Guide: Second Wind - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Nissan R390 Long Tail

<<<NISSAN PORTAL
<<<R390 / 98 LONG TAIL PORTAL

BACKGROUND

After their disappointing run at Le Mans in 1997, TWR and Nissan pledged to return in 1998 with an uprated R390: more speed and improved reliability was the order of the day.

The R390 programme had begun in September 1996 when Nissan contracted TWR to create and race a GT1 car at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1997 and 1998.

By the time the R390 was ready, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz had both muscled in on the GT1 class with machinery that paid only lip service to the rules as this was supposedly a category for road-going production cars.

The 911 GT1 and CLK GTR moved the goalposts in GT1 and, to some extent, Nissan followed suit with the R390.

However, unlike those German machines, Nissan’s R390 was originally designed as a road car and then transformed into a racer. By contrast, Porsche and Mercedes built fully fledged competition cars that were then reverse engineered to make them street legal.

In addition to Porsche and Mercedes, both of whom spent heavily to further improve their cars for 1998, Toyota were also developing a scratch built GT1 car for Le Mans.

TWR and Nissan would therefore have their work cut out to catapult the R390 into the fastest GT1 challenger.

TWR began their 1998 Le Mans programme in mid November of 1997 with a shakedown test at Donington. Jorg Muller and John Nielsen were on driving duty. The R390 had been equipped with an improved Xtrac gearbox and an updated ABS system.

At the end of the month, nine drivers were present for a series of 24 hour tests at Mugello followed by more of the same at Barcelona in the middle of January.

In early March, Nissan announced that their 1998 Le Mans programme would be expanded to a four car entry.

Two weeks, later the uprated R390 Long Tail emerged for its debut test at Monza.

BODYWORK

Most obviously new was the 1998 variant’s extended rear bodywork; this brought both aerodynamic benefits and enabled the R390 to better accommodate the air tight 125-litre luggage area demanded by the regulations.

It had been the Le Mans organiser’s insistence on this luggage rule being respected that forced a late redesign of the original R390 after pre-qualifying in 1997.

A subsequent lack of testing before the 24 Hours meant TWR were unaware that re-routing the exhaust to free up luggage space would cause the solder that held the oil cooler together to melt. This proved a problem that could not be overcome during the race.

To homologate the revised Long Tail bodywork, TWR had to produce at least one similarly updated R390 road car. Accordingly, the original red street version constructed in 1997 was fully rebuilt to the latest configuration.

The extended rear bodywork had a cleaner aerodynamic profile than before and added 140mm to the R390’s overall length.

A reworked tail fascia was shrouded from above by an integral full width spoiler. The four main light clusters were mounted on distinctive cylindrical pods.

For the road version, single exhausts per side were located in each corner of the tail fascia. These were re-routed to become side exiting pipes for the racer.

Four large vents on the tail fascia improved cooling and an updated rear diffuser increased downforce.

Elsewhere, the bodywork was little changed: a pair of NACA ducts were carved out from the front lid and the sills were cut away behind each front wheel.

The revamped road car was painted dark blue and variously ran the registration numbers N15 MOB and R390 NIS. Nissan once again raised the possibility of building customer versions at $1m apiece, but none were sold.

As in 1997, the racing version was equipped with a deeper front spoiler, additional spot lights, a rear wing mounted on twin central pylons and the smallest possible wing mirrors.

CHASSIS

The R390’s modified carbonfibre monocoque from the Jaguar XJR-15 was unchanged.

Suspension was via double wishbones at all four corners with inboard shocks and coil springs. Spring rates in the road-going version were softer than the race car and ride height was raised by about an inch. Anti-roll bars were installed at either end.

AP Racing supplied the ventilated 14-inch carbon brake discs and six piston calipers.

An improved ABS system was fitted along with switchable traction control and non power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering.

The road car got new BBS twin spoke wheels that measured 18 x 8-inches at the front and 19 x 10.5-inches at the rear.

BBS wheels were also used for the racing version (11 x 18 front / 13 x 18 rear).

All were of the centre-lock variety and shod with Bridgestone tyres.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Having chosen to resurrect the VRH35Z engine from Nissan’s Group C programme, the R390’s revamped VRH35L version was uprated from 641bhp in 1997 to ‘over 650bhp’ for 1998.

Once again, the road-going unit was quoted as producing 550bhp at 6800rpm with a torque rating of 470lb-ft at 4400rpm.

Twin turbocharged with dual overhead camshafts, four valve light alloy cylinder heads and a magnesium alloy block, this 3.5-litre 90° V8 displaced 3495cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 85mm and 77mm respectively.

Compression was 9.0:1 and there was electronic fuel-injection and twin IHI turbochargers.

Both variants used an updated transversely mounted Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and limited-slip differential.

1998 LE MANS PRE-QUALIFYING

1998 Le Mans Pre-Qualifying took place over the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd.

Nissan returned to la Sarthe with a three car team. They also loaned another chassis (R1) to Nova Engineering. This car would be driven by Mauro Martini and Satoshi Motoyama.

As for the trio of brand new cars, chassis R6 was on hand for Erik Comas / Jan Lammers / Andrea Montermini, chassis R7 for Kazuyoshi Hoshino / Aguri Suzuki and chassis R8 for Franck Lagorce / John Nielsen.

Other works GT1 teams present included a three car outfit from Toyota (GT One), a pair of revamped Porsches (911 GT1-98) and two of the further uprated Mercedes CLKs that were now in LM trim.

Despite the revisions made to the R390 since 1997, lap times appeared to suggest Nissan had been leapfrogged by the latest generation of cars from their rivals.

Fastest overall time went to one of the Porsches. Toyota were second, Mercedes third, Porsche fourth and Toyota fifth.

Quickest of the R390 Long Tails was chassis R6 of Comas / Lammers / Montermini which was three seconds off the pace in sixth overall. Chassis R8 (Lagorce / Nielsen) was seventh and R7 (Hoshino / Suzuki) eighth.

The quickest LMP1 entry was the JMB Ferrari 333 SP in ninth, which demonstrated just how rapidly the GT1 cars had evolved over the previous couple of years.

Chassis R1, driven by Martini / Motoyama, was 16th overall and twelfth in the GT1 class.

1998 LE MANS 24 HOURS

After a final shakedown test at Donington in late May, the R390 Long Tails were trucked down to Le Mans for the annual 24 Hour race which was held over the weekend of June 6th and 7th.

Having attended Pre-Qualifying in a plain light blue colour scheme, the three works cars arrived wearing a light blue and white chequered livery.

Chassis R6, R7 and R8 were handled by TWR and chassis R1 was campaigned by Nova Engineering who ran their car in a green and silver colour scheme.

Pole position went to Mercedes with Toyota second, another Mercedes in third followed by the pair of Porsche 911 GT1-98s in fourth and fifth.

The Nissans were tenth (chassis R8: John Nielsen / Franck Lagorce / Michael Krumm), 13th (chassis R6: Jan Lammers / Erik Comas / Andrea Montermini), 14th (chassis R7: Kazuyoshi Hoshino / Aguri Suzuki / Masahiko Kageyama) and 19th (chassis R1: Masami Kageyama / Satoshi Motoyama / Takuya Kurosawa).

Despite having been eclipsed by the latest GT1 cars in terms of single lap pace, reliability proved the strong suit of the R390s in 1998.

By the third hour, all three TWR cars were running in the top ten.

Thereafter, only minor problems for the European-driven cars hampered progress.

By contrast, the Hoshino / Suzuki / Kageyama entry (R7) ran faultlessly to finish third overall and become the first all-Japanese crewed car to claim a podium at Le Mans.

Nielsen / Lagorce / Krumm placed fifth overall in chassis R8 with Lammers / Comas / Montermini sixth in R6.

The semi-works Nova entry finished a delayed tenth overall.

First and second positions went to the works Porsche 911 GT1-98s.

POST LE MANS

Although the R390 failed to deliver the Le Mans victory Nissan desired, the 1998 result went some way to rectifying the disappointment of 1997.

After 1998, the Le Mans rules were changed and the GT1 class was abandoned because, what had started as a category for genuine production models, had effectively morphed into pure prototype racing.

With Nismo and G-Force Technologies in England, Nissan developed the unsuccessful LMP-class R391 for 1999.

By early 2000, Nissan had abandoned sports car racing altogether. The firm instead decided to focus their attention solely on the Japanese GT Championship.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Nissan - https://www.nissan-global.com

Guide: Group C for the Street - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Dauer 962 LM

<<<DAUER PORTAL
<<<962 LM PORTAL

BACKGROUND

Converting racing prototypes into road-going specials has produced some of the most exciting cars in history.

Up until the late 1960s, when most competition machinery was still equipped with everything required for road use, getting these cars street legal was often no more complicated than attaching a set of number plates.

However, as ever more extreme competition cars emerged, the job of transforming them into useable road cars became considerably more time consuming and expensive.

With relatively high construction numbers and excellent parts availability, Porsche’s 962 inevitably became the Group C platform of choice for street-legal conversions.

Around 100 962s were eventually sold and, because of such a large customer programme, practically every component was available off-the-shelf.

This paved way for a variety of well-known tuning companies including DP, Schuppan and Koenig to offer their own interpretations of a road-going 962.

Perhaps the most successful exponent though was Dauer Sportwagen, the firm established by ex-962 racer, Jochen Dauer, after closing his racing team in early 1991.

Dauer already had several used chassis in his possession and others were purchased direct from Fabcar and Porsche who, by this time, had almost completely wound down the 962 operation.

After several months of development, the Dauer 962 LM was officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1993.

Porsche had been helpful in an unofficial capacity, assisting Dauer source parts and providing a degree of technical advice. However, in December 1993, the collaboration was stepped up a notch.

Le Mans GT1 regulations of the day required only one road-going example of a vehicle to have been produced in order for a racing version to be homologated. The rules also allowed GT1 cars to run engines of up to 600bhp which was 100bhp more than than the supposedly premier LMP1 class. Additionally, GT1 permitted fuel tanks that were 50% bigger than LMP1.

With this in mind, senior Porsche motor sport engineer, Norbert Singer, was convinced that a factory-prepared Dauer 962 LM would have a very good chance of winning the 1994 Le Mans 24 Hours.

A deal was struck.

In return for helping Dauer achieve type approval for the 962 LM, Porsche would be permitted to race Dauer 962s at Le Mans. The competition cars would be built at Weissach and entered under the Le Mans Porsche Team banner. Joest Racing would help manage the on-track operation.

As soon as the Le Mans governing body found out about Porsche’s plan, they unsuccessfully tried to scupper the move.

However, they did manage to introduce a flat-bottom rule for the GT1 class that banned ground effect devices within a car’s wheelbase. As ground effect was how the 962 derived most of its downforce, Porsche had to create a rebodied variant known as the Dauer 962 LM Sport to run at la Sarthe.

It proved worth the effort and the two cars finished first and third at Le Mans that summer.

Meanwhile, Jochen Dauer received the factory assistance he needed to get the 962 LM through Germany’s strict type approval process.

CHASSIS

Dauer built each car around a standard Porsche 962 aluminium honeycomb monocoque.

Suspension was via double wishbones with adjustable dampers and anti-roll bars.

Special hydraulics allowed the driver to raise and lower the car at the touch of a button; this was a mandatory requirement as, in standard trim, the 962 was far too low to meet the minimum ride height in Germany.

The suspension automatically lowered the car from its raised height at speeds beyond 80kmh.

An ABS braking system was installed along with enormous 330mm Brembo cross-drilled-and-ventilated discs and four piston calipers.

18-inch Speedline forged alloy wheels measured 10 and 11-inches wide front to rear respectively. They were originally shod with Pirelli P Zero tyres.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Engine-wise, the same three-litre water-cooled Flat 6 from the race car was used.

It came equipped with two intercooled KKK turbochargers that offered three alternative levels of boost.

Displacement remained unchanged at 2994cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 95mm and 70.4mm respectively.

Softer cams were fitted along with open-loop catalytic convertors.

TAG engine management was custom mapped and compression was set at 9.0:1.

In this configuration, the engine produced 730bhp at 7400rpm and 517 lb-ft at 5000rpm.

In addition to the standard five-speed manual gearbox, Dauer later offered a system that combined the normal 962 transmission with Tiptronic S-type buttons mounted on the steering wheel.

BODYWORK

Given the original 962 ranked among the most handsome prototype racing cars of all time, no wholesale cosmetic changes were deemed necessary.

Nevertheless, Dauer did replace the original shell with a subtly reworked carbon Kevlar body designed by Achim Storz.

Among the many detail changes were a re-profiled nose and re-shaped headlight cowls.

The wing mirrors were moved from the cockpit sides to the tops of the front fenders.

The cockpit profile was unchanged.

A new hinged tail section mimicked the low drag 962 typically used at Le Mans.

All told, Dauer’s revamped bodywork had a drag coefficient of 0.31.

INTERIOR

The snug leather-clad cockpit featured two carbon fibre seats, a detachable steering wheel and full racing harnesses.

Whereas 962 racing cars used a right-hand gear shift, Dauer relocated the gear lever to between the seats.

A proper air-conditioning system was installed and a rectangular luggage compartment built into the left-hand door housed two carbonfibre suitcases that were included in the price.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Each car typically weighed in at between 1030kg and 1180kg depending on the final specification. This compared to 900kg for a 962 racer and gave Dauer’s LM a better power-to-weight ratio than the McLaren F1.

0-62mph took just 2.6 seconds and the top speed of 251mph was set on Volkswagen’s Ehra-Leissen test track in 1997.

LAUNCH & PRODUCTION

Upon introduction, the price for a 962 LM was quoted as DM 1.36m (equivalent to £553,000 or $853,000 at the time). The McLaren F1 was £640,000.

Six examples were built and the first five were sold to the Sultan of Brunei.

The Brunei consignment included one in yellow (chassis 133), one in green (chassis 141), one in silver (chassis 151), one in black (chassis 172) and one in red (chassis 175).

One final 962 LM was built in 2001 around the same time Jochen Dauer began to offer his revamped Bugatti EB110s.

This car (numbered 962.8.001 and built on an experimental chassis purchased from Porsche) was sold to a Swedish customer. It was unusually finished in lacquered bare carbon with yellow stripes.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Dauer Sportwagen

Guide: Maximum Attack - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the McLaren F1 GTR 97

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR 97 PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

Despite having been arguably the most consistent supporter of Prototype and GT racing during the second half of the 20th century, no other manufacture simultaneously had such a destructive impact on the sport owing to the creation of myriad rule-bending models conceived to dominate rivals.

Among the most notorious of these was the 911 GT1, a purebred racing car designed from the ground up to monopolise a production-based GT scene which had recently undergone a major revival after years in the doldrums.

When the 911 GT1 made its debut during the spring of 1996, GT racing was contested by privateer teams running lightly modified versions of genuine road-going production cars. However, Porsche decided to try and obliterate the opposition by developing a scratch built Prototype which was reverse engineered into a road car. Upon completion, the German firm decided to go racing with a fully fledged works team.

As Porsche's Customer Motorsport Director, Jurgen Barth, was on the committee of the BPR series which had spearheaded the resurgence of GT racing, the 911 GT1 was scandalously permitted to compete during the second half of 1996. What seemed an outrageous development was then compounded when Mercedes decided they too would build a GT1 class contender along similar lines.

The reason for Porsche and Mercedes’ decision? Thus far the BPR series had been dominated by McLaren’s F1 GTR which domestic rival BMW made a big noise about supplying the engines for.

As if the impending influx of thinly veiled factory Prototypes did not cast enough of a shadow over the sport, for 1997 the BPR series was to be taken over by the FIA who began to meddle with homologation requirements; now, so long as one road going car had been completed, manufacturers had to complete the remainder of a 25 unit run within twelve months of the season ending. Fortunately, this did not apply to already homologated GT1 cars like the McLaren.

Despite the landscape having radically changed, neither McLaren or BMW wanted to throw in the towel and although the F1 would be at an inherent disadvantage owing to its road car roots, the two firms decided to develop the most extreme GTR yet within a few weeks of the Porsche 911 GT1’s debut at Le Mans Pre-qualifying in April 1996.

Accordingly, in May 1996 it was announced that McLaren would develop a heavily uprated F1 GTR in conjunction with BMW who were to finance the operation and subsidise the existing retail price of £680,000.

At this stage it was thought the F1 GTR 97 would feature radical new downforce-inducing front and rear body sections, much revised suspension geometry and a sequential transmission instead of the road-based synchromesh manual gearbox. A major weight reduction programme was also in the pipeline while, in order to nullify the advantage afforded to forced induction engines, a twin turbo V8 was expected to replace the existing normally aspirated V12.

Ultimately, the idea for a twin turbo V8 was quickly abandoned and the suspension was only lightly tweaked but practically every other development was pursued with rigorous detail. Specifically for Le Mans, McLaren also developed an ABS system, the cost of which was as big as every other aspect of its 1997 programme combined.

To take the challenge to the factory Porsche and Mercedes teams, in late October of 1996 BMW Motorsport announced its Schnitzer satellite outfit would run a brace of cars in both the FIA GT Championship and at the Le Mans 24 Hours (which since 1993 had been a standalone event). McLaren was to provide extensive support for the operation. Schnitzer would be backed up by Ray Bellm’s GTC Motorsport team although at this stage it was not clear what level of support GTC would receive.

Because the F1 had already been homologated into the GT1 class, McLaren would not have to build 25 road-going examples of its revamped challenger, just one, and the new F1 GT road car was seen testing for first time during the second week of November.

The F1 GTR 97 then broke cover during the third week of November when McLaren unveiled a stunning black machine emblazoned with pink and yellow stripes. This car (chassis 19R) subsequently ran for first time on November 18th when David Brabham conducted a 20 lap shakedown at Brands Hatch prior to departing for a proper test at Jerez later that week.

After three-and-a-half days of testing at Jerez (at which point 19R was still running a ‘96-spec. motor) McLaren predicted the new car would be three seconds per lap faster than its predecessor.

Following an intenstive test and development programme, the F1 GTR 97 made its competition debut when Parabolica Motorsport contested the opening round of the 1997 British GT Championship at Silverstone during the first week of April.

CHASSIS

Each 1997 GTR was based around McLaren’s F1 carbon composite monocoque.

Double wishbone suspension ran with solid aluminium bushes, co-axial springs, light alloy Bilstein dampers and an anti-roll bar at either end. As before, the entire set-up was fully adjustable, but for this latest iteration McLaren widened the track by 59mm up front and 96mm out back. In accordance with the new regulations, ride height was increased to 70mm.

Whereas Carbon Industrie discs had been available in 1996, for 1997 McLaren made the switch to Brembo items with uprated eight instead of four-piston calipers. These latest carbon ceramic discs retained a 380mm diameter at the front and 355mm diameter at the rear.

Also new were 15-spoke wheels to replace the original five-spoke items used in 1995 and ‘96. They once again measured 18 x 10.85-inches at the front and 18 x 13-inches at the rear.

A 100-litre FIA fuel cell as per the 1996 car was carried over.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Because of the advantages afforded to turbocharged engines by the BPR / FIA GT regulations, McLaren and BMW had been jointly developing a twin turbo V8 for 1997. However, this new power unit was ultimately abandoned in October 1996 after a satisfactory solution to match the performance of normally-aspirated and forced induction engines was agreed upon. This new-for-1997 air restrictor rule saw the power advantage afforded to turbo cars in prior years radically reined back.

Also brought in for the 1997 season was a six-litre engine limit which meant the existing 6064cc motor would have to be re-configured to a smaller capacity. This was achieved thanks to a stroke reduction of 1.06mm (from 87mm to 85.94mm) which meant the BMW Motorsport 60° V12 became even more responsive. The cylinder bores retained an 86mm diameter for an overall displacement of 5990cc (a reduction of 74cc).

