Track record rivals

Sir,

I very much enjoyed Alan Henry’s article on that most enduring of racing cars (Lotus 72:The Most Sumessful GP Car Ever, May) but would take issue with the claim embodied in the headline.

Yes, 20 wins is a formidable aggregate, but a more remarkable achievement in my mind is the 16-win total of the McLaren M23. Not only was the M2 3’s lifespan appreciably shorter than that of the Lotus, but its career also coincided with a period of Ferrari supremacy, the result of a flat 12 engine far more powerful than anything the 72 faced in its heyday.

The M23’s Grand Prix wins, for the record: 1973: Sweden (Anderstorp, Denny Hulme), Britain (Silverstone, Peter Revson), Canada (Mosport Park, Revson)

1974: Argentine (Buenos Aires, Hulme), Brazil (Interlagos, Emerson Fittipaldi), Belgium (Nivelles, Fittipaldi), Canada (Mosport Park, Fittipaldi) 1975: Argentine (Buenos Aires, Fittipaldi), Spain (Montjuich Park, Jochen Mass), Britain (Silverstone, Fittipaldi)

1976: Spain (Jarama, James Hunt), France (Paul Ricard, Hunt), Germany (Niirburgring, Hunt), Netherlands (Zandvoort, Hunt), Canada (Mosport Park, Hunt), United States East (Watkins Glen, Hunt).

I am, yours, Etc

Matt Bishop, London