A of Bruce McLaren and the Lotus Ford 30 of Jim Clark. None of these cars finished the race - John Surtees dropped out after 13 laps, Bruce McLaren after 30 laps and Jim Clark managed 102 laps before retiring. Denny Hulme won the race in Sidney Taylor Racing's Brabham-Climax BT8, completing 138 laps in the 4 hour long race.

John Cooper and Bruce McLaren

I took this photograph in the paddock at Aintree during practice for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.

On the left is the Cooper Team Manager, John Cooper, who together with his father Charles Cooper had founded the Cooper Car Company in 1948. Second from the right in his Cooper overalls is Bruce McLaren, the team's number one driver after Jack Brabham had left Cooper at the end of the previous season to form his own team. Bruce McLaren qualified his Cooper T60 in fourth place on the grid and finished the race in third place behind Jim Clark's Lotus 25 and the Lola Mk4 of John Surtees.

Cooper Climax T60

I took this photograph on the Friday practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

It's Bruce McLaren in his Cooper Climax T60 making his way from the paddock to the circuit for a practice run. The T60, in common with the major British racing teams, had the 1,494cc Coventry Climax V8 FWMV unit, the private entrants having to use the older 4-cylinder Coventry Climax FPF engine.

Here's the car approaching Waterway Corner during practice. Bruce McLaren qualified in fourth position on the grid, and finished the race in third place behind Jim Clark's Lotus 25 and the Lola Mk4 of John Surtees.

Cooper T45 Climax

This is a photograph I took on practice day at Aintree for the British Grand Prix in July 1959.

It's Bruce McLaren in his Cooper T45 Climax. He qualified in eighth place on the grid and finished the race in third place behind his team mate (and World Champion-to-be) Jack Brabham in a Cooper T51 and Stirling Moss in the light green British Racing Partnership BRM P25. Bruce McLaren finished the season in sixth place in the Championship winning the final race of the year, the US Grand Prix at Sebring.

Bruce McLaren

1962 was the last of five occasions on which the British Grand Prix was held at Aintree and I was fortunate enough to see each of those races. On the last two occasions I had left school and was therefore able to take a day off work on the Friday of the race and go to Aintree to watch the practice sessions. The photograph below was taken at the Friday practice for the 1962 event and shows Bruce McLaren in the paddock in his Cooper-Climax T60 on his way to the pits at the start of a practice session.

Bruce McLaren qualified in fourth position on the grid and finished third in the race behind the winner Jim Clark in a Lotus-Climax 25 and John Surtees in a Lola-Climax Mk4.

Racing Drivers

During race weekend current-day racing drivers are cocooned from the ordinary spectators, but this was not always the case. In the 1950s and 60s the spectators could gain access to the paddock and get close up to  the competing cars and drivers. The following photographs were taken at the Friday practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

1961 World Champion Phil Hill who retired his Ferrari 156 Dino on lap 47 of the 75 lap race

1962 World Champion Graham Hill who finished 4th in his BRM P57

Bruce McLaren (left) and Jackie Lewis (right), team mates for Cooper driving the Cooper-Climax T60.

McLaren finished in 3rd place and Jackie Lewis in 10th.

Masten Gregory who finished 7th in the UDT Laystall Lotus-Climax 24