McLaren M15 Indianapolis Car - 1969
This is the McLaren M15 Indianapolis car designed by Gordon Coppuck from McLaren in 1969 for the 1970 Indianapolis 500. McLaren were then, and always have been one of the leading manufacturers in Formula One, and at the time they dominated the Can-Am series in North America, so the next logical step for the team, was to shoot for glory in the Indy 500 series.
There are some certain similarities between the 2 types of motor racing, but the task ahead of Gordon and the McLaren design team was not quite as simple as converting the existing F1 design, in fact the design was more focused on the Can-Am racers of the time.
The car finished its first race in a respectable 9th position, and the next race was a 5th place finish, that should have been a podium, but the cars engine failed to start at its last pit-stop loosing the team valuable time. Overall the season could have been described as disastrous, with the death of Bruce McLaren 1 week after the cars Indy 500 debut. However the season turned out to be learning-curve for the team, who produced the cars predecessor the M16, that went on to win the big race 3 times in the years to come. Thanks to the M15 and M16, McLaren had definitely landed in Indy Car racing.
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