Jesper Hvid wrote:Denny Hulme with bandages after being burnt in practice(?) for the Indy 500 in 1970:
*Images removed*
It was not in practice but in testing a McLaren for the Indianapolis 500.
The burns were actually very severe.... he burnt his hands so badly that the tips of his fingers were through to the bone.
The Indy 500 that year was held just 2 or 3 days prior to Bruce's death at Goodwood (June 2nd) that being the reason for Denny not driving the car that fateful day.
Denny was a real character, and had some very severe traumas to deal with in his time.... The year he won the "New Zealand Driver to Europe" scheme he went with his mate and fellow driver, George Lawton, who also received the scholarship for their performances in 1959 (they had both been very impressive in NZ racing, Denny in an old F2 Cooper Climax) to go to Europe in 1960 . The scholarship was basically more a list of contacts and the actual passage to Europe, and help with entries than a fully paid season. (They both ran entered as the New Zealand International GP Team). The NZ authorities had awarded a similar scholarship to Bruce McLaren 2 years prior. Lawton was said to be the quicker driver of Denny and Lawton....
For 1960 Lawton and Denny raced around Europe together in F2 against the big names of the time such as Hill, Moss, Brabham, Innes Ireland, David Piper etc. Sadly towards the end of the season at the F2 1960 Danske Grand Prix at the Roskilde-Ring, Lawton crashed in the second part of the race actually dying in the arms of Denny.
Denny started to work for Brabham the following year and this led first to a few FJ rides and ultimately as we know led to more. In fact it was Denny who won the first ever race for a Brabham car when he won at FJ event at Brands in 1961.
His decision to retire from F1 actually came the day he witnessed further tragedy in his life, when he was one of the first to arrive at the scene of Revson (one of his closest friends) accident, practicing for the South African GP at Kyalami in March 1974. Denny tried to help at the scene of what we know was not a pretty accident.
Denny later spoke of how he coped by subconsciously mentally removing himself from being there in his mind....... later in the day on returning to his hotel and taking a shower the reality of the day came back to him with a rush, when he saw blood in the shower. It was the blood of his mate Peter Revson. It was the moment he decided to retire from F1 at the end of the season.
“I knew that it was Peter’s blood and I made up my mind then, to retire at the end of that season.”
.
He returned to NZ at the end of the year, officially retired (although he did return with his M23 McLaren as a keepsake).
Sadly further tragedy interrupted his retirement when his son drowned in a local boating incident.
Bruce took up Truck racing (ironically he had been a truck driver in NZ before embarking on his career in Europe) and also a bit of Group A, driving for TWR in a Rover for ETCC events, (Spa 24hrs 1986) and Larry Perkins, when he finished 2nd at the 1988 Mobil 500 in a Commodore .
He loved Bathurst as well. Sadly I was at Bathurst in 1982 when Denny died at the wheel of the M3 he was driving. He complained on the raqdio of blurred vision and a few moments later on Conrod Straight he just pulled off the track and ran down the barriers , coming to a halt trackside. He had suffered a major heart attack and was said to have been dead by the time the car stopped. He became AFAIK the first WDC to die of natural causes. I was working for a company involved in merchandising for Brock, and so was around pitlane a lot. I remember seeing him not long prior to his death. The announcement was perhaps one of the most unbelievable things my ears had ever heard, and certainly it marred my day, as it did many others there on the day.
RIP Denny Hulme.
Amusing trivia time: Denny had to learn to wear proper shoes when racing in Europe...... he had always raced in NZ barefoot, even in his F2 Cooper, because he felt 'more in touch with the car.'
Out of interest I have posted info and a link, in the Motorsport Video section of the forum, for this doco which may be of interest generally:
Trio at the Top - NZ TV doco of Hulme Amon and McLaren.
Click here for details