Graham McRae 1940-2021
Posted: 04 Aug 2021, 19:18
In the same boat as Chris Craft and Keith Greene, Graham McRae wasn't someone I'd previously been aware of - mainly because he was from New Zealand and did most of his racing in Formula 5000.
But he had an eventful 1973, competing in the British Grand Prix and the Indy 500 - qualifying for both, but also retiring from both. That one F1 start was for Frank Williams Racing Cars, using the Iso-Marlboro IR, which was reworked into the Williams FW(01) the next year - though in this instance it spluttered to a halt with a throttle problem on the first lap, thus avoiding a nine-car pile-up and saving Frank's wallet (slightly), and putting Graham McRae in the Marco Apicella league of bona fide F1 Rejects.
But he had an eventful 1973, competing in the British Grand Prix and the Indy 500 - qualifying for both, but also retiring from both. That one F1 start was for Frank Williams Racing Cars, using the Iso-Marlboro IR, which was reworked into the Williams FW(01) the next year - though in this instance it spluttered to a halt with a throttle problem on the first lap, thus avoiding a nine-car pile-up and saving Frank's wallet (slightly), and putting Graham McRae in the Marco Apicella league of bona fide F1 Rejects.