Mika Hakkinen Can Am Challenge (On-Track) 

Mika Hakkinen is one of my most favorite F1 drivers hands down. His dry sense of humor and humility is lost in modern F1.

Nika is the most underrated F1 Champion! I think he's every bit as good as Schumacher. He never cheated or pulled a cheap maneuver ever!

Great compliments to the Big Block Chevrolet engines that powered these cars. He's correct about the never ending torque. This series of races led to the development of a whole host of heavy duty parts that Chevy engineering produced for the BBC that was available for anyone to buy from the heavy duty parts catalog.

What Mika meant to say , is he is humbled and shocked by a 49 year old rocket ....... these cars were true race cars .....no computer shit , just mega torque and horsepower and the balls to take them to the absolute limit .............

Great car, great driver

Mika the legend " I want to go flat out!" Love it!!

I attended several Can-Am races in 1971 and 1972, I saw the best Mclaren cars and the Porsche 917-30, I was at Watkins Glen and Mid Ohio it was a great series

big block chevy L-88 with over 800hp, pure joy of sound and fury.

What a treat to have the Dan Gurney raced Can Am McLaren doing laps at Laguna Seca.

Back when race cars were chassis, and not the whole package, and the drivers had to shift for a living!

Geezzz. The M8s were/are so beautiful.

"I wanna go flat out.", he's a racing driver alright!

Two legends! Mika was always just so smooth, and those McLaren Can-Am cars were beastly.

And, at Laguna Seca… great vid

As a child in the late 60s and early 70s, I attended several Can-Am races at the late, great Riverside raceway. My enduring memory is the visceral sensing of those cars when underway, even before you could see them. You felt vibration in your gut while Dad was still looking for a parking spot. The roars of engines penetrated all other sounds, and you’d have sworn they were driving right up on you instead of being clear on the other side of the course. To a kid’s mind, it seemed like they were alive, not machines.

I remember this race in 1970. It was my intro to CanAm. Followed it up watching with the '73 race where the Donahue's Porsche 917/30 made everyone else take their toys and go home.

what a pleasure to watch Mika in a McLaren! Such a great driver in such an iconic car!!

Such a cool and talented Champion. A beast of a race car. Bring back Can-Am

One can see why Mika was/is so fast. Smooth, and has slow hands (he waits for the turn in point and then one movement, feeding it in). He quickly learned the lines. I could watch him all day. "Gearbox is slow but OK, it works. But I was hitting the limiter too often"

That was very cool. I grew up watching Can Am cars at Mosport.

Heck with that F1 stuff. Hearing his down shifts and seeing him with those intake trumpets is perfect !

Finally!!! After watching some of these videos as the owner of M8F -1-72 for several years its nice to hear someone actually drive one of these cars like it was meant to. You never forget the sound and its true what Mika said they just keep accelerating no matter what gear you have them in if your on the power band. The M8F had a 4sp Hewland gear box and the 5 spd would be better on such a tight course. Brings back so many wonderful memories, the challenge of going faster each and every lap listening to the what the engine rpm is telling you, sliding across the track on turn 9 under the bridge at Brainerd. Such an amazing experience that I could never share with anyone because today's small format camera's didn't exist back when I drove my car. You could feel the rubber peeling off the rear tires like someone was slipping a piece of paper under your ass, an experience only driving the actual car will give you. Great job on the camera and especially the sound.

Oh the massive Torque..

The first race I ever attended was the 1970 Mosport Can-Am, won by Gurney. So, I would have seen this very car. Seeing an entire field of Can-Am cars was spectacular, especially on the first lap.

Excellent, thanks

Magic on board cameras. powerful race car!

I was a big Mika fan when he was in F1. He used to eat Ferraris for breakfast. I heard a story that the only way McLaren could get him in the simulator was to put a red car in front of him on the screen. Mika is an absolute legend.

I m quite sure he s not pushing very hard but I can see he is very fast. Great driving and great shifting with that old gerabox! Mika is a great driver

That was friggin awesome! Thanks for posting!! Love those CAN AM .. Good to see Mr Brown and Mika.

You should have 970 thousand subscribers. To boomer-aged racing fans, this video is priceless.

