Muscle Man
Introduction
Graeme Lawrence is a difficult driver to pigeonhole. He excelled in almost everything that he raced. He usually had the best equipment, but he always maximised the car’s performance to obtain the best possible result. Having the best equipment was not because he was born with a golden silver spoon, but because Lawrence knew it was the best way to deliver results and keep his sponsors happy. Careful preparation, a wise head and a cool temperament equalled a high level of consistency that led to many race victories and championships.
An open wheeler racer by choice, Lawrence excelled in the junior classes in his native New Zealand before graduating to the rough and tumble of European F2. That may have been a step too far, but the lessons learnt in Europe would hold him in good stead on his return to the Antipodes. A Tasman Series win in the 2.4-litre V6 Ferrari 246T against the might of the 5.0-litre stock block V8 F5000 brigade led to a season in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, better known as the Can-Am in a big brute of a 7.0-litre Chev V8 McLaren. There would be multiple wins in Formula Atlantic cars in South-east Asia and ultimately F5000 which, as you will read in Part 2 in the next issue, not only almost killed him, but unwittingly made him the founder of the ‘Lola Limp Club,’ a dubious honour! AMC visited the man they call Shag at his home in Hamilton, New Zealand recently for this exclusive interview.
Early days
Graeme Lawrence was born on Christmas Day in 1940 in Whanganui, on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, 200km north of Wellington. The eldest of four boys, the family briefly moved to Wellington during the war and then Hamilton before moving back to Whanganui when Graeme was seven. Father Doug had run taxis before working for de Havilland during the war and then established a business fixing up and selling cars from home. Motors and motorsport were a constant in the family from the very beginning, as Lawrence reflects.
“Dad was interested in speedway and would often go down to Palmerston North. My brother Tony (15 months younger) and I taught ourselves to drive an old ’39 De Soto around town while Dad was away. His business was going well and soon he had the dealer franchises for Citroën, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot and Trojan trucks. At the age of 15 he let me drive a Citroën Light 15 at a gymkhana and I beat him!
Lawrence Senior had racing aspirations of his own. He bought a wrecked Triumph TR2 and put on a Mistral fibreglass body, that had been built by Bob Blackburn of Christchurch. He
