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PRESS RELEASE // FEBRUARY 2018 MCLAREN – RICHARD MILLE RETURN ON THE 55 YEARS OF EXISTENCE OF A F1 CHAMPION Luxury Swiss watch maker Richard Mille return on the history of one of the greatest Formula One racing team : McLaren. Today second most successful team in the championship history, the british company founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren has set mutiple records during its life. Return on 55 years of success. A HIGH SPEED RISE Although he initially intended to a sports career, his heart goes to an other famous sport in his home country : rugby. After an injury he gets interested with great success towards automotive sports. He mades his competitives debuts in 1958 and quickly establish himself as an amazing motorcycle driver. One year later, aged 22 years and 80 days, Bruce McLaren becomes the youngest ever racer in the history of Formula One to win a race : the United States Grand Prix. McLaren M2B THE EARLY STAGES OF MCLAREN In 1963, while still involved in the Cooper racing team, the champion founds the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing. It’s only in 1966, that he creates his own racing team and design his first F1 with the young engineer Robin Herb. Named M2 B, this vehicle will be presented this year at Rétromobile. McLaren competitive debuts aren’t successful nonetheless the ranking of the team at the end of the season is saved thanks to motorisations upgrades and a victory with a Ford GT40 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After a great 1967 season, McLaren compete with a brand new car seen as the finest-looking Bruce McLaren M8D single-seater : the M7A. The racing team finished 2nd, picking up two famous victories : the one at Brands-Hatch and the one at Silverstone. This success encourage the driver to progressively go on retirement from the motor racing world, only in order to focus on this workd as a constructor up until 1970, year of his death. MCLAREN AFTER BRUCE MCLAREN Despite the early departure of its founder, McLaren still continue its road to excellence. The racing team took finally its place in history in 1970 thanks to the driver Emerson Fittipaldi and who wins two Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. Feat repeated two years later with the racing driver James Hunt. The 80’s are marked by the arrival of the mechanic Ron Dennis as team principal of the racing team, and also the recruitment of the engineer John Barnard. Barnard design the first carbon fibre chassis F1, the MP4/1. With McLaren M7A Cosworth exceptional racing drivers such as Niki Laura, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, and also powerful F1 like the single-seater MP4/4, the racing team is unstoppable. McLaren takes 15 victories over the 16 races of the championship. At that time, Gordon Murray, the new Technical PRESS RELEASE // FEBRUARY 2018 Director of the team and Ron Dennis wants to produce the ultimate supercar. This dream became reality with a GT with three front seats powered by a 6 L BMW V12 engine. Besides, it’s the competition variant of this model that wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans famous race. McLaren F1 GTR 1ère at Le Mans 1995 PRATICAL INFORMATION Dates: from Wednesday 7 through Sunday 11 February 2018 at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre – 75015 Paris Opening hours: Wednesday and Friday from 10 am to 10 pm, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm Admission: €20, free for children under 12 years old To be noticed! Preview Tuesday the 6th of February from 7 to 10 PM Press Contact : ZMIROV COMMUNICATION Doriane RAFFIN ou Anne-Gaëlle JOURDAN 64, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau 75001 Paris Tél : 01 76 53 71 18 www.zmirov.com [email protected].