Unbelievable, one of the best cars from the can-am series with one of the best driver in the world. Worked as a pit marshall for the SCCA and was at the 71 race at Laguna Seca when Peter Revson won the 71 title .

Strapping in to a Big Block Go Kart like this for the first time would be massively intimidating to a regular guy like me. Hakkinen does it and hammers the throttle with a smile.

I was at Road Atlanta when George Folmer flipped the McLaren on the back stretch. Still have the pictures. Watched him walk away from it. One of the most incredible crashes I ever witnessed. The 917 won that day. The sound of engines of that series cannot be matched.

Mika just gets in & drives. No trouble changing gears .

I got to see this car race with Hulme driving in 1971 at Riverside. Wish this demo drive could have been at a track like Road Atlanta or Elkhart Lake (to bad Riverside is no more) where the cars could really open up! No matter, this was great to watch - thank you for this! Can-Am was my favorite series, so this was kind of like a walk down memory lane. Nice job!

I like when the subtitles say “music” ✅

I don't have favorite drivers. I am my favorite driver. But, if I did. Mika would be one. Humble, funny, nice and a great driver.

I got to see that car race as a kid.

Mika Hakkinen was loving it. That looks like so much fun. But man, what a monster of a car. Being an Aussie, I'd heard about an American racing series called Can Am when I was young, but we never saw it in Australia. It's only recently, now that we have the awesome resources of online video platforms, that I've looked it up. It's a racing series for drivers with big, church bell sized brass cojones. The female drivers too. Friggin' 900hp big block V8s in cars weighing less than 1000kg on 300mm+ racing slicks. Now that's fantasy racing.

This is for all those clowns who eep saying that modern drivers would shit themselves in the cars. A good driver is still a good driver, whatever the era.

god if they did another series like can am with the same requirements could you imagine what manufacturers would come up with today if they cars still look crazy in 2023

Never underestimate those big block motors....the torque inertia is incredible it pulls you around the corners

This was very cool to see $ Thx #Mika & #ZackBrown

Mika is my favorite driver bar none!!

what a machine.....pure power and style....and hard work with it...

Denny Hulme 67 world F1 Champions favourite cars. He loved driving them,. He drove the very best too. Loved them even when their front wheels came off the ground.

Well Done Mika. Great drive mate. We love you down in Australia. Please come and race down under again soon.

Mika, that must have been fun! Come back and drive one in the vintage races.

This video told me more about how good the driver is than all his years in F1.

Had the pleasure of watching a little Can Am at Laguna Seca in the early 60's !! Love the sound !

my favourite race car of all time love this amazing car

CanAm. Was the pinnacle raw visceral power.

It has a soul.

😍 just awesome!

Two legends.

Great car, great era of racing. Porsche 917/30 still swamped McLaren and other cars, with over 300 to 500 horsepower more. McLaren had 800, Porsche had 1100 to 1500, depending on boost

One of my favorite cars at y favorite track

I would love to see Mika Back in F1

Beautiful Driver!! Crazy Race Car! American Style!

Mahtava pätkä! Mun suosikki Can-Am -auto jo lapsesta 1976 saakka, jolloin sain joululahjaksi peltisen 1:18 pienoismallin! Marvelous video! My all time favorite Can-Am car since 1976 when I got 1:18 scale die cast toy for christmas gift which I still have!

Anyone noticed the amazing sound?

Glar to see the Corkscrew* from the drivers view point. All too often track videos of laps a Laguna Seca jump from the drivers view to the cars negotiating the down hill left right. I dont follow F1 anymore. Haven't for decades. When it got to the point that the only passing was when the leaders lapped the back of the field I lost interest. But back in the late 60s early 70s I was nuts about two racing series and one race. The CanAm and TransAm from that era are the two best racing series that were ever run in North America. It wasn't just the cars. It was the fan base. As to the one race. Well Indy is THE American automotive racing event. There is one thing the SCCA missed out on IMO. Up until around 1970 the majority of the pony cars were sold with 6 cylinder engines. In th he past I've thought that if they had set up a companion series with engines limited to 3.75 liters/228 cubic inches and 6 cylinder engine type open to any body that met the Sedan A specs in terms of wheel base etc they would have had a potential winner. It also might have led to lighter weight six cylinder performance cars in the US. The V-8 still would be king but it would have been interesting. *I initially typed in Carousel getting Laguna and Elkhart confused in my mind.

