The New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing has announced a Family Pass for the forthcoming January Gulf NZFMR events that will celebrate the life and career of New Zealand’s only Formula One champion Denny Hulme.

The pass – available to purchase ONLY from the NZFMR web site – will cost just $60 and will provide General Admission access for up to two adults and five children Under 18 for one day on each of the two weekends – either January 18-20 or 25-27.

“Ticket sales have been going very well especially with our Early Bird offers that ended in October,” said Chairman Jim Barclay. “We have also been getting more and more requests for some sort of family pass from our feedback on Facebook and email and that’s why we are now offering a one day family pass. Fans should note, however, that it is only available from the web site and that it is only GA and not Grandstand access. However, that’s going to be fine for the family looking to make a day or weekend of it.”

A revival mini Can-Am series, and the world’s biggest annual gathering of Formula 5000 cars head the bill over both weekends of the Gulf-backed event, but there will be hundreds of interesting cars both on and off the track with a special relevance to the life and career of Denny Hulme. Static displays will include his Formula One car, his championship winning Can-Am car and even his first road car!

All tickets are available from www.nzfmr.co.nz

The golden era of one of motor racing’s most iconic classes – the mighty US-based Can-Am series of the sixties and seventies – is set to be revived in the home country of one of the category’s biggest stars.

The New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing celebrating Denny Hulme will take place at the challenging Hampton Downs circuit over two weekends in January in 2013. Hulme was Can-Am champion twice in 1968 and in 1970 and runner up in 1967, 1969 and 1971 while racing for driver and constructor Bruce McLaren.

Many of the big V8-powered sports cars from the heyday of the championship still run in historic racing events throughout the world and festival organisers hope up to 20 of the Can- Am racers and other sports racing cars will bring their priceless machinery to race on January 18-20 and January 25-27 for the Denny Hulme Trophy – a unique cup that will be presented by the late 1967 Formula 1 World Champion’s wife Greeta Hulme to the winner of the six race championship.

The Can-Am cars will not be the only historic V8 racing cars in action. The New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing has played host over the past three years to the world’s biggest gathering of Formula 5000 cars and these will race again in the 2013 event as will a big field of Australian, New Zealand and US V8-engined Historic Muscle Cars.

On-track, the Can-Am series in 1966 was initially dominated by Lola, followed by a period from 1967-71 that became known as the ‘Bruce and Denny Show’ when the works McLaren team dominating until the Porsche 917 turbo was perfected and became almost unbeatable. Other manufacturers who raced in Can-Am included Shadow, Chaparral, BRM, March and Matich as well as household names Ferrari and Ford. But it was the list of drivers that really read like a Who’s Who of motor racing at the time.

As well as Kiwis Hulme, McLaren, Chris Amon, Howden Ganley and Graeme Lawrence, Can-Am drivers included Mario Andretti, Jack Brabham, Mark Donohue, Vic Elford, George Follmer, Peter Gethin, Dan Gurney, Jim Hall, Phil Hill, David Hobbs, Jacky Ickx, Parnelli Jones, Jackie Oliver, Sam Posey, Brian Redman, Peter Revson, Pedro Rodríguez, Swede Savage, Jody Scheckter, Jo Siffert, Jackie Stewart and John Surtees. Hollywood movie legend Paul Newman was another to grace the tracks in the mighty machines.

“At the peak of the series, Can-Am machines were the fastest racing cars in the world, quicker even than Formula One and highly innovative with a rule book that gave a virtual clean sheet of paper to the racing car designers of the time. Spectacular is really the only word that describes the cars,” said Festival of Motor Racing organiser Jim Barclay.

“Denny was one of Can-Am’s biggest names and the Denny Hulme Trophy to be presented by Greeta and her family will give every race fan in New Zealand, both old and young, the chance to go back in time and witness one of the sport’s greatest ever classes.”

Tomorrow marks the 16th Anniversary of the death of racing legend Denny Hulme. Hulme’s greatest success was winning the 1967 Formula One World Championship with the Brabham team. Hulme later went on to race for McLaren. He was CanAm champion in 1968 and 1970. Hulme suffered a massive heart attack at the wheel of a BMW M3 in the Bathurst 1000, making him the first Formula One World Champion to die of natural causes.