TAG management software was re-mapped to suit the revised engine’s characteristics and a new exhaust system was installed. As a consequence, these latest motors (still designated Type S70/3) were able to produced an identical 600bhp to the 1996 version, but now at 200rpm less (7300rpm as opposed to 7500rpm). The torque rating was, however, slightly inferior with 524lb-ft at 5600rpm compared to 527lb-ft at 4500rpm previously.

The engine’s other characteristics were unchanged: dry-sump lubrication, dual overhead camshafts for each bank of cylinders, four valve heads, variable valve timing and an 11.0:1 compression ratio.

Where the 1997 GTR gained a good portion of its substantially improved performance was in the gearbox department; instead of a six-speed manual unit, the new car came with a six-speed sequential ‘box supplied by X-trac.

Transmission was through an AP Racing triple-plate carbon clutch with an aluminium flywheel and a Torsen limited-slip differential.

BODYWORK

Although the mechanical changes adopted for 1997’s F1 GTR were not insignificant, the most radical alterations concerned its bodywork.

Without building an entirely new car, McLaren could do nothing to reduce the size of the F1’s expansive windscreen which put it at a massive disadvantage to Porsche and Mercedes, but the potential was there to significantly increase downforce.

With this in mind, the fore and aft body sections were dramatically extended which added well over half-a-metre to the new car’s length.

Up front, the 1997 GTR’s nose was completely re-profiled. From the headlights it sloped down to a slimmer, more air-piercing leading edge at the base of which was a giant chin spoiler that wrapped all the way around to the front wheel well. Shorter, wider intakes were also added.

To incorporate the wide track axles, all four fenders were subtly flared while the flanks and skirts were necessarily reworked to optimise airflow.

In addition to the aforementioned increased ground clearance on the 1997 car, the 110m added to the height of this latest GTR was accounted for by a dramatic roof-mounted engine intake snorkel.

Changes at the re-modelled back end were arguably even more striking where McLaren stretched the tail out to a full metre beyond the rear axle which was the maximum permitted by the rules. Fully integrated to this was a massive upswept spoiler above which was a new twin pylon-mounted wing while the tail’s sidewalls were dramatically sculpted inwards.

INTERIOR

Several new features could be found in the cockpit of these 1997 GTRs, the most noticeable of which was the new sequential gearshift mechanism mounted in the same position as before but now with a much taller lever, a dimpled gear knob and exposed shift linkage.

Other revisions for this latest iteration of the GTR included a non-glare grey composite dash (instead of alcantara), purely alcantara as opposed to leather / alcantara upholstery on the driver’s seat, an updated switchgear layout and superior cool air blowers.

As you would expect, the cockpit was stripped of all superfluous luxuries and the analogue instrumentation from the original F1 road car was replaced with a digital Stack read out.

Most of the switchgear was housed on the aforementioned carbonfibre panel off to the driver’s right-hand side in what was originally the passenger seat footwell. More electrical equipment along with a plumbed-in fire system was located where the right-hand passenger seat usually resided.

Just one single-piece composite bucket seat was installed along with a six-point harness. Other safety gear included a fully integrated roll cage.

Lightweight single piece Lexan windows were fixed in position.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Although McLaren had managed to remove 38kg in the transition from 1995 to 1996 GTR trim, a further 97kg was cut for these 1997 variants despite the substantially longer and wider bodywork. They tipped the scales at 915kg compared to 1012kg for the 1996 version and 1050kg for the 1995 version.

Top speed was 197mph and 0-62mph took comfortably under three seconds.

PRODUCTION

As had been the case in 1995 and ‘96, it was expected eight customer examples of this latest GTR would be built in addition to the prototype. Of these, four were destined for Fina-backed Schnitzer / BMW Motorsport, two were allocated to the Gulf / Davidoff-backed GTC operation and one to privateer Thomas Bscher (which GTC would also run at the behest of BMW).

The final example was originally reserved for Kuzumichi Goh’s team which had joined up with McLaren to win the 1996 Japanese GT Championship. However, that car went to Parabolica Motorsport and Goh ended up renting the prototype for its solitary outing at the Suzuka 1000km.

A ninth customer car (and tenth unit assembled) was then built up mid-season for GTC who suffered a series of mishaps with its original brace of entries.

COMPETITION HISTORY

The F1 GTR 97 made its competitive debut thanks to a one-off British GT Championship appearance by the Parabolica Motorsport car in which Gary Ayles and Chris Goodwin drove away from the field to take an easy victory.

Thereafter, teams focused on the eleven round FIA GT Championship and the stand-alone Le Mans 24 Hours.

1997 FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP

Although it was Porsche that had been first out of the blocks with a purebred GT1 racing car, the German firm went on to have a terrible season in the 1997 FIA GT Championship and failed to score a single win.

Instead, honours were split exclusively between McLaren and Mercedes-Benz.

The BMW Motorsport operation won the first three races of 1997 thanks to JJ Lehto / Steve Soper (round one at Hockenheim and round three at Helsinki) and Peter Kox / Roberto Ravaglia (Silverstone).

From round four though, the AMG Mercedes squad began to realise the potential of their CLK GTR and won six of the remaining eight races that year to McLaren’s two. As Bernd Schneider was behind the wheel for each of Mercedes’ victories he emerged as the 1997 Drivers’ Champion on 72 points compared to Steve Soper’s 59.

In the Manufacturer standings, Mercedes finished the year with 110 points, BMW Motorsport were second with 85 and the GTC Motorsport squad were third on 37 (two points ahead of the factory Porsche crew).

McLaren did not contest the 1998 season in which Mercedes blew Porsche away. GT1 entries for 1999 were so low that the FIA scrapped the category and that year’s championship was organised to GT2 regulations.

1997 LE MANS 24 HOURS

Mercedes elected not to contest the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours which left McLaren and Porsche to challenge the LMP class cars as the premier GT1 contenders.

Unfortunately, mechanical problems cost the F1 GTRs any chance of outright victory. Nevertheless, the GTC Motorsport entry of Jean-Marc Gounon, Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Anders Olofsson came home in second place, one lap behind the same LMP class TWR Porsche WSC-95 run by Joest Racing which had won in 1996.

Third overall and second in the GT1 class went to the BMW Motorsport F1 GTR of Peter Kox, Roberto Ravaglia and Eric Helary. The final podium spot in GT1 went to Schubel Engineering’s privateer Porsche 911 GT1 which finished fifth overall in the hands of Pedro Lamy, Armin Hahne and Patrice Goueslard.

OTHER 1997 RACES

In September 1997, the Le Mans governing body organised a non-championship 4 Hour race at la Sarthe which was won by John Nielsen and Thomas Bscher driving Bscher’s privately owned GTR prepared by GTC Motorsport.

The same car and driver pairing also won the end-of-season Challenge Endurance Italia Vallelunga 6 Hour race in November.

POST 1997 COMPETITION HISTORY

After 1997, official involvement with the F1 GTR 97 came to an end and it was left to privateers to race the Long Tail McLaren. Thomas Bscher continued to run his GTC-prepared car and picked up a number of good results. Alongside co-driver Geoff Lees, Bscher was a frequent top six finisher in the FIA GT Championship and won the opening round of the inaugural GTR Euroseries: the Jarama 4 Hours.

The EMKA Racing outfit of Pink Floyd manager Steve O’Rourke purchased an ex-GTC machine for the 1998 British GT Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. O’Rourke and Tim Sugden finished fourth overall at Le Mans (fourth in GT1) and scored myriad British GT podium finishes to include a win at Oulton Park.

F1 GTR 97s continued to race in privateer hands until 2005.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com

Guide: Final Fight - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the McLaren F1 GT

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GT PORTAL

BACKGROUND

On April 28th 1996 Porsche showed up at Le Mans Pre-Qualifying with a new car that went completely against the spirit, if not the letter, of the GT1 regulations.

To stimulate manufacturer participation in GT racing during difficult economic times, rule makers had slashed production requirements to just a single type-approved example.

Porsche had already done rather well from selling GT2 and GT3 class 911s, but McLaren’s domination of the premier GT1 category since 1995 (powered by BMW Motorsport engines) was a position the Stuttgart firm could not allow to go unchallenged.

Whereas GT1 cars up until this point (McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Venturi 600 LM et al) had by and large been adaptions of models created first and foremost for road use, the resultant 911 GT1 was a reverse engineered Sports Prototype with minimal concessions for type approval and no real prospect of any meaningful production run.

Having obviously been sand-bagging at Le Mans Pre-Qualifying, the two 911 GT1s went on to demonstrate their potential at the 24 Hour race in June where the two works cars finished second and third overall for a comfortable one-two in the GT1 category.

Despite misgivings about the direction the sport was taking (and being at an inherent disadvantage that stemmed from the F1’s road car origins) the 1996 Le Mans proved a catalyst for McLaren to create the most extreme F1 GTR yet in anticipation of a 1997 season when Mercedes would join Porsche by fielding their own next-gen GT1 contender.

McLaren were no strangers to the homologation game having produced a small batch of F1 LM road cars that paved the way for the 1996 F1 GTR. However, 1997’s challenger would be a much more radical step forward.

To homologate the ‘97 F1 GTRs considerably longer and wider downforce-inducing bodywork, McLaren created a type approved road-going version to satisfy the rulemakers: the F1 GT.

Although only one production example had to be built in order to satisfy the homologation requirements, the F1 GT was a properly and expensively engineered variant that McLaren made available to anyone with enough money to buy one.

BODYWORK

The GT’s most obvious departure from F1s of old was its new aerodynamically-optimised body that added 641mm of length and 120mm to the width of McLaren’s standard offering.

An elongated air-piercing nose featured a much lower leading edge, a shallow intake duct below the badge for the newly installed radiator, a re-profiled apron that housed two wide brake intakes and a massive exposed carbonfibre chin spoiler.

Further up, the F1 LM’s simple cutaway fender vents were substituted for bigger intricately contoured louvres that covered a much wider surface area.

The front lid, light units, windows, doors and exterior mirrors were all carried over from the standard F1 road car (although the mirrors were mounted on new pylons).

Flared arches were required at either end to cover the GT’s much wider track: 52mm was added at the front axle and 110mm at the rear. The beefier fenders gave the GT a pronounced Coke-bottle side profile with semi-running boards added behind the doors.

As a consequence of its three-abreast seating layout, the F1’s expansive windscreen was much bigger than the Sports Prototype-style bubble canopies adopted by the new generation of GT1 cars. However, it was something that could not be changed without creating a brand new carbonfibre monocoque which was out of the question.

McLaren further enhanced the F1 GT with a bigger roof-mounted air snorkel that ducted even more air into the engine bay. The NACA duct found at the trailing edge of rear window was of the GTR / LM type but the vents on the engine hatch behind were slightly reconfigured.

Out back, the F1 GT’s much longer tail assembly was completely new and replaced the truncated original seen on every prior iteration of the F1. It housed a full width fully integrated lowline spoiler, two massive NACA ducts, a new meshed tail fascia and an apron that incorporated a cutaway profile and pair of fully integrated canards. The rear apron also had to accommodate a massive underbody venturi which necessitated a re-routed exhaust system.

INTERIOR

Unlike the F1 LM homologation special produced for 1996 (which had a specification pared back to the bare bones), the GT retained all the luxuries of the standard F1 car.

The famous 1+2 cockpit layout featured a carbon composite seat moulded to the owner.

Directly behind the non-airbag three-spoke steering wheel was a binnacle that housed all the instrumentation and some of the switchgear. A central 8000rpm rev counter was flanked to the right by a 260mph / 400kph speedometer and to the left by a combined read out for fuel, oil pressure and water temperature. There was also an array of warning lights plus two digital read outs linked to the on board computer.

A trio of toggle switches were located either side of the binnacle. The remaining switchgear was housed on central control panels either side of the driver. The F1’s vast windscreen and generous side windows gave unusually good visibility for such a high performance car.

Alcantara suede was used for the upper dash with a mix of exposed carbonfibre, Connolly leather and carpet elsewhere.

Standard equipment included air-conditioning, electric windows, a special lightweight Kenwood stereo with ten CD shuttle, a titanium Facom toolkit and tailored luggage.

CHASSIS

Like every iteration of the McLaren F1, this latest variant was built around a carbon composite safety cell to which the engine attached as a load-bearing member via two monocoque shoulder beams.

A new front crash structure was required in order to accommodate the GT’s extended nose which incurred considerable expense.

Instead of standard 17 x 9 and 11.5-inch wheels, the F1 GT ran GTR-sized 18-inch diameter rims that measured 10.85-inches up front and 13-inches at the back.

After the F1 GT prototype appeared with split rim wide-spoked OZ Racing wheels, the company supplied a slender new production-spec. narrow-spoked wheel complete with neat GT insignia.

Track was widened by 52mm at the front and 110mm at the rear. Goodyear F1 tyres were OEM equipment.

Whereas the 1997 F1 GTR ran carbon brake discs with eight-piston calipers, the GT road version used the existing set-up that comprised unassisted cross-drilled and ventilated steel brake discs of 332mm diameter at the front and 305mm at the rear. The discs along with the four-piston monobloc aluminium calipers were supplied by Brembo.

The rest of the specification was similarly unchanged.

Suspension was via double wishbones formed from solid aluminium alloy.

At the front, McLaren’s Ground-Plane Shear Centre featured unequal-length double wishbones that supported a machine cast-aluminium hub carrier. Each front suspension wishbone was connected to a subframe via plain bearings. The frame itself was four-point mounted to the carbon monocoque via purpose-designed elastomeric bushes.

Rear suspension loadings were fed via the transaxle and engine assembly into the central monocoque with drive and braking loads accepted via axially rigid bulkhead mountings. Torsional loads were absorbed via Inclined Shear Axis mounts into the shoulder beams each side of the engine.

Aluminium alloy was also used for the lightweight monotube gas-pressurised dampers produced specially for McLaren by Bilstein.

An anti-roll bar was installed at the front only.

A 90-litre fuel tank was positioned between the driver’s seat and the engine.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Unlike the 1997 F1 GTR (which ran a smaller short stroke 5990cc engine in line with new regulations) and the F1 LM (which had a de-restricted 680bhp version of the regular 6.1-litre unit) the F1 GT used the same Type S70/2 engine found in the standard McLaren F1 road car.

This spectacular dry-sumped 60° V12 was supplied to McLaren by BMW Motorsport. It displaced 6064cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 87mm respectively and utilised dual chain-driven overhead camshafts, four valve cylinder heads and variable valve timing.

Intake control was via twelve individual butterfly valves and operation of the continuously variable camshafts was based on BMW’s VANOS system.

Each cylinder used twin fuel injectors managed by sophisticated TAG software.

Aluminium alloy was used for the block and heads with magnesium for the cam carriers, cam covers, oil sump, dry sump and camshaft housings.

With a compression ratio of 11.0:1, peak output was 627bhp at 7500rpm and 479lb-ft at 5600rpm.

16 grams of gold were used to line the engine bay as this was the best heat insulating material available.

Transmission was via an AP triple-plate carbon clutch with an aluminium flywheel, a Torsen limited-slip differential with 40% lock and a transversely mounted six-speed manual gearbox developed with Traction Products of Costa Mesa, California. The gearbox was housed in an aluminium alloy casing.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Despite its more expansive bodywork, the F1 GT reputedly tipped the scales at 20kg less than a regular F1 (1120kg compared to 1140kg).

With its high downforce body, top speed would likely have been in the region of 225mph (down from 241mph).

Acceleration figures would have been identical to the standard car: 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds, 0-100mph in 6.3 seconds and 0-150mph in 12.8 seconds.

OPTIONS

In addition to the normal mix of leather and alcantara surfaces plus whatever colour combination was desired, McLaren offered the F1 GT with a couple of options hitherto unseen. Both of these featured on the prototype (chassis 56 XP GT): a new ribbed seat centre pattern option with perforated inserts (today dubbed the GT Interior) and leather covered instead of exposed carbonfibre safety cell sidewalls.

PRODUCTION

Although McLaren had incurred major expense by creating what was a new type approved version of the F1, only three examples were ever built.

The Silverstone Green prototype completed in early 1997 (chassis 56 XP GT) was followed by two copies, both of which were ordered by VIP customers and delivered later that year.

Chassis 54 F1 GT was a Black example dispatched to the Sultan of Brunei who had already taken delivery of five F1 road cars , three F1 LMs and an F1 GTR that McLaren painted to match the 1995 Le Mans winner.

Chassis 58 F1 GT was a Dark Burgundy F1 GT built for Japanese industrialist Yoshio Tsuzuki. It joined an F1 road car, F1 LM and F1 GTR at Tsuzuki’s ZAZ Museum in Nagoya.

COMPETITION HISTORY

The eleven race FIA GT Championship of 1997 saw the BMW Motorsport-run McLarens emerge victorious at four of the first five races (Hockenheim, Silverstone, Helsinki and Spa). By contrast, Porsche were nowhere and Mercedes had bagged just a solitary win (at the Nurburgring).

However, the second half of the season was another story as Mercedes got their act together and scored five wins to McLaren’s one (which came at Mugello). This meant Mercedes’ Bernd Schneider was crowned Drivers’ championship with 72 points compared to 59 for the BMW Motorsport-run McLaren’s of Steve Soper and JJ Lehto.

It was a similar story in the Teams’ championship where AMG Mercedes scored 110 points compared to 85 for BMW Motorsport and 37 for Gulf Team Davidoff.

At Le Mans, the F1 GTR took a class one-two where the Gulf-backed entry of Jean-Marc Gounon, Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Anders Olofsson missed out on victory by a solitary lap.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com

Guide: Retaining the Advantage - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the McLaren F1 GTR 96

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR 96 PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

Although the McLaren F1 was never designed with racing in mind, a GTR competition version was eventually created as the result of pressure applied by existing and potential customers.

This first iteration of the F1 GTR was rushed out in double-quick time and was little more than an F1 road car with beefed up suspension, bigger brakes, a stripped-out interior, a rollcage and a downforce-inducing aero kit. The development budget had in fact been so small that just a single day was spent wind tunnel testing.

Nevertheless, the F1 GTR went on to become the dominant car in the 1995 BPR GT Championship winning ten out of twelve events. Even more impressive though was McLaren’s debut appearance at the stand-alone Le Mans 24 Hours where F1 GTRs finished first, third, fourth, fifth and 13th.

However, these statistics only told half the story.

During the course of 1995, Ferrari’s F40 GTE proved itself the quicker car in terms of single lap pace. Only poor reliability and a smaller contingent of the ageing Ferraris stopped the season being a much closer affair.

Although Ferrari were known to have a second iteration of the F40 GTE in the pipeline, the news from Maranello that a GT1 version of the F50 was in development posed an even greater threat to McLaren’s superiority.

Meanwhile, over in Germany, Porsche had already released digital renders of an extreme GT1 version of their 993. Even at this early stage, it was clear the rule benders in Stuttgart were reverse engineering a fully fledged Sports Prototype into a GT1 contender..

Back in Woking, McLaren knew they would need to develop an updated F1 GTR for 1996.

The most radical rule change for 1996 concerned engine power; to rein some of the GT1 cars back in, the BPR authorities mandated bigger air restrictors. However, this was not an across-the-board mandate - while the air restrictors for Ferrari’s twin turbo V8 were enlarged by 0.5mm, those on McLaren’s normally aspirated V12 were enlarged by 2.1mm.

With the F1 GTR therefore expected to be well down on power compared to the F40 (and any other turbocharged rival that may appear), McLaren planned to make the GTR much quicker around corners.

With this in mind, the number one priority was to reduce the original GTR’s 1050kg weight. Attention was also paid to lowering the engine’s centre of gravity, upgrading the suspension and creating more downforce.

