Dear Barton et al,
Re: >What was the
>genesis and evolution of Ron Dennis' position at McLaren? I don't know
>the story, but after the death of Bruce McLaren in 1970, I was under the
>impression that control of the company was somehow shared among Pat
>(Bruce's widow), Tyler Alexander, and Teddy Mayer. It was certainly
>Mayer who ran the F1 end of things through the '70s and, I think, well
>into the '80s.
>
>Ron Dennis had started as a mechanic with the team way back in the mists
>of time. Somehow he managed to acquire the lucre necessary to achieve
>his present position, and what the hell ever happened to Tyler
>Alexander?
As I haven't seen any other answers, allow me to respond briefly. Dennis ran
Project Four racing a team with interests primarily in Formula Two amongst
other things with big backing by Marlboro by the time it came to the lte
1970s/early 1980s. The team also ran the BMW M1 ProCar which a Marlboro
sponsored Niki Lauda used to win the one make championsship for the Bimmer
supercar. (Pedants will note that lauda often qualified high enough to drive
one of thw works M1s and usually preferred this to the Project 4 Car at GP
supporting races when it was available).
Anyway, with McLaren in the doldrums after the McLotus M28 which was good in
fast corners but these had been abolished by that stage and so never ran
well, the M29 which finished fourth at Silverstone on its debut in 1981 and
then had a dreadful follow on season where John Watson had endless problems
and the young Alain Prost debuted the McLaren M30 only for its suspension to
collapse because it had been pop riveted in (I kid you not), Project Four
took over McLaren with the old guard of Meyer et al being bought out. John
Barnard was a pivotal figure as designer and the cars actually became known
as Marlboro Project Four Racing initially although the McLaren name
eventually crept back into the frame. Hence all the Ron Dennis cars are
McLaren MP4-something or others, while Teddy Meyer or Bruce McLaren
McLaren's were M-something or others.
Hope this clarifies the situation.
Regards,
Patrick
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