Indy 500 legend Johnny Rutherford has been confirmed as the official ambassador with the McLaren-Honda-Andretti squad for their IndyCar effort programme in the month of May.
Rutherford, or โLone Star JR' as he is affectionately nicknamed, won the Indianapolis 500 three times, two of which were with McLaren, and was champion of the Indy Car World Series in 1980.
However, it is the 79-year-old Texan's victories at Indy for which he is most widely remembered.
His first win came in 1974, driving a Papaya Orange-liveried McLaren M16D, a feat he repeated in '76, driving a similarly coloured M16E. His third 500 victory came in 1980, driving the distinctive bright-yellow Chaparral 2K ground-effect car, which was designed by the British engineer John Barnard, who later became McLaren's pioneering technical director in the early 1980s.
For this year's Indy 500, Rutherford will once again don a McLaren team shirt for the month of May, working as the McLaren-Honda-Andretti team's official ambassador and guest of honour.
He will be fully engaged in the team's Indianapolis programme from a marketing and media perspective, offering his personal insight and experience as the operation embarks on its ambitious plan to run Fernando Alonso in one of the greatest and most illustrious motor races in the world.
โThe McLaren name still means a lot to me โ it has a very special place in my heart, in fact, for obvious reasons,โ he said. โSo when I heard that not only was McLaren heading back to Indianapolis โ after a near 40-year absence, and with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel, and that they would also be reviving the same, famous orange livery that was made famous by Bruce McLaren himself in the 1960s and '70s โ well, I was blown away. That's just neat, real neatโฆโ
โI'm thrilled and excited about โcoming home' to McLaren for the famous month of May, and I want to do everything I can to help make the team's return to Indy as enjoyable and successful as possible. Make no mistake, this is a fantastic story for IndyCar, for Formula 1 and for motor racing in general, so to be able to help play a small part in it is just fantastic.โ
โAnd the fact that McLaren is doing it in partnership with Andretti Autosport is the icing on the cake: the name โAndretti' means a lot to all racing people, and certainly to me. Not only has the team boss, Michael, achieved so much over his long career, but of course I raced his father, the great Mario, wheel to wheel for many years. I have great respect for both of them. I think everyone does.โ