Got here after driving this car in Grid on my PS4....really fun car!!! The Porsche 917/30 is a beast though almost uncontrollably powerful

Such beautiful music..........

Good stuff, good times! Both era's...

I agree with Andy as well. Very good driver!

This is where it sometimes began. Time image. Mika Häkkinen and Mika Salo and Jyrki Jarvilehto (JJ. Lehto) drove karting cars.In 1979, Finland, Helsinki, Keimola race track. Taru Rinne (girl) won the karting championship in 1979. The film is in Finnish and about Mika Salo . Salo first and Hakkinen at 3:16 and taru at 10:30 Mika Salo also drove formula one successfully and replaced the injured Michael Schumacher Taru is the first woman to reach the World Championship points in the World Championships in track motorcycling. Taru Rinne was chosen as the legend of women's motorcycling in 2017 by the International Motorcycle Federation FIM and was awarded at the FIM Awards Gala in Andorra on November 26, 2017) (Taru Rinne had a bad accident in the Paul Ricard race. He recovered from driving, but received a letter from Bernie Ecclestone, who at the time decided who would be allowed to take part in the series. The letter said Rinne will not be involved in the World Championships next year. This ended his career at the top level, and Rinne later said that letter was the biggest disappointment in his life.) Finland is a small country (5.5 million) but a lot of good drivers ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KoxUlPCUuhY.html

Great video. Mika certainly mastered that gearchange pretty quick .Would love to see him really pushing it to limit! He certainly is the Real Deal!

Bad assed. Nothing but love for the godfathers of racing cars.

These were the fastest road course cars in the world when new. Imagine Can-Am cars with carbon brakes, paddle shifting, hydraulic suspension and such... they would be fastest today also.

Oh to be a f1 legend 🙌

2:00 what a cool camera angle 📐

A Legend driving a Legend.

Look how close to death you are the entire time, brilliant! 👏 One can only dream about driving a beast like this

That would have been so much fun

A true master at work. He makes it look easy and we all know it damn sure isn't.

Now that Mika has driven the "family" car, get him into a real car, the 1973 Porsche 917/30.

The very first race that I ever attended was the Mosport Can-Am on June 14, 1970, only 12 days after Bruce McLaren died testing a similar car at Goodwood. Dan Gurney won the race, and then won again at St. Jovite two weeks later in this same car. If I recall correctly, Gurney only drove for McLaren in the first two races of that season before a sponsorship conflict between Castrol and Gulf caused him to be replaced by Peter Gethin.

Nice speech at the end :)

Checkered Flag Films: more of this please! Old masters driving legendary cars at premier circuits!

Unreal.....

I am Half Finn, myself, and I have always wondered Why we have had so many world championship drivers from Finland?....Finns HAVE A SPECIAL STRENGTH CALLED Sissui, I guess...LOL

Mika the man👍👍👍👍

the pipes towering over him at 3:16

Mika said that this car had a 5-speed gearbox, but I recall that it was a 4-speed. Not sure now.

Nika was very impressive fir the first time in a Can Am car.

He smiles... nice.

They made 69 1969 Zl-1 Camaros and 2 1969 Zl-1 Corvettes with basically the same all aluminum L88 engines. The Camaros cost more than every car GM made in 1969 except a fully loaded Cadillac Eldorado convertible mostly due to the cost of making the all aluminum blocks.

Love me some Mika and McLaren!!

It would have been nice to see Mika's foot work too!

"The Finn on a Kiwi" The beautiful color of the iconic newzelander brand. 1970... Led Zeppelin III & Deep Purple In Rock. Damn, I'm such a romantic...

Wonder how he would feel after driving that car at the original 1.9 mile track. Turn 1, 2 and 3 were very difficult to get perfect.

The quickest gentleman ever seen on a F1 car.

No paddle shifters on this one Mika. 😂 Great drive.

mika is like that cool grandpa 🔥

Such a shame its namesake was killed in this awesome car. RIP Mr McLaren.

Hyvä Mika!

Yes. Fuck Yes.

Mika is the cleanest driver!

I saw the Trans AM cars race at Michigan International Speedway in 1974 .. I was 13 years old ..