The resultant F1 GTR 96 was announced in late November of 1995 at a price of £680,000. It was homologated by the release of an F1 LM road car, six examples of which were produced (one prototype and five customer cars).

Existing GTR customers could enhance their 95-spec. car with an upgrade pack that retailed at £148,000 and was expected to come on stream in April.

McLaren unveiled the F1 GTR 96 during the first week of February. As had been the case with chassis 01R the previous year, the machine on show (chassis 10R) would be retained in an official capacity for test and development duty. The eight customer cars would start being delivered during the following weeks.

CHASSIS

The starting point for each GTR 96 was McLaren’s carbon composite monocoque.

For this latest iteration, the suspension pick-up points were moved within the prescribed 20mm limit and front ride height was further lowered by an additional 15mm (now 60mm lower than an F1 road car at the front and 40mm lower at the rear).

The rest of the specification was much as before.

Unlike the F1 road car, the GTR’s double wishbone suspension ran with solid aluminium instead of rubber bushes. Co-axial springs with Bilstein dampers were fitted all round along with anti-roll bars at either end. The entire set-up was fully adjustable.

Similarly, bigger brake discs and uprated calipers were fitted (all supplied by Brembo). Front disc size was 380mm (up from 332mm) and the rears were 355mm (up from 305mm).

Both steel and optional Carbon Industrie discs were available (although the latter were not legal in some championships).

The road car’s Anti-lock Brake System was removed as per the regulations.

Centre-lock OZ Racing magnesium wheels were carried over from the previous year. Compared to the F1 road car, wheel diameter was increased from 17 to 18-inches and width rose from 9 to 10.85-inches at the front and from 11.5 to 13-inches at the rear.

The standard 90-litre fuel tank was switched to a 100-litre safety cell.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Perhaps the most significant mechanical upgrade applied to the GTR 96 was its engine / gearbox assembly which was now mounted 50mm lower in the chassis.

Significant attention was also paid to improved engine cooling and reduced internal friction.

As per the previous year’s version, the GTR 96 used a Type S70/3 version of the all-alloy BMW Motorsport 60° V12 instead of the S70/2 unit fitted to the F1 road car.

Like every McLaren F1 motor, the GTR engine ran dry-sump lubrication, dual overhead camshafts for each bank of cylinders, four valve heads and variable valve timing.

Displacement was an unchanged 6064cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 87mm respectively.

An 11.0:1 compression ratio was also retained, but the TAG management software was re-mapped in light of the enlarged air restrictors for 1996.

Peak output figures were unchanged from the previous year with 600bhp at 7500rpm and 527lb-ft at 4500rpm.

To save weight, the GTR’s straight-cut six-speed manual gearbox was now housed in a magnesium instead of aluminium casing. Stronger shafts, thicker wall casings and wider gear wheels were also installed.

Transmission was through an AP Racing triple-plate carbon clutch with an aluminium flywheel and a Torsen limited-slip differential.

BODYWORK

Externally, McLaren further refined the GTR to provide more downforce. Crucially, it became more tuneable than before.

Understeer was reduced thanks to a more aggressive chin spoiler that extended the GTR’s overall length by 80mm. The rulemakers had come up with the ‘80mm beyond-the-body’ ruling for 1996 after McLaren had spent a lot of money homologating a new nose for its F1 LM.

Elsewhere, bigger front wheelarch extensions were installed and the re-profiled rear spoiler now came with larger end plates.

To make the new GTR more user friendly and easier to work on, the body panels were switched to a quick-release type and the front floor section was made easier and faster to replace.

INTERIOR

Inside, the cockpit was once again stripped of all its superfluous luxuries. Aside from the grey alcantara anti-glare dash, a leather / alcantara driver’s seat and a simplified alcantara-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel, there was practically no upholstery to speak of.

The analogue instrumentation from the original F1 was dropped in favour of a digital Stack read out.

Most of the switchgear was housed on an enormous carbonfibre panel off to the driver’s right-hand side in what was originally the passenger seat footwell. More electrical gubbins along with a plumbed-in fire system was located where the right-hand passenger seat usually resided.

Just the one single-piece composite bucket seat was installed along with a six-point harness. Other safety gear included a fully integrated roll cage.

Lightweight single piece Lexan windows were fixed in position.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Compared to the 1995 GTR, weight was cut from 1050kg to 1012kg (a saving of 38kg).

Top speed was once again in the region of 200mph.

With optimised gear ratios, 0-62mph could be achieved in less than three seconds.

1996 SEASON

Unlike 1995 when only the BPR GT Championship and the stand alone Le Mans 24 Hours had been contested, 1996 saw F1 GTRs participate in three additional series: the All-Japan GT Championship, the Temporada GT Trophy and the British GT Championship.

1996 BPR GT CHAMPIONSHIP

The 1996 BPR GT Championship drew the biggest contingent of McLarens with two car teams from the Gulf-backed GTC Motorsport squad and Dave Price Racing (the latter of which ran under the Harrods Mach One Racing and West Competition banners).

The single car entries of Fabien Giroix (Franck Muller Watch) and Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere (BBA Competition) also attended most of the BPR races and BMW Motorsport were present at round four (Silverstone) in preparation for their two car outing at Le Mans.

McLarens won seven of the eleven BPR races in 1996 with Ray Bellm and James Weaver taking four wins in their GTC Gulf machine (the Paul Ricard 4 Hours, Jarama 4 Hours, Suzuka 1000km (with JJ Lehto) and Nogaro 4 Hours).

1995 champions John Nielsen and Thomas Bscher won twice in the Dave Price Racing West Competition car (the Monza 4 Hours and Nurburgring 4 Hours). Andy Wallace / Olivier Grouillard took a single victory (at the Silverstone 4 Hours) in their Dave Price Racing Harrod’s Mach One Racing machine.

Wallace / Grouillard and Bellm / Weaver also took maximum points at the Brands Hatch 4 Hours and Spa 4 Hours respectively. However, the on-track winner of these events was the controversial new Porsche 911 GT1 which was ineligible for championship points.

The works Porsche similarly won the final race of the year, the Zhuhai 4 Hours, where Ferrari were second and took maximum points.

The only race of 1996 in which the fast but fragile Ferrari actually crossed the line in first position was the Anderstorp 4 Hours.

Having missed out on the 1995 title, Bellm and Weaver were crowned 1996 Drivers’ champions and GTC Motorsport / Gulf Racing took the Teams’ title.

1996 ALL-JAPAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP

In a surprise announcement during February of 1996, McLaren confirmed a works-assisted attack on the All-Japan GT Championship with a two-car team. The operation, overseen by Ron Dennis and managed by Kazumichi Goh, was financed by Philip Morris International who would sponsor the handsome Black-Obsidian Grey and Rocket Pink cars with their most popular cigarette brand in Japan: Lark.

Team Lark McLaren would contest the premier GT500 class with John Nielsen / David Brabham sharing one car (14R) and Naoki Hattori / Ralf Schumacher in the other (13R). Against a super competitive field of Nissan Skyline GT-Rs and Toyota Supras, the McLarens won four out of six events: round one at Suzuka (Hattori / Schumacher), round two at Fuji (Brabham / Nielsen), round five at Sugo (Hattori / Schumacher) and round six at Mine (Hattori / Schumacher).

Despite their superior win record, a couple of clumsy incidents meant Hattori / Schumacher were pipped to championship honours by their more consistent team-mates Nielsen / Brabham.

1996 LE MANS 24 HOURS

Seven F1 GTRs contested the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours including a brace from BMW Motorsport.

Unfortunately though, a repeat of 1995’s fairytale victory was not to be as the race took place in dry conditions which favoured the Prototype machinery.

Le Mans marked the debut event for Porsche’s 911 GT1 which blitzed the McLarens in qualifying and went on to finish second and third overall behind the race-winning Joest Racing TWR Porsche WSC-95.

Nevertheless, six F1 GTRs made it to the chequered flag on their way to fourth (John Nielsen / Thomas Bscher / Peter Kox – West Competition), fifth (Pierre-Henri Raphanel / Lindsay Owen-Jones / David Brabham – Gulf Racing), sixth (Andy Wallace / Olivier Grouillard / Derek Bell – Harrods Mach One), eighth (Johnny Cecoto / Nelson Piquet / Danny Sullivan – BMW Motorsport), ninth (Ray Bellm / James Weaver / JJ Lehto) and eleventh (Steve Soper / Marc Duez / Jacques Laffite (BMW Motorsport).

The only McLaren not to make the chequered flag was the Giroix Racing Team entry of Jean-Denis Deletraz / Fabien Giroix / Maurizio Sando Sala which suffered a blown engine during the eleventh hour.

1996 TEMPORADA GT TROPHY

The 1996 Temporada GT Trophy was a two-race series that took place at the end of 1996 in Brazil with the assistance of the BPR GT Championship organisers. Local hero and BMW ambassador Nelson Piquet helped with promotion.

BMW Motorsport, West Competition and the Giroix Racing Team attended. Victory in both the Curitiba 2 Hours and Brasilia 2 Hours went to Nelson Piquet and Johnny Cecotto in the factory BMW entry.

A separate 1000 mile race at Jacarepaqua then took place in early January for which Steve Soper joined up with Piquet and Cecotto. They were the only McLaren runners in attendance and against limited opposition took an easy win to give the short-tailed F1 GTR its final victory prior to the arrival of the new long-tailed variant for 1997.

1996 BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP

The eight round 1996 British GT Championship was contested by one McLaren – a year old ex-Gulf Racing machine now run by Lanzante Motorsrport on behalf of its owner, Jake Ulrich, who was partnered by Ian Flux. Despite only taking one outright win all year (in round two at Donington), limited opposition meant Ulrich and Flux won the GT1 championship.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com & BMW - https://www.bmw.com

Review: No Rain, No Repeat - McLaren F1 GTR & the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR 96 PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

After McLaren’s sensational debut victory during the sodden Le Mans 24 Hours in 1995 there was no question a strong contingent of the cars from Woking would look to attend 1996’s running of the most important endurance contest in world racing.

During late January it was announced that the 1996 Le Mans attack would be bolstered by a number of BMW Motorsport-contracted drivers.

At the time, both BMW and McLaren denied the move would be in a works / factory capacity from either company; BMW had recruited McLaren to help with the development of its Super Touring programme and it seemed that some of the German firm’s drivers would simply be loaned out to McLaren’s customer teams for the race at la Sarthe.

As McLaren’s engine supplier for the F1 programme, BMW had a vested interest in another strong performance. With Le Mans expected to mark the competition debut for Porsche’s scratch-built 911 GT1, the Munich firm were desperate to outdo their domestic rival.

Despite continual denials from BMW and McLaren over the next few weeks, rumours persisted that at least two of the eight customer GTRs under construction for 1996 would be placed with teams specifically for Le Mans where they would be piloted by drivers selected by BMW and McLaren.

McLaren went on to unveil the F1 GTR 96 during the first week of February. As had been the case with 01R the previous year, the machine on show, chassis 10R, would be retained in an official capacity for test and development duty. The eight customer cars would come on stream during the next couple of months.

The second week of February saw McLaren concede that BMW Motorsport would run a brace of cars in an official capacity at Le Mans. A third GTR would also be supplied to act as a spare. It was expected that the programme would be managed by Gabriele Rafanelli’s Bigazzi team which was contesting the Super Touring Cup on BMW’s behalf in Germany. Any extra financial help would come direct from BMW which enabled McLaren to honour their gentleman’s agreement that all F1 GTR customers would get equal factory treatment.

As for the other teams hoping to race at Le Mans, two entries apiece were filed from Gulf Racing and Dave Price Racing (DPR). There were also single car entries from the Giroix Racing Team, BBA Competition and Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing (the latter having been an in-house McLaren filing).

After the BPR GT Championship season opener at Paul Ricard on March 3rd, BMW Motorsport held a press conference to confirm that Bigazzi would run two cars on its behalf at Le Mans. At the presentation, chassis 08R was displayed in BMW’s familiar white, blue and red chequered livery with Fina backing.

Nelson Piquet, Jacques Laffite, Johnny Cecotto, Steve Soper, Marc Duez and Danny Sullivan were announced as drivers.

In preparation for the visit to la Sarthe, Bigazzi would attend the Silverstone 4 Hour BPR GT Championship race in May.

1996 LE MANS PRE-QUALIFYING

Eight McLarens attended Le Mans Pre-Qualifying on April 28th. It followed an open test at Paul Ricard where the BMW Motorsport McLarens had been outpaced by Porsche’s radical new 911 GT1 at the ominous rate of two seconds per lap.

Overall fastest time at Le Mans went to the Team Scandia Ferrari 333 SP driven by Eric van de Poele.

Quickest of the GT1 cars was ‘95 winner JJ Lehton in 12R for Gulf Racing. Second and fifth fastest in the GT1 category were the Porsche 911 GT1s of Stuck / Boutsen / Wollek and Dalmas / Wendlinger. However, their lap times did little to diminish the suspicion of sandbagging.

Many teams and drivers voiced their displeasure at the situation, but claims the reverse engineered 911 GT1 threatened the revival of GT racing were laughed off by Porsche motorsport boss, Herbert Ampferer.

Nevertheless, it was clear that Porsche were happy to breach the ethics of GT racing for their own benefit, something the firm had done two years prior with the Dauer 962 LM of 1994.

As for the rest of the GT1 field, Raphanel went third quickest for Gulf (twelfth overall), Laffite / Soper were fourth for BMW Motorsport (13th overall), John Nielsen was sixth for DPR West (17th overall), Johnny Cecotto was seventh for BMW Motorsport (19th overall), David Brabham was eighth in McLaren’s R&D car which appeared under the Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing entry (20th overall) and Andy Wallace was ninth quickest in GT1 driving the DPR Harrods machine (21st overall).

The BBA Competition McLaren of Stanley Dickens, Arie Luyendyk and Michel Ligonnet failed to make the cut in 44th overall (26th quickest of the GT1 cars).

After the Silverstone 4 Hour BPR GT Championship race at Silverstone two weeks later, McLaren headed to Paul Ricard with chassis 10R, but the test had to be curtailed when David Brabham crashed out.

1996 LE MANS 24 HOURS

The 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours took place over the weekend of June 15th and 16th. The McLarens arrived in France with a few minor updates to include some distinctive aerodynamically profiled headlight cowls.

In a break with tradition, the Le Mans organisers (the Automobile Club de l’Ouest) decided to arrange the first dozen cars on the grid with the six fastest from the WSC and GT1 classes positioned side-by-side.

The top five lined as follows: pole Didier Theys / Michele Alboreto / Pierluigi Martini (Joest TWR Porsche WSC95), second Yannick Dalmas / Scott Goodyear / Karl Wendlinger (Porsche 911 GT1), third Didier Cottaz / Jerome Policand / Philippe Alliot (Courage C36), fourth Bob Wollek / Thierry Boutsen / Hans-Joachim Stuck (Porsche 911 GT1), fifth Eric van de Poele / Eric Bachelart / Marc Goossens (Scandia Ferrari 333 SP).

Fastest of the McLarens was the BMW Motorsport entry of Steve Soper / Marc Duez / Jacques Laffite in sixth, behind which was the other Joest TWR Porsche WSC95 of Davy Jones / Alex Wurz / Manuel Reuter. JJ Lehto / James Weaver / Ray Bellm qualified eighth in their Gulf GTR, the works Riley & Scott MkIII of Wayne Taylor / Scott Sharp / Jim Pace was ninth and sister Gulf F1 of Pierre-Henri Raphanel / Lindsay Owen-Jones / David Brabham rounded out the top ten.

As for the other four McLarens in attendance, Johnny Cecotto / Danny Sullivan / Nelson Piquet were twelfth (BMW Motorsport), Jean-Denis Deletraz / Maurizio Sandro Sala / Fabien Giroix were 16th (Giroix Racing Team), John Nielsen / Thomas Bscher / Peter Kox were 22nd (DPR West) and Olivier Grouillard / Derek Bell / Andy Wallace were 24th (DPR Harrods).

The race unusually started an hour earlier than normal (3pm) so that the huge contingent of British fans could watch the England versus Scotland Euro 96 football match.

Having blitzed the McLarens in qualifying, it was no surprise that the two GT1 Porsches stormed into an early lead although they were subsequently overtaken by the brace of TWR WSC95 Porsches on lap four.

The only McLaren not to make the chequered flag was the Giroix Racing Team entry of Deletraz / Giroix / Sala which suffered a blown engine during the eleventh hour. By this time, all four of the Ferrari F40s that started the race had already retired.

Meanwhile, the Bigazzi and Gulf crews headed the McLaren challenge and ran well inside the top ten. Unfortunately though, their blistering pace (an attempt to keep up with the GT1 Porsches) eventually took its toll on the transmissions of all four cars.

At 4:30am on Sunday morning, Duez brought lead McLaren into the pits from seventh with the car stuck in gear. It was the first of two gearbox changes (plus a radiator change) for 16R. Soper, Duez and Laffite eventually recovered to place eleventh overall (ninth in the GT1 class).

Ninth spot went to the equally quick Gulf GTR of Lehto / Weaver / Bellm which had come in for its own 90 minute gearbox change at midday on Sunday having been running third at the time.

Another car to require a gearbox change was the Bigazzi GTR of Cecotto / Piquet / Sullivan which had been promoted to seventh when the sister car called in for its first unscheduled stop. Having lost an hour in the pits themselves, Cecotto / Piquet / Sullivan eventually finished eighth overall and sixth in the GT1 category.

The Harrods-backed DPR McLaren of Wallace / Grouillard / Bellm had been universally described by its drivers as very difficult to race. Despite only having access to fourth and fifth gears during the last four hours on Sunday, 06R came home sixth overall and fifth in the GT1 category.

Fifth overall went to the Gulf McLaren of Raphanel / Owen-Jones / Brabham which had suffered a fractured clutch line during the 19th hour. Chassis 15R had also been making the same tell-tale noises of impending gearbox failure as its sister car, but battled on to claim fourth in the GT1 category.

Best of the McLarens was the West-backed DPR entry of Nielsen / Bscher / Kox which was not the quickest GTR but by far the most reliable. Having only lost 16 minutes for a set of new brakes discs to be fitted, 03R missed out on a podium spot by just two laps. It finished fourth overall and third in the GT1 class.

Outright victory at Le Mans in 1996 went to the Joest TWR Porsche WSC95 of Jones / Wurz / Reuter which never missed a beat.

Ominously, second and third spots were claimed by the 911 GT1s of Wollek / Boutsen / Stuck and Dalmas / Goodyear / Wendlinger which secured the top two positions in the GT1 category.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com & Automobile Club de l’Ouest - https://www.lemans.org/

Review: South American Spoils - McLaren F1 GTR, the 1996 Temporada GT Trophy & the 1997 Mil Milhas Brasileiras

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR 96 PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

Since 1946 a series of winter Temporada races had been hosted in South America. These high profile contests had typically been organised for single seat machinery and normally attracted a stellar line up of cars and drivers.

For 1996 the format was revived in conjunction with the organisers of the BPR GT Championship. Local hero, three-time Formula World Champion and BMW ambassador Nelson Piquet was brought on board to help with promotion.

A brace of two hour races at Curitiba and Brasilia in December to contest the Temporada GT Trophy were followed by a standalone 1000 mile contest at Brasilia in mid January.

1996 CURITIBA 2 HOURS

The two hour race at Curitiba attracted three single-car McLaren teams, a two-car F40 GTE entry from Ferrari Club Italia and myriad Porsche customer outfits with their 911 GTs.

BMW Motorsport entered their spare F1 GTR (chassis 18R) that had acted as a reserve car earlier in the season. Instead of the team’s familiar Fina sponsorship, 18R appeared with backing from Brazilian cigarette brand Hollywood (a subsidiary of British American Tobacco). It was allocated to factory BMW drivers Nelson Piquet and Johnny Cecotto. As usual, the car was run on BMW Motorsport’s behalf by the Italian Bigazzi outfit.

