VIN: the BMW Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR chassis 21R
History of chassis 21R
Chassis 21R was one of four 1997 F1 GTRs supplied to BMW Motorsport.
In addition to having created the 6.1-litre engine for McLaren’s F1 supercar programme, BMW Motorsport had purchased three examples of the 1996 F1 GTR in anticipation of an attack on that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
For 1997, BMW Motorsport would again undertake a Le Mans programme, plus a full season of racing in the newly formed FIA GT Championship. Unlike the previous season where BMW’s cars were campaigned by the Italian Bigazzi outfit, 1997 would see Schnitzer Motorsport handle things.
21R was allocated to BMW Motorsport’s number one driving pairing of JJ Lehto and Steve Soper for five of the eleven FIA GT races in 1997. Together, Lehto and Soper would spearhead BMW’s challenge against domestic rivals Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, both of whom had developed reverse engineered GT1 prototypes that were very much against the spirit of the regulations.
At the season-opening Hockenheim 4 Hours, the new Merceds CLK GTR took pole, but Lehto and Soper dominated the event having started from second. They led for all but two laps and ultimately crossed the line 90 seconds clear of the Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren driven by Jean-Marc Gounon and Pierre-Henri Raphanel.
Round two at Silverstone one month later saw Lehto and Soper qualify fourth and finish third as the four hour race was stopped 40 minutes early owing to the torrentially wet conditions. Mercedes’ Bernd Schneider was leading at the time the red flag came out but the result was back-dated to the previous lap which meant the Schnitzer McLaren driven by Peter Kox and Roberto Ravalgia was declared the winner.
Round three, the Helsinki 4 Hours, took place two weeks later. On this occasion, Lehto and Soper started from pole and, when the two Mercedes dropped out of contention inside the first 60 minutes, 21R took its second FIA GT Championship win of the year.
At the Nurburgring 4 Hours five weeks later, Mercedes fielded a three-car team with the entry of Bernd Schnieder / Klaus Ludwig pipping Lehto and Soper to pole by a quarter of a second. On home soil, the Mercedes were clearly quickest; Lehto and Soper survived a late spin to finish third after one of the Mercedes retired.
Following this outing at the Nurburgring, Schnitzer headed for a test session at Zeltweg in the hope of clawing back some performance. However, during the course of 21R’s visit to Austria, the car caught fire while Lehto was at the wheel following a fuel spillage.
The damage was serious enough that 21R had to be returned to McLaren for repair. Meanwhile, Schnizter were forced to draft one of its Le Mans chassis in for the next few FIA GT races.
21R eventually returned to the fold for the 1997 season finale at Laguna Seca after chassis 26R (which Lehto and Soper had used for the last half dozen races) had itself incurred fire damage at the penultimate race of the year: the Sebring 3 Hours.
Prior to its call up for the race in California, 21R had been set to go on display at the Tokyo Motor Show.
During practice, Lehto and Soper went so badly in 21R that Schnitzer decided to split their title contenders for the race: Lehto joined Peter Kox in the sister while Soper and Roberto Ravaglia were partnered together in 21R which started down in eighth. Unfortunately, their race was hampered as four laps were lost having been hit by the Parabolica McLaren. In its final competitive outing, 21R crossed the line eleventh as Mercedes and Bernd Schneider bagged the 1997 Manufacturer and Driver titles respectively.
Notable History
BMW Motorsport/Schnitzer
13/04/1997 FIA Hockenheim 4 Hours (S. Soper / J.J. Lehto) 1st oa, 1st GT1 class (#8)
11/05/1997 FIA Silverstone 4 Hours (S. Soper / J.J. Lehto) 3rd oa, 3rd GT1 class (#8)
25/05/1997 FIA Helsinki 3 Hours (S. Soper / J.J. Lehto) 1st oa, 1st GT1 class (#8)
29/06/1997 FIA Nurburgring 4 Hours (S. Soper / J.J. Lehto) 3rd oa, 3rd GT1 class (#8)
26/10/1997 FIA Laguna Seca 3 Hours (S. Soper / R. Ravaglia) 11th oa, 11th GT1 class (#8)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
