DENNY HULME, 1936-1992
Denis Clive Hulme was born on 18th June 1936 in Motueka, New Zealand. He came second at Le Mans in 1966 and won the Formula 1 World Championship for Brabham in 1967, finishing third in 1968 and in 1972.
After leaving the Brabham Racing Organisation, Hulme drove for Bruce Mclaren in Formula 1, the Indianapolis 500 and importantly Canam – the Canadian-american race series. His exceptional talents as a Canam driver together with Bruce Mclaren in the thunderous Mclaren Group 7 sports racers were to become legendary – known as ‘The Bruce and Denny Show’.
Hulme won the Can-am Drivers’ Championship twice and was runner-up four times. After retiring from F1 at the end of the 1974 season, Hulme continued to compete in Australian Touring Cars.
Because of his appearance and sometime gruff manner, Hulme was often referred to as ‘The Bear’ but was generally well liked and extremely popular with competitors and fans. His services to motor sport were recognised when he was awarded the OBE. Denny Hulme died suddenly of a heart attack on 4 October 1992 while at the wheel of a BMW M3 that he was racing in the Bathurst 1000 in Australia.