The Franck Muller Watch-backed Giroix Racing Team also ran a McLaren with backing from Hollywood cigarettes. Chassis 11R appeared in a previously unseen white, black and green colour scheme for Maurizio Sandro Sala and team boss Fabien Giroix.

The other McLaren was the West cigarettes-backed Dave Price Racing entry of John Nielsen / Thomas Bscher which appeared in its familiar white and red colour scheme.

Qualifying saw Sala / Giroix on pole followed by the F40 GTE of Antonio Hermann / Max Angelelli. Piquet / Cecotto were third, Nielsen / Bscher lined up fourth and the Luiz Garcia / Luciano della Noce F40 started fifth.

Having taken the lead after just four corners, Cecotto put in a scintillating first stint and proceeded to pull away from the rest of the field at around a second per lap.

Once the groundwork for victory was laid, Cecotto handed 18R over to Piquet who went on to cross the line nine seconds ahead of Sala / Giroix and Nielsen / Bscher who had engaged in an epic race-long battle for the runner up spot.

The Garcia / della Noce Ferrari retired at two thirds distance while team-mates Hermann / Angelleli bagged fourth.

1996 BRASILIA 2 HOURS

One week later, the Brasilia circuit hosted its own two hour race (December 15th).

On this occasion, the McLarens dominated qualifying to secure the top three grid slots. The BMW Motorsport example of Piquet / Cecotto started on pole, behind which was the DPR West machine of Nielsen / Bscher followed by the Giroix Racing Team example of Sala / Giroix.

Next up was the F40 GTE of Garcia / della Noce and the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 911 GT Evo of Wolfgang Kaufmann / Emmanuel Clerico.

The sister Ferrari of Hermann / Angelelli started back in 20th having failed to set a qualifying time following a major crash that required an overnight rebuild.

After their victory at Curitiba, Cecotto and Piquet took another victory. However, this time it was a much more hard-fought affair as 18R shed a wheel nut on lap 15. Following an unscheduled to stop to rectify the situation, Cecotto was left over a minute behind new leader Sala.

A furious recovery drive by the Venezuelan saw him go from tenth to first before handing over to Piquet who took another popular win by a little over 20 seconds.

Having inherited the lead after Cecotto’s early issue, the Sala / Giroix McLaren had its pace slowed by a niggling gearbox issue but nevertheless managed to claim the runner up spot.

Third place went to the Hermann / Angelelli F40 GTE while Nielsen / Bscher took fourth after Bscher had overheated 02R’s engine on the warm up lap.

Garcia / della Noce were fifth in the sister F40 GTE; the top five cars all finished on the same lap.

With two wins from two races, Piquet and Cecotto were crowned winners of the 1996 Temporada GT Trophy.

1997 MIL MILHAS BRASILEIRAS

The 1000 mile Mil Milhas Brasileiras took place at Jacarepagua in January 19th, but the only top class car to stay on for this event was the BMW Motorsport McLaren in which Cecotto and Piquet were joined by Steve Soper.

Having easily taken pole position, the F1 GTR incurred two stop-go penalties but otherwise had a trouble-free run en route to a lights-to-flag victory.

Soper did the opening stint in 18R and quickly established a big lead; by half distance (around the five hour mark) the McLaren drivers had a ten lap advantage over their closest competitor.

They eventually won by 21 laps from the Porsche 911 GT of Maurizio Sandro Sala / Andre Lara Resende / Regis Schuch to claim the final race victory for the short-tailled F1 GTR.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed

Review: First Overseas Winner - McLaren F1 GTR & the 1996 All-Japan GT Championship

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR 96 PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

As had been the case in 1995, McLaren planned to build a batch of nine new F1 GTRs for the 1996 season. Of these, one was to be retained for research and development duty while the remaining eight would be sold to customer teams.

While rumours swirled of an involvement from BMW Motorsport for the forthcoming season, there was also much speculation about the destination of two cars which had been allocated to a thus far mystery Japanese outfit.

In mid February (shortly after BMW had confirmed they would be buying three cars for an attack on the Le Mans 24 Hours), McLaren made the surprise announcement of a factory-supported two-car programme for the 1996 All-Japan GT Championship.

The operation was to be overseen by McLaren boss Ron Dennis and managed by Kazumichi Goh whose team would benefit from an influx of factory personnel.

Financial backing came from the McLaren F1 team’s title sponsor, Philip Morris International; the shocking Black Obsidian Grey and Rocket Pink cars were to be branded with Philip Morris’s most popular cigarette in Japan: Lark.

Team Lark McLaren would contest the premier GT500 class of the six-round series with John Nielsen / David Brabham sharing one car (chassis 14R) and Naoki Hattori / Ralf Schumacher in the other (chassis 13R).

Although the domestic Japanese series did not garner a massive amount of international press at the time, it was a hugely popular series with fans and attracted arguably the highest calibre manufacturer and driver participation of any GT series.

Toyota, Nissan and Honda all supplied cars to myriad satellite teams; McLaren’s chief opposition for the ‘96 series was expected to come from the Cerumo, Toms and Fet Sports Toyota crews in addition to the Calsonic, Kure and Zexel Nissan Skylines.

ROUND 1: SUZUKA

The ‘96 championship kicked off with a 51 lap race at Suzuka on March 31st.

Both qualifying sessions were held in wet conditions and with heavier rain in the afternoon, no-one was able to improve their earlier time.

The Hattori / Schumacher McLaren went fastest; it pipped the Cerumo Toyota Supra of Erik Comas / Hidetoshi Mitsusada to pole by a tenth of a second. Third spot went to the General Security Porsche 911 GT of Yoji Yamada / Eiichi Tajima. Meanwhile, Brabham / Nielsen were way back in 13th having mistimed their outing and got caught on a wet track.

In the race, Comas went passed Hattori when the McLaren hit traffic on lap twelve. However, after the driver changes, Schumacher overtook Mitsusada at the hairpin and proceeded to build a decent-sized gap.

With two laps to go, second-placed Mitsusada’s Supra was forced to retire owing to a problem with its Toyota’s fuel system.

This allowed Nielsen through to take the runner up spot and gift McLaren an unexpected one-two finish; chassis 14R had only recently passed the Unisia Jecs Skyline GT-R of Masahiro Hasemi / Tetsuya Tanaka after it had suddenly slowed four laps from the end.

ROUND 2: FUJI

Round two of the championship took place with a 67 lap race at Fuji on May 5th.

Qualifying saw Ralf Schumacher set a new track record to take pole.

Second spot went to the Cerumo Toyota Supra of Comas / Mitsusada which had gone just over half-a-second slower. Another two tenths back was the Brabham / Nielsen McLaren followed by the Toms Supra of Sekiya / de la Rosa.

In the race, pole-starter Hattori immediately found himself in a battle with team-mate Brabham. On lap four, Hattori locked up in the braking zone for turn one, span through the grassy infield and nearly collected Brabham en route to the gravel trap and instant retirement.

Comas then headed the chasing pack in his Supra until lap 16 when sudden tyre degradation forced the Frenchman into the pits.

It was then the turn of Sekiya’s Toms Supra to pursue Brabham and the two lead cars continued to engage in an epic battle after de la Rosa and Nielsen took over.

McLaren chassis 14R ultimately took the chequered flag by less than three seconds from the pursuing Toyota.

A minute down the road in third was the Sard Supra of Wayne Gardner / Alain Ferte.

ROUND 3: SENDAI

Sendai Hi-Land Raceway hosted round three of the championship on June 30th.

Qualifying saw the Hattori / Schumacher McLaren record its third consecutive pole position with a fastest lap half-a-second quicker than the Fet Sports Toyota Supra of Tom Kristensen / Tatsuya Tanigawa.

Third spot went to the Yamada / Tajima General Security Porsche 911 GT while the Cerumo and Toms Supras of Comas / Takeuchi and Sekiya / de la Rosa lined up fourth and fifth respectively. Brabham / Nielsen started from sixth in the other Team Lark McLaren.

In the race, Hattori retained his advantage at the head of the field until Kristensen went passed on lap eight and began to pull away. The chasing pack that comprised the two McLarens and a trio of Supras battled among one another, but Brabham subsequently dropped well back after a spin.

When Kristensen brought his lead Supra in on lap 40 (of 63) a seized wheel nut caused a big delay and meant the car was no longer in contention for victory.

A slow pit-stop for the McLarens then followed when the two cars arrived more or less at the same time as one another. This enabled the Takeuchi / Comas Supra to inherit a six second lead. Amid the chaos, the Brabham / Nielsen GTR was much-delayed by a fuel spillage.

Schumacher set off in pursuit of Comas and began to close at the rate of around two seconds per lap. However, with eight laps to go, the German lost control at the first corner and 13R incurred suspension damage as it careered off track.

Comas / Takeuchi went on to take a well-deserved victory in their Cerumo Supra by 13 seconds from the Unisia Jecs Skyline of Hasemi / Tanaka. Brabham / Nielsen eventually came home in eighth overall while Hattori / Schumacher were classified 22nd.

ROUND 4: FUJI

Round four played out with a 90 minute race at Fuji on August 11th where Team Lark McLaren looked to get back to winning ways having suffered their first defeat at Sendai six weeks prior.

The Brabham / Nielsen GTR recorded its maiden pole of the year ahead of the Comas / Takeuchi Cerumo Supra. Hattori / Schumacher lined up third in the sister McLaren, behind which was the Toms Supra of Sekiya / de la Rosa.

In the race, Brabham and Schumacher both got great starts to lead the rest of the field early on.

However, towards the end of lap seven, Brabham missed his braking point which allowed Schumacher through. The German’s lead was extremely brief though as, while heading down the main straight and passing a slower car, Schumacher lost control and span off into the gravel to post another early retirement.

On lap 28, Brabham came in to hand the lead McLaren over to Nielsen. A 20 second delay owing to a brake problem allowed the Calsonic and Zexel Skylines of Kazuyoshi Hoshino / Masahiko Kageyama and Aguri Suzuki / Hideo Fukuyama through.

Nielsen ultimately recovered to finish second as Hoshino / Kageyama gave the Calsonic Skyline its first win of 1996.

ROUND 5: SUGO

The penultimate All-Japan GT Championship race of 1996 was held at Sugo on October 6th.

To stand any chance of taking the championship battle into the season finale, the Schumacher / Hattori McLaren had to win the two hour race in Miyagi Prefecture.

Their weekend got off to a good start when Schumacher secured pole by nearly six tenths of a second from the Kure Nissan GT-R of Toshio Suzuki / Masahiko Kondo. Next up were the Toms and Cerumo Supras of Sekiya / de la Rosa and Comas / Takeuchi. Behind them was the other McLaren of Brabham / Nielsen.

When the lights turned green, Schumacher immediately set about building a lead while Brabham also made a good start and moved from fifth to third behind the Kure Nissan.

At the beginning of lap two, Sekiya’s Toms Supra made a move on Brabham as the two cars headed down to turn one. They then touched on the exit of turn two and Brabham lost control which resulted in chassis 14R going into a half spin. Just as the stationary McLaren was moving off again, it was ploughed into by Eiichi Tajima’s General Security Porsche 911 GT. Both cars retired on the sport and the McLaren subsequently had to be sent back to England for repair.

After a six lap safety car delay to clean up the debris, the race resumed.

Schumacher came in from the lead to hand over to Hattori on lap 45. Hattori then spun the McLaren on the tight pit-lane exit and the ensuing delay dropped him down to fourth behind Kondo (Kure Skyline), de la Rosa (Toms Supra) and Kageyama (Calsonic Skyline).

An exciting finale saw Hattori overhaul all three cars ahead of him to take victory by two seconds. The Hoshino / Kageyama Calsonic Skyline took the runner up spot and Suzuki / Kondo were third in the Kure Nissan.

ROUND 6: MINE

The result at Sugo set up a thrilling end to the season at Mine on October 27th with four car and driver combinations still in with a shout of winning the title.

Out in front was the Calsonic Skyline of Hoshino / Kageyama on 54 points, the Brabham / Nielsen McLaren was on 53 points while team-mates Schumacher / Hattori and Cerumo Supra driver Comas were equal third on 40 points.

As chassis 14R had not been repaired following David Brabham’s accident in the previous race, McLaren had shipped chassis 04R over to Japan. This was the car previously owned by Lindsay Owen-Jones that raced under the Gulf Racing banner in the BPR series. It had been sitting at Woking since repair following a major accident at the Jarama 4 Hours in 1995.

Qualifying for the 250km race saw the McLarens lock out the front row with Hattori / Schumacher on pole followed by Brabham / Nielsen in the sister car. Immediately behind were the Supras of Comas / Takeuchi (Cerumo), Sekiya / de la Rosa (Toms) and Kristensen / Gachot (Fet Sports).

Promisingly for the McLaren drivers, championship leaders Hoshino and Kageyama started down in 13th.

The early stages of the race saw Schumacher rocket away while Brabham and Comas became locked in a fierce battle.

However, when championship leader Kageyama retired on lap 26 as the result of brake damage caused by an off-track excursion, Brabham dropped the pace knowing that, so long as he and Nielsen now finished fifth or higher, they would win the title.

Schumacher / Hattori went on to take their third win of the year with a lights-to-flag victory. They finished twelve seconds clear of Comas / Takeuchi in the Cerumo Supra while Suzuki / Fukuyama claimed the final podium spot in their Zexel Skyline.

Brabham / Nielsen came home fourth and ultimately secured the championship with 63 points compared to 60 for team-mates Schumacher / Hattori. Third in the standings was Cerumo Supra driver Erik Comas on 55.

POST-SEASON

Although the 1996 season had proven a more closely fought affair than many expected, plans by the All-Japan GT Championship organisers to heavily penalise the McLarens if they ran in 1997 convinced Ron Dennis not to return and defend the F1 GTR’s title.

1996 remains the one and only occasion that a non-Japanese car has ever won the premier GT500 series.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com, Team Goh - https://teamgoh.com/ & Super GT - https://supergt.net/

Guide: Toyota GT One (TS020) - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<TOYOTA PORTAL

BACKGROUND

For 1985, Toyota decided to embark on a factory Sportscar programme with the intention of becoming the first Japanese manufacturer to win at Le Mans.

However, the Group C era could not have represented a stiffer challenge; in the years that followed, Toyota would have to beat experienced European protagonists like Porsche, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz in addition to domestic rivals Nissan and Mazda.

Toyota’s attack culminated with a second place finish in 1992 for the handsome 3.5-litre V10-powered TS010 of Masanori Sekiya, Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Kenny Acheson.

A year earlier, Mazda had unexpectedly pipped its domestic rivals to become the first Japanese firm to win the 24 Hours.

By the time of Toyota’s second place finish in 1992, support for the Group C category was much-diminished. This was primarily as a result of the FIA’s new 3.5-litre engine formula, but also because of poor economic conditions.

Ultimately, the 1993 World Sportscar Championship was cancelled altogether which meant that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was the only major contest for top flight Prototype racing cars.

The collapse of Prototype racing led to an explosion of interest in the less expensive discipline of production-based GT racing. Although Prototypes continued to be accepted at Le Mans in the years that followed, all major championships switched to a GT format.

Having placed fourth at Le Mans in 1993 (with the latest iteration of the 3.5-litre V10-powered TS010) and then matched their best result with second in 1994 (with the 3.6-litre twin turbocharged V8-powered 94C-V), Toyota subsequently embraced the GT1 category with a Supra LM and the MR2-based SARD MC8-R.

However, up against the likes of McLaren’s world-beating F1 GTR, these production-based Toyotas stood little chance of victory.

With an undimmed desire to win at la Sarthe, Toyota decided to start afresh and take advantage of the extremely loose homologation requirements that had been designed to stimulate as much manufacturer participation as possible.

Although a 25 car homologation requirement was announced to compete in the 1997 FIA GT Championship (with one road car completed before the first race and the balance beginning twelve months after the championship had concluded), the Le Mans 24 Hours (which was not part of the FIA series) imposed no such restriction. Instead, the Le Mans organisers (the Automobile Club de l’Ouest) stuck with the single road car rule.

As Toyota were not interested in participating in the FIA GT Championship, they created a scratch-built Le Mans special for the 1998 24 Hour race.

The resultant TS020 (also known as the GT One) broke with convention in that it was a collaboration between Toyota Team Europe and Dallara. By contrast, most of Toyota’s previous Prototype and GT racing cars had been the work of Dome or SARD. Based in Cologne, TTE had, up until this point, been best known as Toyota’s rally division.

Ex-Peugeot designer, Andrea de Cortanze, was brought on board to design the GT One. De Cortanze had most famously created Peugeot’s all-conquering 905.

Work began in earnest during January 1997. The new car was designed entirely using CAD software and then refined in Dallara’s wind tunnel. The first example was finished in October.

CHASSIS

Each GT One was based around a carbonfibre tub with an aluminium honeycomb core. In typical fashion, the engine was used as a stressed member.

The tub was designed by TTE and manufactured by Dallara.

The finished car had a long 2800mm wheelbase

Fully adjustable suspension was via double wishbones with pushrod-actuated coil sprung dampers and anti-roll bars at either end.

Brakes were TTE-developed cross-drilled and ventilated carbon ceramic discs with AP Racing six-piston calipers. ABS was also fitted.

18-inch Speedline forged magnesium wheels used a TTE retention system and were shod with Michelin Pilot SX tyres.

A 100-litre fuel tank was located between the engine and rear bulkhead.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

In the engine bay was a comprehensively revised version of the twin turbocharged V8 used in Toyota’s Group C challengers of 1989 and 1990 (the last forced induction motors before the firm switched to a normally aspirated 3.5-litre V10).

The GT One’s Type RV36V-R motor was smaller, lighter, more efficient and more powerful than the R36V that came before.

It was another mid-longitudinally-mounted all-alloy 90° V8 with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and dry-sump lubrication.

Similarly, displacement was an unchanged 3579cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 87mm respectively.

Instead of Toyota’s own CT26RT turbos, a pair of Garrett units were fitted, each with a Denso intercooler.

Compression was hiked from 8.5:1 to 9.0:1 and the latest Bosch engine management software installed.

Although the new engine had to breath through a pair of 33.9mm air restrictors, it still developed a very healthy 600bhp at 6000rpm and 479lb-ft at 6000rpm.

Transmission was through a TTE sequential six-speed gearbox (with X-Trac internals), a Sachs quad-plate carbon clutch and latest generation traction control system.

BODYWORK

Although Porsche and Mercedes had created GT1 cars that could hardly be considered in the spirit of the rules, the GT One moved things on to a whole new level. This was clearly nothing more than a reverse engineered Sports Prototype.

Like the rest of the car, the GT One’s radical exterior panels were planned out using CAD software. The resultant carbonfibre body was then refined in Dallara’s wind tunnel.

The front was characterised by its plunging nose and fenders, between which the bodywork was sunk to enable the lowest possible profile. Brake cooling ducts were carved out from the leading edge of the fenders and the air that rushed along on either side of the domed cockpit was fed to massive radiator intakes.

Uniquely, the inner face of each fender was cut away at the top of the wheel to reduce air pressure.

More cutaway sections were located along the flanks and atop the rear fenders.

A fastback cockpit profile swept down to the slim tail fascia on one continuous line. Right at the back of the car was an adjustable rear spoiler mounted on two ultra-slim fully integrated pylons.

INTERIOR

Aside from a little padding for the driver’s seat, the cockpit was little more than acres of exposed carbonfibre.

Directly ahead of the driver was a U-shaped steering wheel, behind which was a digital tachometer. Two additional data logging screens were installed, the largest of which was positioned at the top of an an enormous central control panel that housed a huge quantity of switches, dials and buttons.

The butterfly doors opened thanks to a simple twist-and-pull grip.

