Motorsport: Booth ready to tame unique Can Am monster

Two-time New Zealand V8 Champion Andy Booth will take a step back in time to make his Hampton Downs V8 race debut. Photo / APNZ

Two-time New Zealand V8 Champion Andy Booth will take a step back in time to make his Hampton Downs V8 race debut when he drives one of the country's most important historic racing cars.

Booth, who will compete in the inaugural V8 SuperTourer series that kicks off at the Waikato track in February, will race the unique McLaren M1A/B Can Am car during the second race weekend of the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing on January 27/28/29.

The car itself - owned by historic racing enthusiast Paul Halford - represents a unique slice of Kiwi motorsport history. It was originally a customer car built for the American owner as an M1A. When the owner saw Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon go quicker in their M1B specification cars he asked Bruce to send him a M1B body so as he could fit it to his car and have the latest specification. When his request was declined, he crafted his own - and the body on the car today is the very same handmade M1B aluminium copy that was built for the car and raced all those years ago.

Booth, who has never raced the car or any other Can-Am, is a huge fan of the era and is relishing the prospect of taming the 500 horsepower monster.

"I consider it a real honour to be invited to drive the M1A/B and very much see my role as one of demonstrating the car at pace to an audience of enthusiasts. It's not about seeing just how fast it can go or putting anything at risk so I'll be making sure there's always enough real estate around me. At the same time though we're not out there for a Sunday drive and people want to see and hear these things in anger. Its noise alone is spine tingling."

Can-Am was one of the pre-eminent series of the sixties and seventies in Canada and America (hence the Can-Am abbreviation) and the cars were noted at certain circuits to be considerably faster than Formula One cars of the same period. McLaren machines, designed and built in UK by Kiwi Bruce McLaren, were at the forefront of technical development and the championships for many years. They remain a huge drawcard for generations of fans.

"Reading about the Can-Am era as a kid always fascinated me," added Booth. "The idea of completely open rules and increasingly huge horsepower was something that I thought was just awesome. Obviously the legendary domination of the McLarens was also a major fact of my interest.

"You can't hide the overwhelming sense of history when driving a car like this but also just how much things have changed! Driving the M1A/B is a bit like sitting in half a 44 gallon drum with a 500+ horsepower V8 strapped to the back so you do feel more than a little vulnerable. But for sheer thrill power, there's nothing like a Can-Am."

The festival runs over two weekends, January 20/21/22 and 27/28/29 and has attracted more than 300 entries.