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1969 Over the winter, work began at Colnbrook on the 1969 car. McLaren privately saw Chapparal as a serious contender for this year and work was stepped up on improving the car. The M8B was essentially a tweaked M8A. It was lighter once more and, for the first time, an adjustable rear mounted aerofoil was fitted directly to the suspension. The engine was modified to give a little more power, up to 675 bhp, and a wider usable rev range. Externally, the M8B only differed from its predecessor because of the aerofoil and a new cut-away front wheel arch form which improved streamlining. Testing began in January and continued right up to the earlier season start in June. This gave the McLaren team a significant advantage over it's rivals.
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The series had now been extended to 11 races. Team McLaren arrived at Mosport in June and again proceeded to dominate. There were 11 wins from 11 races for the McLaren/Hulme pairing and the final tally for Bruce was 165 points to Hulme's 160. Third placed Chuck Parsons trailed on 81 points. The predicted threat from the Chapparal had never materialised and Bruce and Denny both admitted to being a little embarassed by their dominance - so much so in fact, that at the opening two rounds they had deliberately paced themselves to give the impression of 'mixing it' with the opposition. "We knew it was a little dangerous", said Bruce, "Because you don't normally race that way. I got caught out at St. Jovite where I ran into John Surtees. It cost me a pit stop which could have meant losing second place....after that we decided to stop fooling around so much!".
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