Anything other than forward visibility was greatly restricted.

ROAD VERSION

During the last week of April 1998, Toyota unveiled the solitary GT One street version that was required to gain type approval in order for homologation.

In order to increase ride height, the suspension was reconfigured with longer pushrods.

Steel instead of carbon brake discs were also fitted along with a smaller 60-litre fuel tank (that doubled up as a storage bin).

The engine was equipped with softer camshafts, new inlet manifolds, re-mapped management software, two catalytic convertors (one for each cylinder bank) and a silenced exhaust.

Peak output was a claimed 550bhp.

Custom helical gears were fitted instead of the racing version’s straight-cut arrangement.

As required by law, meshed grilles were fitted to the larger intake apertures.

In the cockpit was where the most obvious changes occurred.

Toyota fitted a new dash, a conventional leather-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel, two leather-covered bucket seats (from the Lotus Elise), a regular centrally-mounted handbrake and properly trimmed door panels. The floors were covered in carpet and an alcantara headliner was installed along with a proper ventilation system and extra sound deadening.

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WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

The GT One race version weighed in at 920kg. It had a top speed of 220mph and 0-62mph time of 3 seconds.

The street version was 1100kg and although no performance figures were ever published, it would most likely have been capable of nearly 200mph and 0-62mph in comfortably less the 4 seconds.

PRODUCTION

Toyota constructed six cars for the 1998 season, one of which (chassis LM803) was the road-going version. The other five examples (LM801, LM802, LM804, LM805 and LM806) were all used for test and race duty.

A seventh example (chassis LM907) was subsequently built up for the 1999 season.

1998 SEASON

The GT One broke cover in the last week before Christmas in December 1997. A few weeks earlier, TTE announced that Martin Brundle had been signed as the outfit’s number one driver.

In that late ‘97 test, Brundle enjoyed a trouble-free run at Paul Ricard where it was confirmed Thierry Boutsen had also been brought on board.

The GT One’s next outing was at Monza during the second week of February where Brundle and Ralf Kelleners completed 700 miles between them.

In the second week of April, TTE attempted a 24 hour test at Spa with their full complement of drivers to also include Emmanuel Collard, Eric Helary, Geoff Lees, Ukyo Katayama, Toshio Suzuki and Keiichi Tsuchiya. However, the run had to be abandoned after 14 hours owing to dreadful weather conditions. Nevertheless, the two cars in attendance racked up over 2500 miles with only minor delays.

1998 LE MANS PRE-QUALIFYING

At Le Mans Pre-Qualifying (May 3rd), Toyota, Mercedes and Porsche had an epic battle to top the timesheets.

In the end, Brundle was pipped to fastest time of the day by Allan McNish in the Porsche 911 GT1-98 which went quicker by just over one hundredth of a second.

The fastest Mercedes was three tenths back in third, followed by the second works Porsche.

Boutsen was fifth and the third Toyota ended up tenth.

The outing at Le Mans was followed by another test at Paul Ricard to complete preparations.

1998 LE MANS 24 HOURS

For the 24 Hours race which took place over the weekend of June 6th and 7th, TTE split its drivers into three teams.

The #27 car (chassis LM805) was allocated to the all-Japanese crew of Tsuchiya, Katayama and Suzuki.

The #28 car (chassis LM804) was allocated to Brundle, Collard and Helary.

The #29 car (chassis LM802) was allocated to Boutsen, Kelleners and Lees.

In qualifying, Toyota, Porsche and Mercedes picked up where they had left off five weeks earlier.

Pole position ultimately went to the Mercedes CLK LM of Bernd Schneider, Klaus Ludwig and Mark Webber. The #2 Toyota of Brundle / Collard / Helary started second followed by another of the Mercedes.

Next up were the brace of works Porsche 911 GT1-98s followed by the fastest of the LMP1 cars: a BMW V12 LM.

The remaining Toyotas qualified seventh (Boutsen / Kelleners / Lees) and eighth (Tsuchiya / Katayama / Suzuki).

The start of the race saw Schneider’s Mercedes initially retain its advantage, but Brundle forged ahead down the Mulsanne Straight in the #28 Toyota followed by Boutsen in the #29 car five laps later.

The Toyotas remained at the head of the field throughout the second and third hours, by which time both the Mercedes had retired with engine trouble.

During the fourth hour, Helary was behind the wheel of the lead #28 car when he span at the Ford chicane. Four laps were initially lost for repairs back in the pits followed by another four laps soon afterwards owing to gearbox trouble. The #28 car rejoined down in 26th place.

This all left Boutsen up front in the #29 Toyota with the works Porsches close behind.

Shortly before 9pm, both the BMW LMP1 cars were withdrawn with rear wheel bearing trouble which meant the race was looking like a straight Toyota v Porsche battle.

The sixth hour saw Brundle lose another couple of laps in the #28 Toyota (with wheel bearing trouble). However, this was nothing compared to the Japanese-crewed #27 car which lost 22 laps as a result of persistent transmission woes.

At midnight, the #29 Toyota of Boutsen / Kelleners / Lees was still in the lead and on the same lap as both works Porsches. Unfortunately though, a few moments later it came in for a new set of gear ratios which cost if four laps and dropped the crew to fifth (behind the two Porsches and two Nissan R390s).

By 2pm, a hard-charging Boutsen had got the #29 Toyota back into third. By now, the lead Porsche had pulled out a lap advantage over its sister car.

The Toyota contingent was reduced to two cars shortly before 4am when Brundle, who had recently set a new lap record, crashed at high speed in the Ford chicane.

It was then Porsches turn to experience trouble; during the 17th hour, one car damaged its floor and the other began to suffer cooling problems. They dropped to second and fourth as Lees took up the lead in the #29 Toyota.

Unfortunately, less than an hour later, the #29 car needed a gear ratio change which allowed the Porsche of Allan McNish / Laurent Aiello / Stephan Ortelli to head the field.

The #26 Porsche and #29 Toyota thereafter exchanged the lead several times. However, with just 90 minutes to go, any hope Toyota had of scoring its maiden Le Mans victory were dashed when Boutsen stopped the #29 car with gearbox failure.

Porsche went on to finish first and second. The sole remaining GT One of Katayama, Tsuchiya and Suzuki came home a much-delayed ninth.

1999 SEASON

For 1999, the GT1 category was dropped and GT2 became the premier category for the FIA GT Championship and at Le Mans.

The top class for out-and-out Sports Prototypes was split between LMP (for open cars) and LM-GTP (for closed cars).

Porsche withdrew so as not to provide direct competition for newcomers Audi who would run cars in both classes. Mercedes evolved the CLK LM into CLR (for LM-GTP) and Nissan created the R391 (for the LMP class).

Toyota updated the GT One to run in the LM-GTP category which proved a relatively straightforward conversion.

As per the regulations, this latest version of the GT One was fitted with a smaller 90-litre fuel tank. The ABS and traction control systems were removed.

To improve reliability, the GT One’s sequential gearbox was equipped with a manual override in case of failure.

Externally, some subtle refinements increased downforce and reduced drag. These updates included a sleek new engine cover, a twisted front wing and twisted instead of flat rear endplates.

Overall, the revamped car was 16% more efficient and more stable than before.

1999 LE MANS PRE-QUALIFYING

Having spent the winter pounding round the tracks of Europe, the GT One seemed in good shape for 1999. The only downside had been TTE’s final 24 hour test at Spa which was halted in snowy conditions.

As expected, the aerodynamic changes proved highly effective as the GT One lapped five seconds faster than the previous year during 1999’s Le Mans Pre-Qualifying (May 2nd).

Martin Brundle set the fastest time of the day; he went one-tenth-of-a-second quicker than the works Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S while Katayama ended up third.

The updated BMW V12 LMR of Muller / Lehto was fourth and the last of the Toyotas took fifth thanks to Allan McNish.

1999 LE MANS 24 HOURS

TTE’s 1999 driver line up saw the brand new #1 car (chassis LM907) allocated to Martin Brundle, Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri.

The updated #2 car (chassis LM806) was allocated to Thierry Boutsen, Allan McNish and Ralf Kelleners.

The updated #3 car (chassis LM804) was allocated to Ukyo Katayama, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Toshio Suzuki.

Brundle put the #1 Toyota on pole followed by Boutsen in the #2 car. In third through seventh were BMW (V12 LMR), Mercedes (CLR), Panoz (LMP-1 Roadster S), BMW (V12 LMR) and Mercedes (CLR).

The last of the Toyotas (the Japanese crewed example) lined up eighth.

Media attention of the qualifying session was dominated by Mercedes’ CLR which, in the hands of Mark Webber, twice got airborne at high speed and flipped onto its roof.

In the race, Brundle initially led. However, the #1 Toyota was badly baulked in the pit lane entry when coming in for its first stop and Bernd Schneider’s Mercedes emerged in the lead.

The second hour saw the #2 Toyota temporarily move to the head of the field, but an hour later, slower pit work and higher fuel consumption enabled JJ Lehto’s BMW into the lead. The sister BMW was third with the #2 Toyota second and the #1 example fourth; over the next few hours the BMWs and Toyoytas continued to push one another extremely hard.

During the fourth hour, hydraulic problems began to afflict Brundle in the #1 Toyota. The issue meant his car lost its power steering and forced the drivers to change gears manually.

Inevitably, the system had to be repaired and new gear ratios fitted as a consequence of damage caused by manual shifting. Although nine laps were lost and the car dropped to twelfth, this was not a severe a penalty as it could have been owing to a protracted pace car period to deal with Peter Dumbreck’s Mercedes which had somersaulted off the Mulsanne Straight and into the adjacent woodland.

Around midnight, the much-delayed #1 Toyota was forced to retire when Brundle suffered a tyre blowout on the approach to the second Mulsanne Straight chicane. The exploding tyre ripped through the body and caused extensive damage. Brundle struggled round to Arnage but then had to abandon the car out on track.

As it had done since 6pm, the #2 Toyota of Boutsen / Kelleners / McNish continued to trade the lead with the Kristensen / Lehto / Muller #17 BMW. The enthralling battle carried on until just after 3am on Sunday morning when Boutsen was tagged by a slow-moving Porsche 911 GT2 while going into the Dunlop chicane. The #2 Toyota was wrecked in the massive impact and Boutsen was hospitalised with a career-ending cracked vertebrae.

The incident left BMW’s #17 car with a three-lap advantage over the sister #15 machine although by this time, Toyota’s all-Japanese crew in the #3 GT One was not far behind in third. Having briefly dropped outside the top ten during the opening hour, Katayama, Tsuchiya and Suzuki had moved back up to ninth by 7pm, to sixth at 9pm and fourth at midnight.

The two BMWs and the sole-remaining Toyota thereafter held station until 10:30am on Sunday morning when the throttle on the lead BMW stuck open and Lehto crashed out at the Porsche Curves.

This meant the race was well and truly on with the #15 BMW of Joachim Winkelhock / Pierluigi Martini / Yannick Dalmas and the #3 Toyota running on the same lap with five-and-a-half hours to go.

Unfortunately, the spectators were denied a grandstand finish when, during the final hour, Katayama was pushed onto the kerbs while trying to overtake the privateer BMW V12 LM of Thomas Bscher. The ensuing puncture meant Katayama had to crawl back to the pits for a tyre change which ruined any chance of victory. Once again, Toyota cruelly had to settle for second place.

1999 FUJI 1000KM

In November, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (the ACO) and the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) organised a one-off 1000km race at Fuji to see if a Japanese equivalent of the American Le Mans Series was viable in Japan.

The race took place on November 11th and Toyota entered a solitary GT One (chassis LM907) for Ukyo Katayam, Toshio Suzuki and Keiichi Tsuchiya who had finished second at Le Mans back in June.

The entry mostly comprised of cars from the Japanese GT Championship, but Nissan were on hand with an R391 (for Erik Comas / Satoshi Motoyama / Masami Kageyama) and Team Goh / Dome ran a BMW V12 LM (for Hiroki Katou / Juichi Wakisaka).

Katayama put the Toyota on pole with a lap time nearly half-a-second quicker than second-placed Erik Comas in the Nissan R391.

In wet conditions, Katayama then stormed ahead in the race while Comas fell back having selected the wrong tyre compound. However, when the track began to dry, the Nissan crew opted not to change tyres which promoted the R391 into the lead.

Katayama gave chase, but picked up a first stop-go penalty for overtaking under yellow flags and then another for passing while the safety car was on track. A battery problem subsequently cost time while exiting the pits.

The Toyota fought back, but ultimately ran out of time and finished a lap down on the winning Nissan.

END OF PROGRAMME

The race at Fuji would be the final outing for the TS010 as Toyota switched focus to its impending Formula 1 campaign.

The company did not return to Le Mans until 2012.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Toyota - https://global.toyota/

Guide: BMW E36 M3 GTR Strassenversion - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<BMW PORTAL

BACKGROUND

BMW Motorsport created the original E30 M3 as a Group A homologation special for Touring Car racing and Rallying. Between 1986 and 1992, the M3 proved extremely effective and claimed a huge cache of victories in a variety of disciplines.

However, while the E30 M3 ultimately sold in far greater numbers than the 5000 required for Group A homologation, it was a comparatively unrefined machine and only ever offered in left-hand drive.

For its replacement, BMW took a slightly different approach. Like its predecessor, the resultant E36 M3 was devastatingly fast and extremely handsome, but it was also a smoother, more polished machine that appealed to a far wider audience.

Importantly, the E36 M3 was never developed with motor sport in mind - by the early 1990s, the landscape for Touring Cars and Rallying had changed which freed BMW of the need to compromise this latest M3 in order to compete.

Nonetheless, little more than six months after launch, BMW unexpectedly found themselves on track and the E36 M3 was about to take on the opposition in a totally new arena: GT racing.

The emergence of GT racing from 1993 after a prolonged period in the doldrums was a direct response to the implosion of the World Sportscar Championship. The combination of costly new regulations, a severe recession and lack of manufacturer support led to the cancellation of the 1993 World Sportscar Championship before it even began.

In its place, GT racing rose from the ashes.

New domestic contests were organised in Britain and Germany. The Italians had already kicked things off with an inaugural series of their own in 1992.

The domestic German contest was dubbed the ADAC GT Cup and comprised eight rounds. Homologation requirements were slashed to the point that just a single road-going example was now required which resulted in Porsche, Honda and Callaway all creating comparatively low cost cars for a combination of works and customer teams.

BMW also got in on the action with the wide-arched and heavily spoilered E36 M3 GTR.

In order to homologate the GTR, a stunning Strassenversion was created.

Fortunately, BMW did not have to begin entirely from scratch and used the stillborn 1992 E36 325i Class 1 Touring Car prototype conceived for the DTM as a starting point.

Although few technical details of the GTR Strassenversion were ever published, here’s what we know.

CHASSIS

The GTR Strassenversion was based around a seam-welded E36 Coupe bodyshell that was left without any sound insulation or underseal.

The familiar MacPherson strut / multi-link ‘Z-axle’ suspension configuration was enhanced with stiffer, shorter springs, fully adjustable dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars.

Brakes were imported from the standard M3: ventilated discs of 315mm at the front and 313mm at the rear. Because it was not permitted for track use, the anti-lock brake system was removed.

Split rim 18-inch diameter centre-lock BBS alloy wheels were much wider than before and shod with Yokohama Racing tyres.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

In the engine bay was an enlarged version of the Type S50 B30 engine which had been taken out to just over three-litres.

An additional 28cc was realised by expanding each cylinder bore by 0.4mm (to 86.4mm). Stroke was kept at 85.8mm for an overall displacement of 3018cc (up from 2990cc).

BMW claimed 300bhp at 7000rpm for the GTR Strassenversion compared to 286bhp at 7000rpm for the standard car.

The race version produced 325bhp (again developed at 7000rpm).

All three of these straight six motors used a cast iron block, ported and polished DOHC 24 valve light alloy head and VANOS variable valve timing system. Six individual throttle bodies were fitted along with heavy-duty valve springs, Bosch Motronic M3.3 engine management and a dual mass flywheel. Compression was set at 10.8:1.

Instead of the usual close-ratio five-speed ZF gearbox, the GTR had a six-speed ‘box that was also sourced from ZF. Transmission was through a single-plate Sachs clutch and limited-slip differential.

BODYWORK

Cosmetically, the GTR Strassenversion was equipped with a dramatic body kit that was replicated on the competition car.

The array of lightweight new panels included a front apron with intake ducts where the fog lights usually resided.  A pair of simplified fog lights were now located on the rubbing strip. Unlike the standard M3, the rubbing strips at the front, sides and rear of the body were painted white (instead of being left in a natural satin black).

The aero kit comprised a wraparound chin spoiler complete with satin black splitter and an adjustable basket handle wing mounted to the trunk lid. The trunk lid itself was raised in a similar fashion to the old E30 M3.

Massive wheelarch extensions were required in order to accommodate the new BBS rims. They were connected by deep side skirts and neatly integrated with the flared aprons at either end.

The overall effect was extremely impressive and evoked memories of BMW’s Group 5 racing cars from the 1970s.

INTERIOR

The cockpit was bereft of any carpet or sound insulation.

Other equipment left out included the rear seats, electric windows, audio system and alarm.

BMW Motorsport fitted a fully integrated roll cage and two bucket seats with fire-retardant black fabric upholstery and Sabelt harnesses.

Lightweight glass was fitted all round with the exception of the windscreen.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Thanks to its array of weight-saving measures, the GTR Strassenversion tipped the scales at 1300kg (160kg less than a standard M3 Coupe).

Without an electronic speed limiter, top speed was likely in the region of 165mph. This was slightly lower than the base model as a result of the downforce-inducing aero kit.

With its six-speed gearbox and massive tyres, a 0-62mph time of about five seconds seems likely.

PRODUCTION

Only one GTR Strassenversion was built as that was all that was required by homologation requirements of the day.

This was unfortunate as, even though economic conditions were not great, BMW could probably have sold a dozen or so units to wealthy customers in Europe and Japan.

The sole example built went to the Quandt family who had remained major shareholders in BMW after Herbert Quandt saved the firm from bankruptcy in the early 1960s.

A further three examples were built for racing, one of which was to endurance specification.

COMPETITION HISTORY

A successful 1993 campaign in the German ADAC GT Championship saw Johnny Cecotto win six of eight rounds on his way to that year’s title.

Aside from a one-off appearance in at the Mil Milhas Brasilieras at the beginning of 1994 (where Cecotto, Nelson Piquet and Ingo Hoffman came fourth), the GTR was not raced the following year.

However, for 1995, BMW decided to wheel out the GTR for an attack on the IMSA GTS-2 class in North America. Tom Milner’s Prototype Technology Group based in Virginia were contracted to manage the campaign.

Although the M3 GTR achieved a few good results during their partial 1995 IMSA programme (most notably a couple of GTS-2 class podium finishes), the BMWs, which ran in narrow-bodied form during 1995, were generally outclassed by Porsche’s 911 Carrera RSR and the Mazda RX-7. However the subsequent wide-arched GTR went on to secure all the available championships between 1996 and 1998.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: BMW - https://www.bmw.com

Guide: Nissan R33 Skyline GT-R Nismo N1 - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<NISSAN PORTAL
<<<R33 SKYLINE GT-R NISMO N1 FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

Like the R32 GT-R, the new-for-1995 R33 variant was available in a choice of different specifications.

Least expensive of these was the base model R33 GT-R which nevertheless offered scintillating performance in a package practical and reliable enough for everyday use.

The pricier option was to go for the GTR V-spec which added stiffer spring and dampers, a lower ride height, a trick anti-lock braking system and uprated ATTESA E-TS Pro all-wheel drive with an Active Limited-Slip differential.

Together, these two mainstream variants and their assorted special editions accounted for over 98% of R33 GT-R production.

The remainder constituted a rarely seen and relatively little known Nismo N1 derivative built in a similar vein to the R32 GT-R Nismo RA: lightened, simplified and with an enhanced, more tuneable engine.

The Nismo N1 was introduced alongside the standard GT-R and GT-R V-spec in January 1995. It was based on the V-spec platform and ranked as the most expensive off-the-shelf R33 available.

Unlike its R32-based predecessor (which had been conceived for Group A touring car racing), this latest Nismo hot rod was created so GT-Rs could run in the fiercely contested Japanese GT Championship.

This burgeoning series (officially dubbed the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship) had first been organised for the 1993 season. It initially gave the R32 a lifeline after most major touring car championships ditched the Group A format in favour of new sub-two-litre Super Tourer regulations.

The inaugural Japanese GT Championship was won by Masahiko Kageyama in his Calsonic-backed Hoshino Racing R32. Kageyama then won it again in 1994.

A fully-fledged competition version of the R33 based on the Nismo N1 would be ready for the beginning of the 1995 season.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Arguably the most significant upgrades applied to the N1 were engine-related.

Nismo added a range of special equipment to include turbochargers with metal instead of ceramic turbines, altered cam profiles, reinforced areas around the cylinder head bolts, improved connecting rod bearings, thicker piston second land (increased from 4mm to 4.6mm), thinner piston ring gaps on top and second (reduced from 1.5mm to 1.2mm), a reinforced air inlet housing and a water pump with larger vanes.

An air-cooled oil cooler for the engine was also added.

N1 engine blocks were stamped 24U to differentiate them from regular iterations of the RB26DETT motor.

Aside from running increased boost (0.85 bar instead of 0.75 bar), ceramic internals for the turbos (ditched for the N1), an improved intake camshaft and reinforced oil pump drive collar, the power unit used by the R33 was broadly similar to the outgoing R32.

It was a dual overhead camshaft straight six with twin turbos and a light alloy four valve head. Displacement was 2568cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 73.3mm respectively.

View fullsize

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The compression ratio was the same as before (8.5:1) and it officially developed an otherwise unchanged 276bhp at 6800rpm. However, this was something of a ruse to comply with a gentleman’s agreement Nissan had made with their domestic rivals to limit engine outputs and satisfy the safety concerns of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association. In reality, most GT-R engines (and especially these hot N1 units) pumped out closer to 300bhp.

Transmission was via the ATTESSA E-TS Pro permanent four-wheel drive system used by the V-spec. This ran in conjunction with a five-speed manual gearbox, a multi-plate hydraulic clutch and an Active limited-slip differential (which was another V-spec enhancement).

BODYWORK

The N1 was available in just one colour: White.

To save weight, the rear wiper was removed along with the heated rear window element.

Special equipment included an adjustable central plane for the rear spoiler, a custom air guide and trick undertray, all of which were fashioned from carbonfibre.

Compared to its predecessor, the R33 was slightly bigger, but it had a much smoother profile which resulted in a 0.35 drag coefficient (down from 0.40).

Aside from the doors, bonnet and roof, none of the GT-R’s body panels were interchangeable with the rest of the R33 range. It came with special bumpers, deep side skirts, wider fenders and a custom aero kit that comprised a deep front spoiler and four-way adjustable rear wing.

INTERIOR

The weight-saving theme continued inside; each N1 was built without air-conditioning, an audio system, boot carpet or passenger side vanity mirror. Power-assisted steering, electric windows and electric mirrors were retained along with Tricot fabric for the high-backed mono-form bucket seats.

Behind the four-spoke airbag steering wheel was the main instrument binnacle which housed large read outs for road and engine speed plus smaller gauges for oil pressure, water temperature and fuel.

Three additional read outs for torque split, oil temperature and turbo boost were located on the centre console.

The dash assembly was formed from the kind of cheap hard plastic used in most Japanese cars of the period.

CHASSIS

As it was not legal for competition use, the N1 was not equipped with ABS. Like the regular V-spec, it came with stiffer spring and damper rates and a lower ride height than the entry level GT-R.

Each R33 was based around a pressed steel bodyshell with a 2720mm wheelbase.

Suspension was via a fully independent multi-link arrangement with strut braces front and rear.

State-of-the-art Super HICAS four-wheel steering was fitted.

Brakes were supplied by Brembo. The ventilated discs installed had a 324mm diameter up front and 300mm diameter at the rear. Front calipers were four-piston type while two-piston calipers were used at the rear.

9 x 17-inch twin-spoke wheels came shod with the latest low profile Bridgestone Potenza tyres.

A 65-litre fuel tank was mounted in the boot floor.

OPTIONS

Through Nismo’s range of dealer fit options, buyers could enhance their car with a range of extras. Among the most popular were transmission, differential and transfer oil coolers.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Thanks to its trimmed down equipment level, the N1 tipped the scales at 1500kg compared to 1530kg for the base GT-R and 1540kg for the V-spec.

Officially, performance figures were unchanged: top speed was limited to 155mph and 0-62mph took 5.6 seconds.

END OF PRODUCTION

N1 production ran from January 1995 to November 1998.

Precisely how many cars were produced is unknown; a figure between 200 and 300 seems likely, all of which were right-hand drive.

COMPETITION HISTORY

As had been the case in 1993 and 1994, Masahiko Kageyama was crowned the premier Japanese GT1 class champion for 1995 driving his Calsonic-backed Hoshino Racing R33 GT-R.

The arrival of McLaren’s F1 GTR for 1996 disturbed the normal order of things, after which a TOM’s Toyota Supra won in 1997.

The R33 had a final flourish in 1998 when Erik Comas and Masami Kageyama were crowned champions in a Penzoil-backed works entry from Nismo.

The new R34 variant then took over for the 1999 season.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Nissan - https://www.nissan-global.com

Guide: Nissan R33 Skyline GT-R LM Nismo - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<NISSAN PORTAL

BACKGROUND

Two key factors led to the transformation of sports car racing in the early 1990s.

As the 1980s drew to a close, the cost to compete in the World Sportscar Championship began to rise inexorably. New regulations needed expensive new cars and, one by one, privateer teams were forced out.

Not unexpectedly, the 1993 World Sportscar Championship was abandoned before it started owing to insufficient manufacturer interest.

Meanwhile, a year or so earlier, the less costly discipline of GT racing had begun a tentative revival.

Up until the early 1990s, the prevalence of comparatively inexpensive Group C customer Prototypes meant much slower GT-based series had all but died out. The failure of Group B circuit racing meant that, between 1986 and 1991, the international GT scene was practically non-existent.

Throughout this period, Nissan campaigned top flight Prototypes.

Their Group C programme began in 1985; it produced a series of spectacular vehicles and culminated in Nissan winning the 1990, 1991 and 1992 All Japan Sports Prototype Championships.

In conjunction with their official North American motorsport partner, Electramotive Engineering, Nissan also won the IMSA GTP championship for three consecutive seasons in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

The successful reboot of the Grand Touting class was the direct result of an imploding Prototype racing scene. GT racing’s low participation costs at a time when money was tight proved highly attractive. Easy-to-meet homologation requirements quickly led to a range of well priced cars being offered.

Burgeoning national GT series in Britain, Italy and Germany were joined by the international BPR series from 1994. Like the BPR organisers, the governing body that oversaw the annual Le Mans 24 Hours (the Automobile Club de l’Ouest), cut GT class homologation requirements to just a single road-going iteration of the proposed racing variant.

Over the next few years, myriad GT specials were produced by manufacturers wanting to participate.

One of those was Nissan who, for 1995, decided to race a specially tuned R33 GT-R in the GT1 class at la Sarthe.

Nissan had already created a version of the new-for-1995 R33 GT-R to contest that year’s Japanese GT Championship so a spin off model for Le Mans would be a comparatively straightforward undertaking. A single road-going street version would be built in order to qualify for the GT1 class.

The R33 GT-R LM emerged from NISMO (NISsan MOtorsports) in the spring of 1995. It was then flown out to England to gain European type approval. This proved straightforward and the one-off silver car was UK registered M828 VWL on March 21st.

BODYWORK

Nismo created the GT-R LM primarily to homologate a wide-bodied racing variant for the GT1 class.

Aside from the roof, doors, glass and rear light assemblies, everything was new; what emerged looked like a modern interpretation of a Group 5 car from the late seventies Silhouette era.

The simplified front bumper retained the GT-R’s trademark rectangular ducts. Underneath was a new apron with three further massive intakes. As the new front fenders were re-profiled at their leading edge, the indicators had to be moved down to the bumper.

A new front hood featured a large but shallow power bulge.

The front and rear fenders were dramatically widened in order to accommodate the biggest possible wheels and tyres for racing.

Deep side skirts were vented and ducted.

A fairly standard looking rear spoiler was mounted on a trunk lid that had been reconfigured to integrate with the heavily flared rear fenders.

The rear bumper assembly was completely new. Shrouding the lower apron was a massive extension that would enable the racing variants to accommodate more effective underbody venturis.

At 1888mm, the GTR-LM was 108mm wider than a standard GT-R. It also stood 60mm lower.

CHASSIS

Although the base model GT-R’s advanced underpinnings represented a very good platform for GT racing, Nismo made two key changes.

Firstly, the suspension was switched from a multi-link layout to double wishbones all round. The suspension was fully adjustable with new springs and dampers and beefier strut braces. The unitary steel chassis was modified to suit.

Secondly, the four-wheel drive / four-wheel steer system was ditched in favour of a light weight rear drive / front steer set up.

The LM also came with handsome new split-rim wheels which, at an 18-inch diameter, were an inch taller than the standard GT-R.

Everything else was pure GT-R.

Brakes were supplied by Brembo in Italy. The ventilated discs had 324mm diameter at the front and 300mm diameter at the rear. Front calipers were the four-piston type while two-piston calipers were used at the rear.

A 65-litre fuel tank was mounted in the boot floor.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

The GT-R LM road car engine was rated as 300bhp at 6500rpm and 275lb-ft at 4500rpm.

By comparison, the standard R32 GT-R officially produced 276bhp at 6800rpm and 271lb-ft at 4400rpm. However, the gentleman’s agreement among Japanese manufacturers to limit output to 276bhp was being quietly flouted by a number of domestic car builders at the time. This included Nissan and most R33 GT-Rs left the factory producing closer to 300bhp than 276bhp.

It seems likely the GTR-LM would have been fitted with one of Nissan’s special N1 engines. These were designed for racing and tuning use; upgrades included metal instead of ceramic turbocharger turbines and various strengthening / cooling enhancements.

The N1 engine was in turn based on the standard water-cooled RB26DETT found in practically every GT-R of the era.

It was a dual overhead camshaft straight six with twin turbos and a light alloy four valve head. Displacement was 2568cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 73.3mm respectively.

Compression was the same as before (8.5:1).

The standard boost setting was 0.85 bar.

Transmission was to the rear axle only through a five-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential.

For Le Mans, the works GT1 race cars were fitted with air-restricted 400bhp engines and six-speed gearboxes (one manual and one sequential).

INTERIOR

The LM interior was lifted from the standard base model GT-R.

The only special additions were single-piece front bucket seats and a Nismo alcantara-rimmed three-spoke non-airbag steering wheel.

The front and rear seats were upholstered in black fabric with patterned grey and white centres.

Most of the upper cabin surfaces were formed from hard-wearing black plastic

As normal, the main instrument binnacle housed large read outs for road and engine speed plus smaller gauges for oil pressure, water temperature and fuel.

Three additional read outs for torque split, oil temperature and turbo boost were located on the centre console.

Air-conditioning, power-assisted steering, electric windows, electric mirrors and a stereo were all supplied.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Despite the lack of a four-wheel drive system, at 1560kg, the GTR-LM was 20kg heavier than a V-spec R33 and 30kg heavier than the base model.

As normal, top speed was limited to 155mph and 0-62mph took 5.6 seconds.

SUBSEQUENT HISTORY

The GTR-LM was never marketed for sale and only one (silver) example was ever produced.

At the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours, one of the cars in attendance finished tenth overall and fifth in the GT1 class. McLaren famously won the event with their own GT1 class F1 GTR.

The GT1 Skylines returned for 1996, after which Nissan decided to apoint TWR to create and run a scratch-built GT1 contender for 1997 (the R390).

Nissan have retained all their GT1-based R33 Skylines including the one-off GT-R LM road car.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Nissan - https://www.nissan-global.com

Guide: Bugatti EB110 SS - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<BUGATTI PORTAL
<<<EB110 SS PORTAL
<<<EB110 SS FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

Following his acquisition of the Bugatti naming rights in 1987, Romano Artioli re-established the firm and built a state-of-the-art factory in Campogalliano, Italy.

Artioli also funded the development of a brand new model and the resultant EB110 GT was unveiled at a lavish celebration in Versailles during September 1991.

The first production EB110 GT was delivered in December 1992, by which time Bugatti had already previewed a lighter, more powerful variant that would be offered alongside.

Presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1992, the EB110 SS (variously known as the Super Sport and Sport Stradale) was 150kg lighter and had an extra 59bhp.

The SS was created for those customers who wanted a hardcore performance-oriented EB110.

In many respects, it was Bugatti’s rival for the McLaren F1.

Deliveries of both the McLaren F1 and EB110 SS began in late 1993.

At the time, the F1 and EB110 were the only production cars built around carbonfibre monocoques. Each was designed from scratch and used practically no off-the-shelf components. As a result, they justified a new price point in the marketplace. The F1 cost a staggering £640,000 while the £400,000 EB110 SS was a third more expensive than the original GT variant.

Unfortunately, by the time deliveries of the F1 and EB110 began, the global economy had turned sour.

By contrast, when they were given the green light in the late 1980s, the market for exotic and collectable motor cars was at an all-time high. A glut of manufacturers poured in but, when a worldwide recession began to take hold from late 1990, many firms were left with cars they couldn’t sell.

Buyers for the new generation of supercars from Bugatti and McLaren were thin on the ground.

Nevertheless, the F1 and EB110 represented a technological advancement over the previous generation of top flight machinery, namely the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

At the heart of the SS was an uprated version of Bugatti’s advanced 60° V12. Manufactured from a mix of exotic alloys, it incorporated dual overhead camshafts with five valves per cylinder, four turbochargers, dry-sump lubrication and Bugatti’s own multi-point electronic engine management.

Compared to the GT, the SS had the boost pressure of its four IHI turbos cranked from 1.05 to 1.2 bar.

It also came with a re-mapped ECU, larger injectors and less restrictive exhaust system.

The compression ratio was kept at 8.0:1.

Displacement stayed at 3499cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 81mm and 56.6mm respectively.

Whereas the GT variant produced 553bhp at 8000rpm, the SS motor pumped out 611bhp at 8250rpm.

It had a peak torque rating of 477lb-ft at 4200rpm compared to 451lb-ft at 3750rpm for the GT.

Power was transmitted permanently to all four wheels by a six-speed manual gearbox, all-wheel-visco lock and rear-mounted limited-slip differential. Torque distribution was 27:73 front to rear.

CHASSIS

Each SS was built around a standard EB110 carbonfibre tub designed by French state-owned rocket, satellite and aircraft manufacturer, Aerospatiale. Fabrication was handled by Composites Aquitaine.

Suspension was via independent double wishbones all round. Pullrod actuated spring / damper units were fitted at the front as per the GT. However, at the back, the SS used single instead of double spring / damper units per side.

Power-assisted steering was retained as was the GT’s switchable Bosch / Bugatti anti-lock brake system.

The GT’s 322mm cross-drilled and ventilated brake discs and four-piston Brembo calipers were also imported.

New Bugatti Type 55-inspired seven spoke BBS cast magnesium alloy wheels were fitted instead of the forged alloy rims used by the GT. Size-wise, they were the same on both cars: 18 x 9-inches at the front and 18 x 12.5-inches at the rear. Michelin Pilot SX tyres were OEM equipment.

As usual, a flexible FIA fuel tank was housed either side of the engine up against the rear bulkhead. Total fuel capacity was 120-litres.

BODYWORK

Much of the Super Sport’s 150kg weight-saving (and its higher price) was down to an array of lightweight carbonfibre body panels. These composite parts replaced the aluminium ones used by the GT and were bonded direct to the carbonfibre monocoque.

There were also a number of tell-tale visual differences between the two variants.

The SS came with a body coloured instead of gloss black B pillar complete with new vertical intake.

A distinctive new sail panel treatment featured porthole cooling scoops instead of the normal three quarter glass.

A fixed rear wing was fitted instead of the GT’s retractable spoiler.

INTERIOR

Although some SS were ordered with a GT specification interior, many were equipped with an array of special parts.

New equipment included a carbonfibre dash fascia, electric carbonfibre Recaro bucket seats with leather upholstery, four-point harnesses and a new three-spoke steering wheel.

Lightweight dimpled leather was used to trim the simplified transmission tunnel, the sills, sidewalls, rear bulkhead and floors.

Basic new door panels were upholstered with smooth leather and came with manual windows instead of electric.

Central locking, a sound system and air-conditioning were retained.

Instrumentation comprised a 10,000rpm tach flanked to the right by a slightly smaller 400kph speedometer. Off to the left was a combined oil pressure / oil temperature / water temperature gauge. A fuel read out and clock were located at the top of the central control panel.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

At 1410kg, the SS was 150kg lighter than the GT.

Top speed went from 210mph to 217mph and the 0-62mph time dropped from 4.4 seconds to 3.3.

PRODUCTION

Prior to the delivery of the first customer cars, Bugatti completed seven EB110 SS prototypes, some of which came with seven sail panel portholes (instead of the five used on production variants) and a rear spoiler with inboard instead of outboard pylons.

Production started in the autumn of 1993. The three cars produced in 1993 were sold to the Brunei Royal Family. A fourth more highly customised example then also made its way out to Brunei in 1994.

Another famous customer was Michael Schumacher. Schumacher’s car was equipped with a mostly GT-spec. interior.

It is understood that three SS were retro-fitted by the factory with a 700bhp ‘Le Mans’ engine that featured cockpit-adjustable boost control.

Like the EB110 GT, SS production ended when Bugatti filed for bankruptcy in September 1995. By this time, 32 post-prototype SS variants had been completed.

DAUER EB110 S

In 1997, trustees auctioned off Bugatti’s final stock of partially completed cars and parts. Almost everything was bought by Jochen Dauer.

Dauer purchased several unused Aerospatiale carbonfibre tubs, scores of other parts and four partially completed EB110s.

Dauer went on to complete ten of these cars in Germany between 1999 and 2002.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Bugatti - https://www.bugatti.com

Guide: Mercedes-Benz W297 CLK GTR Strassenversion - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<MERCEDES-BENZ PORTAL
<<<W297 CLK GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

After Mercedes-Benz abandoned sports car racing at the end of 1991, they focused on the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) which, from 1993, was contested by highly modified Class 1 Touring Cars.

In 1993, Mercedes expanded their motor sport programme to include a Formula 1 collaboration with Ilmor Engineering and Sauber.

Ilmor were then bankrolled to produce a Mercedes-badged CART engine for Penske to use in 1994.

1995 saw the Ilmor F1 engine re-branded as a Mercedes unit and the German firm began a 20 year collaboration with McLaren.

For 1995, the manufacturers that entered the ten round DTM in Germany (Mercedes, Opel and Alfa Romeo) also took part in the new 14 round FIA International Touring Car Series (ITC). The DTM and ITC merged for 1996, but when Opel and Alfa Romeo quit at the end of 1996 (owing to rising costs), the 1997 series was cancelled.

The DTM did not return until 2000.

In the absence of the DTM / ITC for 1997, Mercedes decided to contest the inaugural FIA GT Championship which was replacing the successful BPR Global GT Series that had taken place between 1994 and 1996.

Domestic rivals Porsche had entered the BPR Championship with a works team in late 1996. Meanwhile, BMW supplied the engines in the all-conquering McLaren F1s.

