Denny Hulme remembered on anniversary of death
Denny Hulme drove with Paul Morris in the 1992 Bathurst 1000
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the day Denny Hulme died of a heart attack during the Bathurst 1000.
Among the hype of the 50-year celebrations of the touring car race at Mt Panorama, memories the great Kiwi driver remain vivid among the fans.
Hulme, who was 56, was driving with Paul Morris when the BMW M3 he shared veered off the circuit and scraped along the concrete wall down Conrod Straight before it coasted to a halt.
There was no impact, no contact with another car just an innocuous end to a life that was defined by a win in the 1967 Formula One World Championship.
He was transported to Bathurst hospital where he was pronounced dead before his compatriot Jim Richards went on to claim victory in the rain-soaked event that would be forever tarnished with sadness.
Hulme was a master steerer who climbed to the pinnacle of world motor racing at the wheel of a Repco Brabham.
The driver who was called ‘the bear’ in reference to his more uncompromising side, was awarded an OBE for his services to racing.
Hulme is one of the finest racing drivers New Zealand has produced with his F1 career with Brabham and McLaren stretching from 1965 to 1974.
He was a force in Can-Am racing during a period of legendary drivers including Mark Donohue and Peter Revson.
Through the 1980’s to his death Hulme had dabbled in various touring car categories among which he joined Frank Gardner’s JPS BMW team where he finished second in his class at Bathurst in the 1984 1000km enduro which was won outright by Peter Brock in the VK Commodore.
Recently the V8 Supercar chairman Garry Coleman remembered holding a special memorial mass for Hulme which attracted a long congregation earlier last decade.
See below for vision of Hulme from the 1992 Bathurst 1000.
