mobile app bar

Zak Brown Races with McLaren’s $275,000 Car in California That Killed Team Founder 53 Years Ago

Srijon Jana
Published

Zak Brown Races with McLaren's $275,000 Car in California That Killed Team Founder 53 Years Ago

McLaren CEO Zak Brown is well known around the paddock for his incredible car collection. As per a recent report by RACER, the American boss recently took to the track with his 1970 McLaren M8D, currently valued at approximately $275,000 – a car that also coincidentally killed the team’s founder Bruce McLaren back in 1970.

Formula 1 is currently in the middle of a summer break with 12 races already completed and Red Bull firmly in the lead. Mclaren meanwhile have made a very strong comeback. This break from the competition has allowed everyone to take some time off and indulge in various shenanigans.

And as for Brown, the perfect way to spend the time off is to take one of his most iconic McLaren cars out for a spin.

Zak Brown rocks up at Monterey with a trio of his beasts

Zak Brown recently participated in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion held on the 19th of August at Laguna Seca in California. He was part of Saturday’s Group 7 race where he drove his 1970 McLaren MD8, that Gurney previously raced in.

Brown was pretty competitive in his car, finishing P4. The McLaren boss participated in the event in association with United Autosports, who had the responsibility of making sure that all of Brown’s historic cars ran smoothly throughout the event.

The MD8 was not the only car from Brown’s collection to take part at the reunion event. A 1974 Lola T332 raced by Andretti and the Title winning 1980 Williams FW07B was also present at the track during the weekend.

The Bruce McLaren connection

The McLaren MD8 driven by Zak Brown is an integral part of McLaren’s history. Even though the car that Brown owns was the racecar of Dan Gurney, it was an exact similar model, that caused the death of the Bruce McLaren.

McLaren was only 32 at the time of his death, but by that age, he had already laid down the foundations for one of the greatest teams to have taken part in F1 – the McLaren racing team. Founded in 1963, the team made their Grand Prix racing debut in 1966 at the Monaco GP, which makes them the second oldest existing constructor, behind Ferrari.

McLaren enjoyed unparalleled success during the 1980s under the leadership of Ron Dennis. However, as of late, the team has failed to recreate similar results. However, the strong leadership of Zak Brown has shown great promise and McLaren desperately wants to be back at the top, where they belong.

Post Edited By:Somin Bhattacharjee

About the author

Srijon Jana

Srijon Jana

instagram-iconlinkedin-icon

Srijon Jana is a Formula 1 writer at The SportsRush. As a medical undergrad with a passion for motorsports, Srijon loves juggling between cadavers and cars with ease. He started watching F1 when he was only 11, and the beautiful cars grabbed his interest. Even now, he religiously follows all the Grands Prix, and when he is not gushing over Charles Leclerc, he likes to dabble in football as well. He is a college quizzer with several state-level and national-level accolades. He is a proud Ferrari fan, and loves to pass his free time reading, watching movies, and spending some quality time with his friends and family.

Share this article