For his 1974 debut with his new team McLaren built 1972 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi today’s featured car the McLaren M23 chassis M23/5.

At the season opening Argetinian Grand Prix Emerson qualified a a promising 3rd on the grid but finished a disappointing 10th, while his team mate Denny Hulme qualified only 10th but won the race.

Next there were championship and non championship races in Brazil and Emerson won them both starting from pole and 2nd on the grid respectively.

Having failed to score in South Africa and finished 3rd in Spain all driving M23/5 Emerson then won the Belgian Grand Prix in the same car and took the lead in the points standings for the first time during the 1974 season.

Emerson held the championship lead for the next four races until the 1974 French Grand Prix which was won by Ronnie Peterson driving a Lotus 72, retrieved from the Ark, ahead of the resurgent Ferrari 312 B3’s driven by Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni who both displaced Emerson at the top of the table.

Emerson raced #M23/5 for the last time at the French Grand Prix where he started 5th but retired.

After the 1974 German Grand Prix, won by Clay Regazzoni Emerson had dropped to fourth in the standings behind Clay, Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda.

Denny Hulme started the 1974 German Grand Prix in chassis #M23/6 but crashed into the back of team mate Emerson on thegrid of the opening lap which left Denny no option but to abandon the car and Emerson no option but to try and complete the opening 14 mile lap with damaged rear suspension.

When Denny returned to the pits he jumped into #M23/5 and set off in pursuit of the field, it took the German race officials two laps to realise what Denny had done and disqualify him from what transpired to be #M23/5’s final race appearance.

At the Italian Grand Prix, won by Ronnie in the Lotus, Emerson finished second to take third in the Championship standings, Ronnie who had won three races was fifth in the standings.

Emerson then won the Canadian Grand Prix to jointly lead the championship standings with Clay going into the final round of the championship run at Watkins Glen.

Neither championship contenders Clay Regazzoni of Jody Scheckter added to their point’s totals in the United States Grand Prix and so a 4th place finish was enough to secure a second World Drivers Championship title for Emerson and a first World Constructors title for McLaren.

Emerson is seen at the wheel of his favourite McLaren at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed where he described #M23/5 as his ‘favourite’.

Thanks for joining me on this “Emmo’s Favourite” edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again for Maserati Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !