World Champions At Last – McLaren Cosworth M23 #M23/4

The final destination of the 1974 World Drivers Championship was in doubt until the lastof the season with Jody Scheckter driving for Tyrrell, Clay Regazzoni driving for Ferrari and Emerson Fittipaldi driving for McLaren all in with a shout.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Emerson Fittipaldi sealed the deal with a fourth place finish at the US Grand Prix which along with wins in Brazil, Belgium, Canada and six further points scoring finishes gave him a 3 point advantage over Clay Regazzoni who failed to add to his points tally at Watkins Glen.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

For 1974 McLaren had lengthened the wheel base and widened the track of Gordon Coppucks M23 design which was first seen in South Africa in 1973.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

McLaren had also attracted Philip Morris sponsorship that had previously gone to BRM and managed to leverage Texaco sponsorship along with 1972 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi from Lotus.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Denny Hulme was Emerson’s team mate and he contributed to McLaren winning their first World Constructors Championship, at their 9th attempt, by winning the opening race of the 1974 Championship season in Argentina.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

So far as I have been able to ascertain today’s featured car is the forth M23 chassis, which was first raced in the 1973 German Grand Prix when Jacky Ickx made a one off appearance for the team and drove it to a third place finish behind the Tyrrell’s of Jackie Stewart and Francoise Cevert.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Peter Revson then drove #M23/4 to a third place finish in the Italian Grand Prix a win in the Canadian Grand Prix, which would prove to his last Grand Prix win, and a 5th place on his final drive for McLaren in the 1973 US Grand Prix.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Emerson Fittipaldi best results with #M23/4 in 1974 were a 3rd place in the 1974 Race of Champions and a 4th place finish in Sweden, after Mike the Bike Hailwood’s crash at the 1974 German Grand Prix #M23/4 reverted to Yardley colours for the remainder of 1974 to be driven by David Hobbs in Austria and Italy and Jochen Mass in Canada and the United States. With Mass scoring a 7th place at Watkins Glen that matched the older Hobbs 7th place finish in Austria the young German secured himself a ride as Fittipaldi’s team mate to replace the retiring Denny Hulme for the 1975 season.

McLaren Cosworth M23, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

#M23/4 only made two appearances in the 1975 season in the non championship International Trophy at Silverstone where Emerson finished 2nd and in the 1975 German Grand Prix where Jochen retired after an accident on the opening, which is said to have reduced #M23/4 to “vitual scrap”.

At Stonleigh #M23/4 appears in these photographs with the correct 1974 colour scheme and early season airbox, extended side pods as fitted to Jochen’s car in the 1975 German Grand Prix but curiously the extended side pods have orifices which did not appear until the Spanish Grand Prix in 1976.

Note: Jochen took the start of the 1975 German Grand Prix in #23/4, distinguished at this meeting by it’s white front wings and hastily applied black #2 race number on the side pod, according to contemporary reports by Dennis ‘DSJ’ Jenkinson and not #M23/6 as indicated by RacingSportsCars.com

My thanks to BSC at The Nostalgia Forum and Allen Brown at OldRacingCars.com for their help identifying the chassis number of today’s car.

Thanks for joining me on this “World Champions At Last” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.