VIN: the Mach One Racing McLaren F1 GTR chassis 06R
History of chassis 06R
Chassis 06R was sold new to Moody Fayed, the nephew of British-domiciled Egyptian billionaire, Mohamed Al-Fayed.
One of nine 1995-spec. GTRs built, it was campaigned under the Mach One Racing banner by Dave Price Racing who also ran 03R for Thomas Bscher.
Sponsorship came from the world famous Harrods department store that Al-Fayed had acquired for £615m in 1985 as part of the House of Fraser Group.
Painted yellow and green, 06R was initially driven by Andy Wallace and Justin Bell. They were joined by Derek Bell for Le Mans where the car finished third overall and second in the GT1 class.
After Le Mans, Justin Bell was replaced for the Suzuka 1000km by Karl Wendlinger.
For the last three races of the season, Olivier Grouillard joined the Mach One crew. Grouillard had acrimoniously defected from the Giroix Racing Team and took sponsors Jacadi and Elf with him.
Wallace and Grouillard went on to win all three of the remaining BPR GT Championship races in 1995. Together they achieved victories at Silverstone, Nogaro and Zhuhai.
For the season finale in China, the team secured backing from San Miguel and 06R was switched to a one-off red and white livery.
During 1996 (now back in its familiar yellow and green Harrods colour scheme) the car was uprated to the latest specification.
However, the season got off to a bad start with three consecutive DNFs.
Despite a subsequent win at Silverstone and a sixth place finish at Le Mans, factions among the backers were unhappy with the programme. Bills were not being paid and McLaren started to withhold vital parts.
After round eight at Brands Hatch, 06R was not seen again.
Ten days before the Brands Hatch race, Mohamed Al-Fayed’s son, Dodi, had been killed in an accident that also claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. The pair had been en route to Dodi Fayed’s apartment after leaving his fathers hotel, the Paris Ritz.
With the Harrods backing gone, 06R was sold to Martin Veyhle Racing, a specialist BMW tuning firm in Stuttgart.
Now refinished silver and black, 06R contested a small number of races in the re-branded-for-1997 FIA GT Championship. With an influx of new manufacturer-backed cars that season, 06R was uncompetitive and the team soon switched to running a Lotus Elise GT1.
Later in 1997, 06R was sold to David Clark who was coming to the end of his role as Commercial Director of McLaren Cars.
Clark had 06R restored back to Harrods livery, converted for road use by Lanzante Motorsport and registered P440 CPJ.
Notable History
Dave Price Racing / Harrods Mach One Racing
Yellow & green Harrods livery
09/04/1995 BPR Jarama 4 Hours (A. Wallace / J. Bell) 4th oa, 4th GT1 class (#9)
23/04/1995 BPR Nurburgring 4 Hours (A. Wallace / J. Bell) 5th oa, 5th GT1 class (#9)
30/04/1995 IND Le Mans Pre-Qualifying (A. Wallace) 13th oa, 8th GT1 class (#51)
08/05/1995 BPR Donington 4 Hours (A. Wallace / J. Bell) 3rd oa, 3rd GT1 class (#9)
18/06/1995 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (A. Wallace / J. Bell / D. Bell) 3rd oa, 2nd GT1 class (#51)
27/08/1995 BPR Suzuka 1000km (A. Wallace / K. Wendlinger) DNF (#9)
17/09/1995 BPR Silverstone 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 1st oa, 1st GT1 class (#9)
08/10/1995 BPR Nogaro 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 1st oa, 1st GT1 class (#9)
Red & white San Miguel livery
12/11/1995 BPR Zhuhai 3 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 1st oa, 1st GT1 class (#9)
Yellow & green Harrods livery
03/03/1996 BPR Paul Ricard 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) DNF (#3)
24/03/1996 BPR Monza 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) DNF (#3)
14/04/1996 BPR Jarama 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) DNF (#3)
28/04/1996 IND Le Mans Pre-Qualifying (A. Wallace) 21st oa, 9th GT1 class (#29)
12/05/1996 BPR Silverstone 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 1st oa, 1st GT1 class (#3)
16/06/1996 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard / D. Bell) 6th oa, 5th GT1 class (#29)
30/06/1996 BPR Nurburgring 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) DNF (#3)
14/07/1996 BPR Anderstorp 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 4th oa, 4th GT1 class (#3)
25/08/1996 BPR Suzuka 1000km (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 3rd oa, 3rd GT1 class (#3)
08/09/1996 BPR Brands Hatch 4 Hours (A. Wallace / O. Grouillard) 2nd oa, 2nd GT1 class (#3)
Sold to Martin Veyhle Racing
13/04/1997 FIA Hockenheim 4 Hours (G. Ruch / A. Burgstaller / A. Grau) 16th oa, 12th GT1 class (#19)
11/05/1997 FIA Silverstone 4 Hours (G. Ruch / A. Grau) 14th oa, 11th GT1 class (#19)
25/05/1997 FIA Helsinki 3 Hours (G. Ruch / A. Grau) DNS (#19)
29/06/1997 FIA Nurburgring 4 Hours (G. Ruch / A. Burgstaller) DNS (#19)
Sold to David Clark
Returned to Harrods livery and converted to road use by Lanzante Motorsport
Registered P440 CPJ
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