For 1997, BMW’s involvement would be stepped up a notch; their Italian satellite team, Bigazzi, were contracted to campaign a trio of semi-works F1 GTRs under the colours of long-term sponsor, Fina.

With Mercedes arrival, the stage was set for an epic battle between three of Germany’s biggest manufacturers.

Between 1994 and 1996, the BPR organisers had run their competition with a supplement to the Appendix J regulations that disregarded its official 25 car homologation requirement. To stimulate entries, only one road-going version had to be built before a car could compete in the BPR series. The Le Mans governing body (the ACO) followed suit.

For 1997, the FIA, who were now running the show, dropped the rule supplement and reintroduced the 25 car homologation requirement. It meant that Porsche and Mercedes would both have to build 25 road-going iterations of their GT1 contenders in order to compete.

McLaren had already met the production requirement and were able to produce an Evolution variant (the long tailed F1 GT) which would form the basis of their updated 1997 model.

However, to encourage manufacturer participation, the FIA decided to effectively assist Porsche and Mercedes by changing the terms of homologation; so long as one road car had been completed, the balance of production did not have to begin until twelve months after the season had ended.

Previously, homologation had always required a qualifying car meet its production criteria before it could go racing.

Unlike McLaren, whose F1 had been designed first and foremost as a road-going machine, Porsche and Mercedes decided to build out-and-out racing cars that were then reverse engineered for road use. This gave the two German firms a big advantage over their British rival.

Mercedes subsidiary AMG were commissioned to create the new W297 GT1 car. It was dubbed the CLK GTR and, thanks to its front and rear lights, bore a striking resemblance to Mercedes’ new-for-1997 W202 CLK.

Unsurprisingly, with what was a thinly veiled sports prototype, Mercedes won the 1997 FIA GT Championship for Drivers and Manufacturers. It had though been a close run affair with McLaren who decided to quit at the end of the season.

A further uprated Evolution model, the CLK LM, was then introduced mid way through 1998 and Mercedes took both titles for the second year in succession.

By this time, manufacturer support had dropped off a cliff; as a result, GT1 cars were banned from 1999 when GT2 machinery took over.

Despite the fact GT1 cars were no longer current, Mercedes still had the job of producing the required number of road-going CLK GTRs in order to retain their 1997 and 1998 titles.

Following the completion of a prototype street variant in 1997 (homologation of which was approved on April 1st), the rest of the road cars were assembled between late 1998 and mid 1999. Construction was a joint project between AMG and HWA Engineering.

HWA was established by AMG founder, Hans-Werner Aufrecht, to develop and build vehicles and components for Mercedes-AMG.

AMG had first signed a cooperation agreement with Mercedes in 1990. Mercedes then took a controlling interest in 1999, at which point HWA was formed.

Prior to the run of 25 machines required for homologation, AMG and HWA built another prototype (this time a production-spec. machine with additional road niceties that had been absent from the 1997 example).

A further 26 CLK GTRs were then completed between 1998 and 1999. 20 were Coupes and six were Roadsters.

The Coupes retailed at $1.547m, which made them the most expensive cars available at the time.

CHASSIS

Each CLK GTR road car was based around an identical carbonfibre and aluminium honeycomb monocoque to the GT1 version.

The tub was designed by AMG and built by Lola Cars in England. It had a wheelbase of 2670mm and an integrated roll cage made of 40mm diameter steel tube.

Suspension was via double wishbones with inboard pull-rod actuated coil spring / damper units and anti-roll bars at either end. The front suspension was bolted directly to the tub. The back end was attached to the transmission casing. The engine was mounted on an alloy subframe bolted to the rear bulkhead.

Cross-drilled and ventilated disc brakes had a 355mm diameter and four piston calipers at the front. 330mm discs with six piston calipers were fitted at the rear.

To make them more tractable for road use, the cars built after the initial 1997 prototype came with ABS, traction control and power steering.

The pneumatic jacking system from the GT1 variant was retained.

18-inch diameter wheels measured 10.5-inches wide at the front, 12-inches wide at the rear and were shod with Bridgestone tyres.

A 100-litre fuel tank used by the prototype was reduced to 90-litres for production.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

In the engine bay was a GT 112 variant of the Mercedes LS600 engine.

Developed by Ilmor, it was an all-alloy naturally aspirated 60° V12 with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

Unlike the race version, which came with a six-litre engine as per the GT1 rules, the production-spec. road cars were fitted with seven-litre power units and no FIA-mandated air restrictors.

Bore stayed at 89mm, but stroke was extended from 80.2mm to 92.4mm which resulted in a 911cc gain. Displacement went from 5987cc to 6898cc.

Compared to the V12s used in other Mercedes of the era, the CLK GTR engine was dry-sumped and fitted with a host of special parts to include forged pistons, titanium con rods, a lightweight flywheel, enlarged valves and faster cams. The cylinder head covers and sump casing were magnesium and a carbonfibre engine oil tank was installed.

The compression ratio was 10.5:1.

HMS7.0 fuel-injection was supplied by Bosch.

Peak output was 612bhp at 6800rpm and 572lb-ft at 5250rpm.

Although an X-Trac six-speed sequential gearbox was retained for production, it was converted to paddle shift actuation and a foot clutch was added to extend the rebuild interval. Transmission was via a four-plate carbon fibre clutch and Quaife limited-slip differential.

BODYWORK

The CLK GTR was cloaked in a carbonfibre body that featured the lights and front grille from the W202 CLK.

Among the car’s most attention-grabbing details were dihedral butterfly doors, a large roof scoop and an adjustable rear wing. Unlike the GT1 race version, the spoiler used on the road-going Coupe was integrated with the rear body; in high downforce mode, an additional 35° of rake was added.

Most of the myriad cooling solutions were found on the skirts and aprons.

The 20 production Coupes that followed the two road car prototypes were numbered 01/25 to 20/25.

Cars 21/25 to 25/25 were Roadsters of which a sixth example was also completed.

The Roadsters were completed after the Coupes. They came with a new engine cover, rollover hoops behind each headrest and a twin pylon rear spoiler similar to the GT1 race version.

Roadster front grilles featured a large three-pointed star whereas the Coupes had an unbranded grille with separate freestanding Mercedes emblem above. The wing mirrors (sourced from the regular CLK) were moved from the tops of the front fenders back to the doors. No roof of any description was supplied.

INTERIOR

Inside, the cockpit was cramped, noisy and offered poor visibility.

Mercedes raided their parts bin for the dash and much of the switchgear.

Airbags were supplied for driver and passenger. The four-spoke steering wheel was removable.

As there was no luggage space at the front or back of the car, storage bins were added underneath each door.

Production cars 01/25 to 25/25 were numbered on the dash, centre console and door sills.

Alcantara was used to upholster the dash, steering wheel rim and the roof. The seats, door panels and rear bulkhead were leather.

As the bucket seats were attached to the rear bulkhead, the pedals were adjustable instead.

Carbonfibre inserts were applied to the doors and centre console.

Standard equipment included a CD player, four-point harnesses, electric windows and electric mirrors.

OPTIONS

Optional extras included air-conditioning and a seven-piece luggage set.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Because of the equipment added to the production GTRs, weight rose from 1005kg to 1470kg.

The Roadster weighed another 105kg on top.

Mercedes quoted a top speed of 199mph for the Coupe and a 0-62mph time of 3.6 seconds. However, in terms of its ability as a functional road car, the CLK GTR was heavily criticised.

PRODUCTION DIFFERENCES

The two road car prototypes did not come with numbered plaques as per the subsequent production run.

Most CLK GTRs were painted silver. The exceptions were Coupes number 17 (red), 19 (dark blue) and 20 (black) plus Roadsters 21 (black) and 22 (dark silver).

The first prototype along with production Coupes 5, 7 and 13 had tartan interiors. Roadster 22 was completed with a magenta leather interior. All the others were dark grey.

Coupe 13 and Roadster 22 were built for the Sultan of Brunei in right-hand drive. The remaining cars were left-hand drive.

SUPER SPORT PACKAGE

Five cars (prototype number 2 and production Coupes 1, 3, 13 and 17) were uprated by HWA to Super Sport trim.

The Super Sport conversion included a new front splitter and the 7.3-litre V12 as used in the AMG SL73 and Pagani Zonda S7.3.

The engine was bored from 89mm to 91.5mm. Stroke stayed at 92.4mm for an overall displacement of 7291cc. Compression was reduced to 10.0:1.

Peak output of the Super Sport engine was 655bhp and 580lb-ft.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Mercedes-Benz - https://www.mercedes-benz.com

Guide: Porsche 911 GT (993 GT2) - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<PORSCHE PORTAL
<<<911 GT (993) FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

Throughout the 1980s, the World Sportscar Championship and top flight prototype racing in general had been in rude health; an abundance of manufacturers were taking part and competitive cars for privateers meant grids were normally packed.

However, when the FIA tried to phase in a 3.5-litre normally aspirated engine rule from 1989, costs began to rise exponentially. With turbocharged Group C cars no longer eligible from 1992 and most major economies in free fall, the World Sportscar Championship struggled for support.

As a result, the 1993 season was cancelled altogether.

What emerged in its place was the return of amateur GT racing: privateers running competition-prepared versions of genuine production cars.

With manufacturers no longer spending much, homologation requirements were slackened to the extent that, so long as one road-going version of a car had been made, racing versions were permitted to compete.

The four new classes for 1993 comprised GT1 through GT4.

Porsche initially offered its customers two new racing models for 1993: the 964-based 911 3.8 Carrera RSR and the 968 Turbo RS.

Additionally, the factory developed a unique GT1 works car: the 965-based Turbo S LM.

Having appeared at Sebring and Le Mans in 1993, the Turbo S LM was loaned to Larbre Competition for 1994 when it won the four BPR GT Championship races it contested. That season, the car ran a new 3.6-litre engine which would go on to appear in a turbocharged 993-based customer racing car for 1995: the 911 GT.

During the 1995 season, the 911 GT raced in the GT3 category. For 1996, it was moved up to the GT2 class. As a result, it is commonly referred to as the 993 GT2.

Competition in 1995 principally came from the Agusta Racing Team Callaway Corvettes until later on in the year when works cars arrived from Lotus (Esprit Sport 300) and Marcos (LM600).

The 911 GT racing car was launched at the Essen Motor Show in November 1994.

The 911 GT Straßenversion followed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1995 where it was unveiled alongside the new series production 911 Turbo.

CHASSIS

The 993 GT was built around a galvanised steel 993 bodyshell that was enhanced with an array of high performance parts.

The existing MacPherson strut / multi-link suspension arrangement was similar to that of the recently introduced Carrera RS. 911 GTs came with a front strut brace, ball-joint mountings for the spring / damper units, thicker adjustable anti-roll bars and stiffer track rods. Link bearings were firmed up for more precise wheel control, particularly at the rear.

Stiffer springs and adjustable dampers were also fitted.

Compared to the standard 911 Turbo, ride-height was dropped and the four-wheel drive system was discarded in favour of a rear wheel drive-only set up.

Cross-drilled and ventilated 322mm brake discs and four-piston aluminium calipers were imported from the production Turbo.

Handsome new Carrera RS-style 18-inch Speedline wheels were unique to the 911 GT. Made from three-magnesium sections, they were an inch wider than the regular Turbo rims: 9-inches wide at the front and 11-inches wide at the rear.

Power steering was retained for the 911 GT but given a more direct ratio.

The standard 73.5-litre fuel tank from the 993 Turbo was switched to a long-range 92-litre unit.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

In the engine bay was a tuned version of the 911 Turbo’s Type M64/60 motor. It was another air-cooled all-alloy Flat 6 with dry-sump lubrication and a single overhead camshaft for each bank of cylinders.

It displaced 3600cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 100mm and 76.4mm respectively.

Unlike many other high performance manufacturers, Porsche still deemed two valves per cylinder sufficient.

Designated Type M64/60R, the 911 GT engine retained an 8.0:1 compression ratio but featured re-mapped Bosch Motronic and free-flow catalytic converters. Boost from the KKK K16 turbos was increased from 0.8 bar to 0.9 bar. A supplementary oil cooler was mounted in the nose.

Peak output was 430bhp at 5750rpm compared to 408bhp at 5750rpm for the standard 911 Turbo. The torque rating was unchanged with 398lb-ft at 4500rpm.

Transmission was via a reinforced Type G50/32 six-speed gearbox, single-plate Sachs clutch and limited-slip differential.

BODYWORK

Cosmetically, the 911 GT was transformed with massive fibreglass wheelarch extensions that were pop riveted on to cutaway fenders.

A Carrera RSR-style chin spoiler was added below the front bumper which flared outwards at the sides to integrate with the splayed arches.

Deep side skirts were added down each flank and a twin-plane spoiler was fitted above the engine.

Compared to the Carrera RSR’s wing, the GT item had enlarged ducts for the intercoolers.

The 993 already ranked as one of the most handsome iterations of the 911 and the GT was arguably the best of the bunch. Thanks to the dropped ride height, aggressive stance and sporty additions, there was little to rival it in the mid 1990s.

OPTIONS

Electric windows, air-conditioning, a driver’s airbag and a stereo were optional. The seat centres and general colour of the upholstery could be changed by special request.

Instead of bucket seats, a small number of cars left the factory with the sports seats that were an option on series production 993s.

When placing their order, buyers were given three specification levels to choose from.

Option code M001 was for racing trim, M002 was for a Comfort street version and M003 was the Club Sport street version.

M002 911 GT COMFORT

Inside, the M002 Comfort came with two-tone black and grey leather Recaro bucket seats with body coloured backs.

Seat belts were normally red or body coloured.

Door trim panels were simplified for lightness and the usual combined storage bin / armrest / grab handle was discarded. Instead, there was a simple canvas pull chord to open the door and a basic plastic handle to close it.

A small diameter non-airbag three-spoke steering wheel was fitted. Instrumentation and switchgear came from the standard Turbo.

To save weight, the rear seats were deleted along with the airbags, most of the sound insulation, the central locking and electric mirrors.

Customers could have any or all of the luxury equipment re-instated via the options list if they wished.

M003 911 GT CLUB SPORT

M003 Club Sport 911 GTs came with a fully integrated body coloured roll cage, Recaro bucket seats trimmed in fire-retardant fabric, six-point harnesses, a battery cut-out switch and fire extinguisher. The carpet and sound deadening was deleted.

To further reduce weight, a clutch disc with torsional dampers was fitted instead of a dual mass flywheel.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

Even in standard M002 Comfort trim, the 911 GT was 285kg lighter than the 1575kg Turbo. It had a top speed of 189mph and 0-62mph time of 3.7 seconds.

PRODUCTION

Production started immediately after the Geneva Motor Show in March 1995 and continued until mid 1996.

194 were built (seven of which were right-hand drive).

Porsche also took 78 orders for the racing variant which went on to dominate its class.

993 GT EVOLUTION

In April 1998, an Evolution upgrade pack was made available.

It included bigger turbos which took power up to 450bhp at 6000rpm.

An adjustable front anti-roll bar was included along with a reworked front bumper that featured larger intakes.

A front splitter was added along with a taller upper element for the rear spoiler.

Because of the increased downforce, top speed dropped fractionally to 186mph while the 0-62mph time was a tenth quicker at 3.6 seconds.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Porsche - https://www.porsche.com

Guide: the F1 Goes Homologation Special - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the McLaren F1 LM

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 LM PORTAL

BACKGROUND

McLaren’s F1 GTR was easily the most successful GT1 racing car of 1995.

In addition to ten wins in the BPR GT Championship, it also achieved a historic outright victory at Le Mans.

Not only were McLaren the first marque to win Le Mans at their maiden attempt since Ferrari in 1949, the F1 was the first genuine Grand Touring vehicle to take outright victory since 1979.

Despite these achievements, during the course of 1995, the F1 had routinely been outpaced by the qualifying speed of Ferrari’s F40 GT Evolution. Had the F40s experienced better luck and greater reliability, the season would likely have been a much closer affair.

For 1996, Ferrari had an uprated F40 Evolution 2 on the way. A GT1 version of the recently introduced F50 was also expected to break cover in late summer.

Meanwhile, Porsche were known to have a scratch built GT1 car up their sleeve.

To retain their advantage, McLaren wanted to introduce a number of updates for their 1996 iteration of the F1 GTR.

In order to do so, they launched a revamped base car equipped with some special equipment: the F1 LM.

Then current GT1 regulations stipulated that only one road car had to be made for a racing variant to be homologated. However, after the works prototype had been manufactured to satisfy the rule makers, McLaren built a further five F1 LMs to celebrate the quintet of GTRs that had finished first, third, fourth, fifth and 13th at Le Mans.

Each was priced at £680,000 plus tax, just £40,000 more than a standard F1 road car.

The F1 LM prototype (chassis XP LM) was unveiled at the McLaren factory in Woking during the second week of December 1995. Designer Gordon Murray was on hand and described it thus: “as close to a GTR for the road as you could get”.

CHASSIS

Like every F1 derivative (GTR included), the LM used a standard carbonfibre monocoque lifted from McLaren’s production line.

GTR and LM tubs were given their own numbering sequence though; the prototype was designated XP LM and the customer cars were numbered LM1 through LM5.

Suspension was via aluminium alloy double wishbones, gas-filled Bilstein dampers and co-axial springs.

As per the GTR, the LM did without the F1 road car’s Ground Plane Shear Centre designed to minimise castor wind-off at the front.

Likewise, solid aluminium bushings were used instead of rubber.

The LM was configured with a ride height 10mm lower than the standard F1. By contrast, the 1995 specification GTR ran 45mm lower at the front and 40mm lower at the rear. The 1996 incarnation was dropped by a further 15mm at the front.

Although Carbon Industrie brakes had been introduced as part of the GTR’s optional £40,000 Le Mans pack, the LM came with steel Brembo discs and four-piston monobloc calipers imported from the F1 road car.

These cross-drilled and ventilated discs had a 332mm diameter at the front and 305mm diameter at the rear. By comparison, the steel GTR discs measured 380mm and 355mm respectively.

GTR-spec. 18-inch OZ Racing wheels were an inch taller than on the standard F1. At 10.85-inches wide front and 13-inches wide rear, the handsome magnesium rims were a considerable step up on the 9 and 11.5-inch wide road car wheels.

Tyres were special Michelin SX-MXX3s.

A regular 90-litre fuel tank fitted behind the driver’s seat was used instead of the FIA-spec. 100-litre safety cell.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Although racing regulations meant the F1 GTR had to run engines fitted with 39.4mm air restrictors, there was no such requirement for road use. Consequently, the LM was equipped with the most potent engine fitted to any McLaren F1.

As usual, the dry-sumped all-alloy BMW Motorsport 60° V12 featured dual overhead camshafts, four valve cylinder heads and variable valve timing.

Displacement was unchanged at 6064cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 87mm respectively.

The 11.0:1 compression ratio used across the board was also retained.

The LM’s special S70/2 motor came with re-mapped TAG engine management software that gave a considerable horsepower boost: 680bhp compared to 600bhp for the air restricted GTR or 627bhp for the F1 road car. Peak power was delivered at 7800rpm, 300rpm higher than both other derivatives.

The torque rating was 520lb-ft at 4500rpm.

Each LM engine came with special orange cam covers.

Transmission was via a GTR-sourced straight cut six-speed manual gearbox. This was housed in an aluminium casing like the 1995-spec. racer and not the magnesium housing adopted for 1996 GTRs.

BODYWORK

Cosmetically, the LM was equipped with a full GTR bodykit that featured a mix of 1995 and 1996 details.

The front apron housed squared off brake cooling ducts and a newly enlarged central intake. Underneath was a carbonfibre splitter to enable homologation of an even bigger version for the 1996 GTR.