Born and raised on a tobacco farm belonging to his parents in Moteuka in the South Island of New Zealand. Hulme’s first car was an MG TF, which he promptly entered into hillclimbing events. After making impressive progress, he purchased a Cooper-Climax, subsequently being chosen for the New Zealand driver to Europe program. Once there, he worked as a mechanic in Jack Brabham’s garage in Chessington and began to pave his way on his motor-racing path.

After making an impact on the local scene, he came to Europe in 1960 with George Lawton on the ‘New Zealand Driver to Europe’ scheme, racing a Cooper in Formula 2 and Formula Junior around the Continent. Unfortunately poor Lawton was soon killed at Roskilde Ring but Hulme carried on before returning home to contest his local series early in 1961. He was soon back in Europe, appearing at Le Mans for the Abarth team, before the late great Ken Tyrrell invited the likeable (but sometimes gruff) New Zealander to race in his Formula 2 team. After some impressive performances there, it was his old boss Jack Brabham who gave Hulme the call, and he joined the Australian legend’s F2 team. The pair set about dominating the Championship that year, resulting in a one-two finish in the European Championship.

After making numerous appearances in non-championship events for Brabham, Denny finally got the call he had been waiting for, making his World Championship debut in 1965 at the famed Monza circuit in Italy. Later that year, he scored his first points, for fourth position at the daunting Clermont-Ferrand (Charade) circuit in France.

1966 was Hulme’s first full season of Formula One. Now, after the departure of Dan Gurney, he was the outright number two at Brabham behind Jack himself. Finishing a fine fourth that year, the highlights came. A third place at Reims in France, a second behind Brabham at Brands Hatch, and the fastest lap at Zandvoort, before ignition problems put paid to his race there.

The 1967 Championship was essentially an internal affair within the Brabham team for most of the year, but the new Lotus 49 gave Jim Clark and Graham Hill the opportunity to bite back. But two wins in the 11-race Championship, at Monte Carlo and the ferocious Nurburgring (the Green Hell), and a series of strong points finishes, gave Hulme the advantage. He won the Championship by five points from Brabham, and a further five from Jim Clark. Hulme was the first (and to date, only) Formula One World Champion from New Zealand.

Hulme’s first Can-Am championship came his way in 1968, taking victories at Elkhardt Lake, Edmonton and in Las Vegas and notching up 35 points. 1969 saw the McLaren team dominate the series; they won every race. In 1970, he took his second Can-Am title in difficult circumstances, as the team mourned the loss of Bruce McLaren who had died while testing a new Can-Am car (the M8D) at Goodwood. Hulme took the championship, with 132 points.

After leaving the sport, Hulme lead the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association) for a brief period, but the cut and thrust nature of the post was ill-suited to his gentlemanly nature and he did not fill the post for very long. He then retired to New Zealand, returning to touring cars in the early 1980s, driving for the concern of the well-travelled Scot Tom Walkinshaw, racing for his Austin Rover team in the European Touring Car Championship.

A favourite event of Hulme’s was the Bathurst 1000, held at the famous Mount Panorama track in Australia. In the 1992 event he was sharing a Benson & Hedges-sponsored BMW M3 with Paul Morris. After complaining of blurred vision Hulme suffered a massive heart attack at the wheel whilst travelling down the 200-mph Conrod Straight. After veering into the wall on the left side of the track, he managed to bring the car to a relatively controlled stop on the opposite side of the course. When marshals reached the scene they found Hulme still strapped in, dead, making him the first Formula One World Champion to die of natural causes.

He was always a shy man who never basked in glory, but instead was fair, subtle, and motivated by mechanics. He was a gentle giant who for many years showed just why his deft touch and excellent car control left him well deserved of his F1 crown in 1967.

Before 1960, he was know for his preference for driving barefoot and it was not until 1960 that people convinced him to start racing with shoes on. His nickname at the time was “The Barefoot Boy From Te Puke”