Denny Hulme | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hulme at the 1965 German Grand Prix | |
| Born | Denis Clive Hulme 18 June 1936 Motueka, New Zealand |
| Died | 4 October 1992 (aged 56) Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia |
| Spouse |
Greeta Main (m. 1963) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Clive Hulme (father) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  New Zealander |
| Active years | 1965–1974 |
| Teams | Brabham, McLaren |
| Entries | 112 |
| Championships | 1 (1967) |
| Wins | 8 |
| Podiums | 33 |
| Career points | 248 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 9 |
| First entry | 1965 Monaco Grand Prix |
| First win | 1967 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1974 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1974 United States Grand Prix |
Denis Clive Hulme OBE (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1965 to 1974. Nicknamed "The Bear",[a] Hulme won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1967 with Brabham, and won eight Grands Prix across 10 seasons.
Born and raised in the South Island, Hulme was the son of World War II sniper and Victoria Cross recipient Clive Hulme. Hulme achieved eight race wins, one pole position, nine fastest laps and 33 podiums in Formula One. He also finished third in the overall standing in 1968 and 1972.[2]
Hulme showed versatility by dominating the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) for Group 7 sports cars. As a member of the McLaren team that won five straight titles between 1967 and 1971, he won the individual Drivers' Championship twice and was runner-up on four other occasions.[2]
Following his Formula One tenure with Brabham, Hulme raced for McLaren in multiple formats—Formula One, Can-Am, and at the Indianapolis 500. Hulme retired from Formula One at the end of the 1974 season but continued to race Australian Touring Cars.
Hulme was nicknamed 'The Bear', because of his "gruff nature" and "rugged features"; however, he was also "sensitive (...) unable to express his feelings, except in a racing car".[1] During the early part of his career, Hulme preferred to race bare foot as he believed that it gave him a better feel of the throttle. This changed in 1960 when he started competing in the more highly regulated European championships.[3]
During his career, Hulme drove the most powerful cars of his era. He raced in F1, F2, Indycars, saloon/touring cars, CanAm and endurance races, all during the same season. After retiring from F1, he even drove in truck races.
Hulme's death by heart attack, while driving a BMW M3 during the Bathurst 1000 in Australia, made him the seventh former Formula One champion to die, and the first to die of natural causes (versus three racing incidents, two incidents on public roads and one incident involving aircraft).
- ^ a b Donaldson, Gerald. "Hall of Fame – Denny Hulme". Formula1.com. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
- ^ a b "Denny Hulme | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". Nzhistory.net.nz. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ Moggipaldi, Graham (18 June 2011). "Denny Hulme: The Barefoot Boy Remembered › Badger GP". badgergp.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
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