VIN: the Gulf Racing McLaren F1 GTR chassis 20R
History of chassis 20R
Chassis 20R was one of three 1997 F1 GTRs originally supplied to the Gulf-backed GTC Motorsport team.
20R and 25R were owned by GTC, while chassis 22R was prepared by GTC for German banker, Thomas Bscher. Bscher brought backing from Davidoff so for 1997 all three cars appeared under the Gulf Team Davidoff banner.
Later in the season, chassis 24R and 28R also formed part of the GTC squad as a result of the original trio sustaining damage.
Driving chassis 20R, Jean-Marc Gounon and Pierre-Henri Raphanel picked up a second place finish in the FIA GT Championship season-opener at Hockenheim. They followed this up by going eighth fastest overall and second quickest in the GT1 class at Le Mans Pre-Qualifying three weeks later.
Unfortunately, at the Silverstone FIA GT race the week after 20R’s trip to la Sarthe, Gounon was hospitalised after he hit the Hangar Straight bridge during Sunday’s pre-race warm up. The Frenchman had moved offline to overtake another car, but with slick tyres on a drying track, he lost traction and span off. Gounon walked away, but was airlifted to hospital as a precaution.
Damage to 20R’s monocoque precluded it running in the next FIA GT race at Helsinki.
It was repaired in time for the Le Mans 24 Hours where Raphanel, Gounon and Anders Oloffson finished second overall to win the GT1 class.
Gounon and Raphanel then picked up a second place finish at the Nurburgring 4 Hours, but at the Spa race three weeks later, 20R was seriously damaged in an accident that eliminated the entire three-car GTC squad. Gounon was hit by team-mates Nielsen and then Olofsson after he span on the first lap; 20R was sent back to McLaren for its second ground-up rebuild of the year.
Thankfully, the remainder of the season was comparatively uneventful.
Following its rebuild, chassis 20R finished in the top six at all the final half dozen FIA GT Championship races that remained. Most notably, it claimed third overall at the Suzuka 1000km and fourth in the season-ending Laguna Seca 3 Hours.
At the end of the 1997 season, chassis 20R was retired from competition duty.
Today it forms part of McLaren’s Heritage Collection.
Notable History
GTC Motorsport (Gulf Team Davidoff)
13/04/1997 FIA Hockenheim 4 Hours (J.M. Gounon / P.H. Raphanel) 2nd oa, 2nd GT1 class (#3)
04/05/1997 IND Le Mans Pre-Qualifying (J.M. Gounon / / P.H. Raphanel) 8th oa, 6th GT1 class (#41)
11/05/1997 FIA Silverstone 4 Hours (J.M. Gounon / P.H. Raphanel) DNS (#3)
15/06/1997 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (P.H. Raphanel / J.M. Gounon / A. Olofsson) 2nd oa, 1st GT1 class (#41)
29/06/1997 FIA Nurburgring 4 Hours (J.M. Gounon / P.H. Raphanel) 5th oa, 5th GT1 class (#3)
20/07/1997 FIA Spa 4 Hours (J.M. Gounon / P.H. Raphanel) DNF (#3)
03/08/1997 FIA Zeltweg 4 Hours (P.H. Raphanel / A. Olofsson) 5th oa, 5th GT1 class (#3)
24/08/1997 FIA Suzuka 1000km (P.H. Raphanel / A. Olofsson / J.M. Gounon) 3rd oa, 3rd GT1 class (#3)
14/09/1997 FIA Donington 4 Hours (P.H. Raphanel / J.M. Gounon) 6th oa, 6th GT1 class (#3)
28/09/1997 FIA Mugello 4 Hours (P.H. Raphanel / J.M. Gounon) 6th oa, 6th GT1 class (#3)
18/10/1997 FIA Sebring 3 Hours (P.H. Raphanel / J.M. Gounon) 5th oa, 5th GT1 class (#3)
26/10/1997 FIA Laguna Seca 3 Hours (P.H. Raphanel / J.M. Gounon) 4th oa, 4th GT1 class (#3)
McLaren Heritage Collection
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com
