After concluding arrangements with Patricia and Amanda McLaren, widow and daughter of the late Bruce McLaren, TMP, the company that owns and operates the international motorsport park at Taupo, New Zealand, has renamed the multi-purpose facility Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park.
McLaren is, of course, the Kiwi-born racecar designer, driver and engineer who won four World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, nine races and two championships in the Can-Am series and the 1966 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside fellow Kiwi and current Taupo resident Chris Amon. McLaren was also the first driver to win the Tasman Cup in 1964. McLaren cars also won two Formula 5000 championships in both Europe and the USA, and a McLaren F1 GTR won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995.
As a constructor his cars dominated the Can-Am series in North America as well as winning three Indy 500s, and the company he founded as Bruce McLaren Motor Racing evolved into first McLaren Cars and now McLaren International, which has won eight Formula One Constructors Championships while scoring 182 Grand Prix victories, a total that ranks second only to Ferrari all time. McLaren is also one of only three men to have won a World Championship Grand Prix in a car of his own manufacture, joining Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney in that category.
Amanda McLaren, who with her mother Patricia controls the rights to Bruce McLaren’s name and image, is delighted with the move, saying, “This is just such a wonderful tribute to a late husband and father and we are so looking forward to seeing the plans the park has for the future. A motorsport recognition such as this in my father’s home country has been a long time coming.”
The locally owned 3.5-kilometer (2.17-mile) circuit is the only FIA Grade Two track in New Zealand. For complete information please visit www.brucemclarenmotorsportpark.com
