VIN: the Team Lark / Yoshio Tsuzuki McLaren F1 GTR chassis 13R
History of chassis 13R
Backed with a fistful of Philip Morris cash, McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, teamed up with Kazumichi Goh for a factory-backed assault on the 1996 Japanese GT Championship.
Goh would run a two-car team under the Team Lark McLaren banner. The cars (a pair of the latest ‘96-spec. GTRs) would be sponsored by the Philip Morris cigarette brand, Lark, and painted a fabulous grey and pink livery.
Naoki Hattori and Ralf Schumacher drove chassis 13R while chassis 14R was allocated to team-mates David Brabham and John Nielsen. There would also be a spare car (04R) which had been brought up to 1996 trim.
Although the regulations meant McLaren were restricted to running 200kg of ballast and engines with just 550bhp, the F1 GTRs won four out of six rounds in 1996. Schumacher and Hattori notched up three of these in 13R (Suzuka, Sugo and Mine), but thanks to greater consistency, the title fell to Brabham and Nielsen despite only winning once (at Fuji).
After the season was over, 13R was sold to Yoshio Tsuzuki for his ZAZ Museum in Nagoya.
Tsuzuki was the CEO and founder of ZENT. To this day, the company owns and runs a substantial number of large amusement and entertainment halls throughout Japan.
When he purchased 13R, Tsuzuki also owned a white F1 road car (053), an orange F1 LM (LM2) and a burgundy F1 GT (58F1GT).
13R remained in Japan until 2005, when it was sold to an Australian collector.
A German collector then purchased the car in 2009 and arranged for McLaren to convert it for road use.
It was subsequently sold to a UK collector in 2011.
Notable History
Team Lark McLaren
Pink and grey Lark livery
31/03/1996 JGT Suzuka 300km (N. Hattori / R. Schumacher) 1st oa, 1st GT500 class (#60)
04/05/1996 JGT Fuji (N. Hattori / R. Schumacher) DNF (#60)
30/06/1996 JGT Sendai (N. Hattori / R. Schumacher) 22nd oa, 15th GT500 class (#60)
11/08/1996 JGT Fuji (N. Hattori / R. Schumacher) DNF (#60)
06/10/1996 JGT Sugo (N. Hattori / R. Schumacher) 1st oa, 1st GT500 class (#60)
27/10/1996 JGT Mine 250km (N. Hattori / R. Schumacher) 1st oa, 1st GT500 class (#60)
Sold to Yoshio Tsuzuki, Nagoya
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Super GT World - https://supergtworld.wordpress.com/
