Denny Hulme

 ( 1936 Births ) 

1966 was Hulme's first full season of Formula One. Now, after the departure of Dan Gurney, he was the outright number two at the Brabham team behind Jack himself. Finishing a fine fourth that year (with Jack winning the Drivers' and the Brabham team the Constructors' Championship), the highlights came with a third place at Reims in France, a second behind Brabham at Brands Hatch, and the fastest lap at Zandvoort, before ignition problems put paid to his race there. Whilst his boss won the World title, Hulme made it to the podium four times during season, finishing fourth overall in the standings.

The 1967 Championship was essentially an internal affair within the Brabham Racing Organisation team for most of the year, but the new Lotus 49 gave Jim Clark and Graham Hill the opportunity to bite back. Their Brabham-Repcos were not the fastest cars, however they were reliable and consistent, as were Brabham and Hulme. During the season, he would take two wins in the 11-race Championship, at Monte Carlo and the ferocious Nürburgring (the Green Hell).

Although Hulme silenced many critics with his excellent win in Monaco, the race was marred by the appalling accident that would claim the life of Lorenzo Bandini, who was chasing Hulme at the time of the crash. His second Grand Prix win of 1967, was on the legendary Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. This victory proved his versatility on any type of track. A further six visits to the podium gave Hulme the advantage he needed. He won the Championship by five points from Brabham, and a further five from Jim Clark. Hulme was the first (and to date, only) Formula One World Champion from New Zealand.

saw a move to the [[McLaren]] team, owned by fellow New Zealander [[Bruce McLaren]]. Although the 'Bruce and Denny Show' dominated the North American Can-Am sports car series from 1966, their time in Formula One was less successful. The South African race, held at the legendary [[Kyalami]] circuit, proved difficult for the team. Despite having to use the old BRM V12 engines on an old M5A chassis, Hulme brought it home a creditable fifth.
     

The finale, in Mexico City, determined the champion that year, but Hulme suffered a suspension failure on his McLaren.

was a disaster for Hulme: the revised M7A chassis struggled with reliability and Hulme managed only 20 points, attaining one victory, at the final round at the Mexican Grand Prix. Hulme ended the season in sixth position in the drivers' standings.
     

brought a new decade, but Hulme's luck did not change. Team boss and friend [[Bruce McLaren]] was killed while testing the CanAm McLaren M8D, which affected Hulme. Another problem occurred that year when he suffered burns to his hands from a [[methanol]] fire during practice for the Indianapolis 500. As a result, he missed the Dutch Grand Prix in 1970. Undeterred, he felt he owed it to Bruce and the McLaren team to continue racing. Besides his emotional distress and serious burns, he still managed a creditable fourth in the championship with 27 points.
     

Although Hulme would claim third place in the 1970 Mexican Grand Prix, the race was marred by the immense crowd of over 200,000. The crowd proved almost uncontrollable and almost forced the cancellation of the race. They were crammed in front of the guard-rails, sat at the trackside and ran across the track itself. The drivers were concerned that someone would be killed. During qualifying, Hulme missed some children by inches. They were playing a game of chicken to see who got nearest to the cars as they hurtled past.Louis T. Stanley, "Strictly Off The Record" (MBI Publishing Company, , 1999)

started promisingly. At Kyalami, he led dominantly but the rising-rate suspension system forced him out, after only a few laps. The McLaren team were in disarray. The season was even worse than 1970 results wise, as Hulme did not even make the podium, although he set the fastest laps in Canada and the United States that year but results were hard to come by. Hulme ended up ninth in the standings for 1971.
     

Beauty, fragrance and men's products company Yardley took over title sponsorship of a new McLaren in , and it paid dividends for Hulme. Partnered with good friend Peter Revson, Hulme was back on winning ways taking victory in South Africa, and a few fine podiums elsewhere, finishing 1972 in third place with 39 points. Meanwhile, Hulme also won the non-championship International Gold Cup race at Oulton Park.

Amazingly, Hulme scored only one pole position in his F1 career aboard a McLaren M23, in 1973 at Kyalami—he appeared to have a good relationship with the venue. However, Hulme was outshone by friend and teammate Peter Revson in , and he finished a place down on the American in sixth, 12 points adrift.

By the 1973 Belgian Grand Prix, Hulme and McLaren had taken F1 safety forward, when his car introduced the Graviner life-support system to Formula One, supplying the driver breathable air in the event of fire.Doug Nye, "Famous Racing Cars" (Patrick Stephens Limited, , 1989)

Hulme won the Swedish Grand Prix luckily, though he also set the fastest lap. The race seemed to be set up for a home victory for Ronnie Peterson, with his Lotus teammate, Emerson Fittipaldi in second, when the Lotuses hit trouble. Fittipaldi being slowed with gearbox issues, and then Peterson with a slow rear wheel puncture. As Hulme decided to run with harder tyres, he passed Peterson on the penultimate lap to win. Hulme expressed sadness to " have taken that away from Ronnie".

He and Revson had built up a strong friendship off the back of their F1 camaraderie they also competed together in the Can-Am series. When Revson left McLaren at the end of 1973 to join Shadow, Hulme would have been disappointed.

In his time at McLaren, Hulme won six Grand Prix's, but he was nearing the end of his time in F1, and his competitive urges were being blunted by a growing apprehension about the dangers of racing. After the Brazilian Grand Prix in which Hulme finished twelfth, these fears were well founded. When testing at Kyalami started, in March 1974, Peter Revson suffered a front suspension failure (broken front Ball Joint), veering head-on into the barriers. Hulme tried in vain to save his friend's life, but to no avail. After the accident Hulme announced that he would see out before retiring from Grand Prix racing. However, other than winning the Argentine event (he inherited the lead when his now teammate Fittipaldi inadvertently knocked-off the electrical "kill-switch" on his steering wheel, on the penultimate lap) and coming second in Austria, he did not make much of an impact on the season, and retired at the end of the year and stepped away from the sport and returned to New Zealand.