A secondary intake was added to the front lid to replace the pair of NACA ducts located inboard of the headlights on 1995 GTRs.

Five new horizontal slats were added atop the front fenders.

Body coloured GTR side skirts were installed.

The cooling scoop usually found ahead of each rear wheelach was deleted.

In order to accommodate the wider OZ rims, GTR wheelarch extensions were fitted at the front.

Like the racing variant, the road car’s electronic rear spoiler and fan-assisted ground effect were both absent. Instead, the GTR diffuser was installed along with an adjustable carbonfibre rear spoiler mounted on twin pylons.

Bigger endplates were added to the rear spoiler, each of which had a face etched with the GTR logo and a script that read ‘24 Heures du Mans Winners 1995’.

INTERIOR

Inside, the LM was a mix of road and race car.

Like nearly all F1s, it came with a dash upholstered in dark grey alcantara.

As the air-conditioning system had been removed, a single ventilation outlet was mounted either side of the instrument binnacle as per the GTR.

The switchgear pods on each side of the main binnacle were also upholstered in alcantara and given carbonfibre fascias. The one on the left housed a fog light switch while the one on the right was home to a hazard warning light switch. By contrast, the F1 road car housed three different switches in each of its untrimmed pods.

Green on black analogue instrumentation was unique to the LM. It replaced the black on white gauges normally used in the F1 road car and the Stack digital read out of the GTR.

A suede-rimmed GTR steering wheel was fitted complete with special ‘LM V12’ badging.

The dimpled gear knob was also unique to the LM.

Whereas the GTR was a single seater with all manner of electronic systems in the passenger zones, the LM could accommodate a full complement of three occupants.

The GTR’s enormous carbonfibre bank of switches located to the driver’s right-hand side was dramatically reduced in size for the LM. To the driver’s left was a super lightweight handbrake assembly.

No carpet or audio system was fitted.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

McLaren quoted a weight of 1062kg which made the LM 78kg lighter than a standard F1 road car.

The 0-62mph time came down to three seconds, but because of the downforce-inducing body kit, top speed dropped from 241mph to 225mph.

PRODUCTION

The five F1 LM customer cars were produced over the spring and summer of 1996, immediately after the nine ‘96-spec. GTRs.

Chassis LM1, LM4 and LM5 were sold to the Sultan of Brunei. LM1 and LM4 were both painted black with blue, yellow and silver stripes. LM5 was Historic Orange.

Chassis LM2 was Historic Orange and sold to ZENT CEO, Yoshio Tsuzuki in Japan.

Chassis LM3 was Historic Orange. This car was purchased by British economist, David Morrison, who also owned Parabolica Motorsport. LM3 was later sold to American IT consultant, Frank Selldorff, who in turn passed it on to fashion designer, Ralph Lauren.

The F1 LM prototype (XP LM) was retained by McLaren.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com

Guide: Bugatti EB110 GT1 - a Historical & Technical Appraisal

<<<BUGATTI PORTAL

BACKGROUND

By 1994, the re-emergence of GT racing was fully underway and, after the Le Mans organisers had opened the race up to production-based cars, it was no great surprise that one wealthy privateer wanted to compete with his EB110 GT.

French media mogul, Michel Hommell, entered his mildly uprated EB110 GT for the 1994 event.

The Synergic team fitted Hommell’s car with supplementary front lights, a fixed rear wing and stripped out the interior to save around 100kg.

1994 LE MANS TEST

At the 1994 Le Mans Test (held on the 9th of May) the EB110 was driven by Eric Helary and Jean-Pierre Malcher. They posted the fifth quickest time overall and should have been quickest in the GT1 class.

However, a surprise arrival had been the works Porsche squad with their Dauer 962 LM Sport. The Dauer was an updated version of Porsche’s all-conquering 962 Group C sports prototype.

Completely against the spirit of the GT regulations but permitted to run on the technicality that a solitary type approved road-car had been built, the Dauer 962 LM was 20 seconds a lap quicker than the EB110 and only a fraction slower than the LMP1 class Courage C32 LMs that topped the timesheets.

1994 LE MANS 24 HOURS

For the 24 Hour race (June 19th and 20th), 1993 Le Mans winner Helary was joined in the EB110 by Williams F1 test driver, Jean Christophe Bouillon, and touring car ace, Alain Cudini.

The French trio qualified 17th overall behind fellow GT1 contenders, the Strandell Ferrari F40 (14th) and the Jacadi Racing Venturi 600 LM (15th).

Porsche’s Dauer 962 LMs were fifth and seventh, some 14 seconds quicker than best true GT1 car.

One hour prior to the race, a Synergic mechanic discovered a fuel leak in the EB110 which had to be repaired with Araldite. This forced the team to begin with half tanks and run at a comparatively relaxed pace until the adhesive had dried.

They quickly regained places thereafter and the EB110 eventually passed Larbre’s Porsche 911 RSR to become the first ‘real’ GT1 car in the race.

However, turbo problems on Saturday evening meant a lengthy pit-stop was required for all four to be replaced.

The Bugatti continued until Sunday morning when a tyre failure on the Mulsanne Straight saw the car crash out after 230 laps.

By contrast, the Dauer 962 LMs finished first and third for Porsche.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Bugatti - https://www.bugatti.com

Guide: Take it to the Track - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the McLaren F1 GTR 95

<<<MCLAREN PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR 95 PORTAL
<<<F1 GTR FOR SALE

BACKGROUND

When McLaren began to design the F1 road car, no thought was given to building a competition version.

At the time, the World Sportscar Championship was organised exclusively for out-and-out prototypes and traditional GT racing had all but disappeared.

Unfortunately, rising costs, falling participation and an ill-fated switch to new regulations during a global recession killed the World Sportscar Championship before the first race of 1993.

From its ashes, a new low cost international series emerged: the BPR GT Championship.

Organised by Jurgen Barth, Patrick Peter and Stephane Ratel, the inaugural BPR Championship of 1994 proved an enormous success.

Pockets of domestic GT racing did already exist in Europe (such as in Britain, Italy and Germany) and, for 1993, the Le Mans organisers had included a Grand Touring category for the first time since 1986 in an attempt to boost participation.

However, it was the 1994 BPR world series that marked a watershed moment for GT racing.

That year, grids mostly comprised privateer machinery from Porsche and Venturi with the odd Ferrari F40 and Lotus Esprit also thrown into the mix.

Participants were split into one of four classes (GT1 to GT4) and homologation required just a single road version to have been manufactured.

Pharmaceuticals magnate, Ray Bellm, and banker, Thomas Bscher, both participated in the 1994 BPR Championship driving Porsches. What they really wanted though was a GT1 version of the McLaren.

Bellm and Bscher lobbied Ron Dennis to produce such a vehicle and, having initially been reluctant, the F1 GTR was approved in July 1994.

The initial agreement was a three-car customer race programme for Bellm, Bscher and L’Oreal CEO, Lindsay Owen-Jones.

However, demand soon saw the project expand. Eventually, eight customer cars were produced for 1995 in addition to the original works prototype (chassis 01R).

The F1 GTR was unveiled by McLaren during the second week of January 1995. Each car was priced at £775,000. At the time of launch, the first six had already been sold.

02R and 04R were purchased by Bellm and Owen-Jones. These cars would be campaigned by GTC Motorsport (co-owned by Bellm and Michael Cane) with backing from Gulf Oil.

03R went to Bscher. It was sponsored by German cigarette brand, West, and looked after by Dave Price Racing (DPR). Another example campaigned by DPR was 06R. Purchased by Moody Fayed, this F1 GTR was backed by the Harrods department store owned by Moody Fayed’s uncle, Mohammed Fayed.

Chassis 05R and 07R were sold to French privateers Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere (BBA Competition) and Paul Picard (Giroix Racing Team).

08R was initially retained as a spare while 09R was sold to the Sultan of Brunei and never raced.

CHASSIS

Each GTR started life as a standard F1 carbon composite monocoque.

The double wishbone suspension was switched from rubber to rigid aluminium bushes and ride height was dropped by 45mm at the front and 40mm at the rear.

Bigger brake discs and uprated calipers were supplied by Brembo. Front disc size rose from 332mm to 380mm while at the rear they were increased from 305mm to 355mm. Steel was initially used, but new Carbon Industrie discs were available mid season as part of the £40,000 Le Mans pack.

The road car’s ABS system was ditched.

New OZ Racing centre-lock magnesium wheels were another addition. Wheel diameter was increased from 17 to 18-inches and width rose from 9 to 10.85-inches at the front and from 11.5 to 13-inches at the rear.

The standard 90-litre fuel tank was switched to a 100-litre safety cell.

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

Engine-wise, the GTR came with a new Type S70/3 motor to replace the original S70/2 unit.

Another dry-sumped all-alloy 60° V12 from BMW Motorsport, it featured dual overhead camshafts for each bank of cylinders, four valve heads and variable valve timing.

Displacement was unchanged at 6064cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 86mm and 87mm respectively.

The 11.0:1 compression ratio was also retained.

Because air restrictors mounted in the roof intake were mandatory, output was actually lower than the road car. Each GTR produced 600bhp instead of 627bhp at an unchanged 7500rpm.

The TAG engine management was re-mapped accordingly and, as a result, the GTR had a much improved torque rating: 527lb-ft at 4500rpm instead of 479lb-ft at 5600rpm.

Extra cooling was required for the six-speed manual gearbox which still came with an aluminium casing and full synchromesh, but now featured straight cut gears. The GTR’s AP Racing clutch was another uprated component.

BODYWORK

Cosmetically, McLaren focused on improved cooling and extra downforce.

The nose panel was modified with a flatter profile, bigger intakes and a chin splitter.

Wheelarch extensions were added at the front and deep side sills were installed down each flank.

At the back, McLaren fitted a pylon-mounted spoiler with electronic stabilisers. The road car’s active wing was removed.

Additional cooling ducts were added to the front lid and ahead of each rear wheelarch. A new rear diffuser was also installed.

INTERIOR

Inside, the cockpit was stripped of all its superfluous luxuries. Aside from the grey alcantara anti-glare dash, a leather / alcantara driver’s seat and a simplified alcantara-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel, there was practically no upholstery to speak of.

The analogue instrumentation from the original F1 was dropped in favour of a digital Stack read out. Most of the switchgear was now housed on an enormous carbonfibre control panel off to the driver’s right-hand side in what was originally the passenger seat footwell. More electrical gubbins along with a plumbed-in fire system was located where the right-hand passenger seat usually resided.

Just the one single-piece composite bucket seat was installed along with a six-point harness. Other safety gear included a fully integrated rollcage.

Lightweight single piece Lexan windows were fixed in position.

WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE

At 1050kg, the GTR was 90kg lighter than the F1 road car.

However, because of its high downforce body kit, top speed dropped from 241mph to just under 200mph.

TESTING

After a two lap shakedown at the Longcross track in Chobham on Tuesday 10th of January, testing proper began at Silverstone on Friday 13th.

McLaren then took their prototype to Barcelona over January 24th and 25th.

Deliveries started two weeks later.

1995 JEREZ 4 HOURS

The twelve-race 1995 BPR series got underway with the Jerez 4 Hours on February 26th.

Three GTRs were present: pole went to the GTC Gulf entry of Pierre-Henri Raphanel / Lindsay Owen-Jones, John Nielsen / Thomas Bscher were second in their white and red DPR West machine and Ray Bellm / Maurizio Sala were third in the sister Gulf car.

From the off, the GTRs ran in formation at the head of the field with Raphanel and then Bscher taking the lead.

At the first round of stops, Bellm handed over to Sala, but the modified seat required to accommodate the two different sized drivers slid out from its runners and caused a delay.

Disaster then struck for the other GTC machine after its second stop. Owen-Jones handed over to Raphanel who arrived at the first corner on three wheels. He soon lost another wheel and the car was stranded out on track; misaligned drive pegs had prevented the new rims from properly seating.

The pace car that followed enabled Bellm to regain the lap he had lost earlier.

Bellm later took the lead, only to spin after six laps at the head of the field.

Gearbox problems then put Nielsen out of the race almost within sight of the chequered flag.

After his spin, Bellm put in a storming last few laps to re-take the lead, this time from the Larbre Competition Porsche 911 GT which was running in the GT1 class thanks to a trick engine and wider than standard rear wheels.

The sole remaining McLaren eventually won by 16 seconds.

1995 PAUL RICARD 4 HOURS

Round two was the Paul Ricard 4 Hours on March 12th where the McLaren contingent grew to four cars with the addition of the black and red BBA Competition entry driven by Jean-Luc Maury Laribiere / Laurent Lecuyer / Pascal Fabre.

The French crew qualified fifth behind the Larbre Porsche 911 (fourth), Nielsen / Bscher (third), Owen-Jones / Raphanel (second) and Bellm / Sala (pole).

Raphanel’s Gulf GTR once again led the early stages and had established a ten second advantage when the engine started to lose its edge. Four pit stops with fuel pick up problems dropped the car out of contention.

Nielsen subsequently inherited the lead and, at the first driver change, handed Bscher a 13 second advantage.

Bellm and Bouchut (Porsche) then went passed Bscher, but the red and white West-backed GTR was back in the lead when the pace car came out while Bellm was already in the pits.

However, this effectively enabled Bellm to rejoin without losing a lap, which ultimately decided the race. The West car needed to make a late fuel stop which relegated it to third.

Bellm and Sala took their second win of the season with the Larbre Competition Porsche 911 GT of Bob Wollek / Jean-Pierre Jarier / Christian Bouchut in the runner up spot.

The BBA F1 GTR came home fifth and the sick Gulf entry of Raphanel / Owen-Jones was seventh.

1995 MONZA 4 HOURS

The Monza 4 Hours on March 26th marked the debut of Michelotto’s rapid new Ferrari F40 GT Evoluzione. Campaigned by Ferrari Club Italia, the solitary example for Anders Olofsson / Luciano Della Noce made a big splash by taking pole on its maiden outing.

The DPR McLaren of Nielsen / Bscher started second. For this race it had been switched to a black and red Davidoff livery.

Another F40 was third (the Pilot Aldix LM of Michel Ferte / Olivier Thevenin) while fourth on the grid was the Owen-Jones / Raphanel Gulf McLaren which was fortunate to start after it suffered a stub axle failure at Parabolica in qualifying. Fresh components were flown to Italy in time for the race.

Bellm / Sala took fifth spot for Gulf with Maury Laribiere / Lecuyer / Fabre sixth for BBA.

Bellm rose to third in the race, but having then been delayed with a loose wheel nut, he retired in the second hour with fuel feed problems.

Meanwhile, Raphanel caught the lead F40 after fuel stops, but his co-driver, Lindsay Own-Jones, had his second off of the weekend when he exited the track at Lesmo after a rear suspension failure.

With the Gulf cars out of the equation, the F40 GTE and Davidoff GTR were left to battle for the lead until both lost time in the pits with brake trouble. This left the Larbre Competition Porsche holding a healthy lead at the three hour mark.

The Ferrari and McLaren gave chase until the F40 was slowed by a puncture and forced to settle for third. By contrast, the GTR did eventually overhaul the Porsche and won by 15 seconds to give DPR their first victory of the season.

The BBA GTR finished down in eighth.

1995 JARAMA 4 HOURS

By the time of the Jarama 4 Hours on April 9th, two more F1 GTRs had been delivered: the yellow and green Harrods-backed machine run by DPR and the blue and grey Jacadi-sponsored example entered by the Giroix Racing Team (GRT).

Ferrari Club Italia now had a second F40 GTE as well, but numerically the odds were still firmly in McLaren’s favour.

As it turned out, only five GTRs started the race; during Thursday practice, Lindsay Owen-Jones put a wheel on the dirt, lost control and slammed into the tyre wall. His car flipped onto its roof and sustained enough damage for the team to send it back to McLaren.

Pole went to the Olofsson / della Noce F40 GTE by half a second. Next up were Bellm / Sala for Gulf followed by Fabien Giroix / Olivier Grouillard in the new Jacadi-backed GTR. Ferte / Thevenin started fourth in their F40 LM and Nielsen / Bscher were fifth in their DPR McLaren which was now back in its familiar white and red West livery.

The second F40 GTE of Mancini / Monti / Ayles started sixth followed by the Larbre Competition Porsche of Wollek / Jarier / Bouchut. Maury Laribiere / Lecuyer / Fabre qualified eighth in the BBA McLaren and Andy Wallace / Justin Bell were down in ninth with the Harrods F1.

Sala was immediately given a ten second penalty for jumping the start, but the Ferraris were unable to capitalise as all of them fell by the wayside for one reason or another.

By the third hour, the Giroix / Grouillard GTR had a 45 second lead with the second place Gulf car of Bellm / Sala struggling for pace on old tyres.

However, the French F1 began to suffer brake fade when it had a full lap advantage and was subsequently delayed by a lengthy stop for new pads. It eventually finished fifth while Bellm / Sala took a hard fought win from Nielsen / Bscher. Third place went to the Larbre Porsche while Wallace / Bell came through to finish fourth.

After four hours of racing, the top four cars were covered by less than a minute.

The BBA entry placed 14th.

1995 NURBURGRING 4 HOURS

Round five was the Nurburgring 4 Hours on April 23rd and it turned out to be McLaren’s best race yet.

Ferrari once again dominated qualifying. Olofsson / della Nose took their third consecutive pole while Ferte / Thevenin started second in the Pilot Aldix F40 LM.

Fastest of the McLarens was the Gulf entry of Owen-Jones / Raphanel in third. This was a brand new car (08R) to replace the one that had been heavily crashed at Jarama (04R).

Next up was the West-backed machine of Nielsen / Bscher followed by the F40 GTE of Mancini / Monti / Ayles and the Larbre Porsche of Wollek / Jarier / Bouchut which, for this race, had a works-backed GT1 engine.

Bellm / Sala were seventh for Gulf, Wallace / Bell were eighth in the Harrods machine and Giroix / Grouillard were ninth in the Jacadi GRT entry.

Olofsson led from Ferte during the early stages. However, both Ferraris were soon out of the race owing to overheating brakes and gearbox problems respectively.

Once the GT1-engined Larbre Porsche broke a driveshaft, the GTRs were left to fight amongst themselves.

Bellm and Sala went deliberately light on the brakes assuming all the other runners would need a lengthy stop for new pads.

The plan worked and the Gulf pair took their fourth win in five races. They finished 21 seconds ahead of Giroux / Grouillard while Nielsen / Bscher rounded out the podium. Raphanel / Owen-Jones took fourth and Wallace / Bell were fifth as McLarens swept the top five positions.

1995 LE MANS PRE-QUALIFYING

Pre-Qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours (which was not part of the BPR Championship) took place on April 30th.

47 cars arrived to fight over the 28 places still up for grabs including seven F1 GTRs. This included the six machines already seen in the BPR series plus chassis 01R, the works prototype.

McLaren had been approached by Japanese businessman, Motokazu Sayama, who wanted his medical supplies company, Ueno Clinic, to be the title sponsor of a GTR at Le Mans.

With no advertising space left on any of the other GTRs, McLaren decided to use chassis 01R. It was taken to Pre-Qualifying by McLaren themselves. For the race, it would be managed by Lanzante Motorsport in conjunction with a small contingent of factory personnel.

On both occasions, 01R appeared under the Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing banner (KKR).

LMP class cars unsurprisingly dominated proceedings.

Courage topped the timesheets with first and second positions, a brace of WRs were third and fourth and Kremer’s K8 was sixth. Best of the GT1 cars was the Pilot Aldix Ferrari F40 LM in fifth followed by one of the GTE variants in seventh.

John Nielsen’s West-backed DPR F1 was quickest of the McLarens in eighth, Raphanel / Owen-Jones were ninth for Gulf GTC and Yannick Dalmas / Raphanel rounded out the top ten in the works KKR machine which had attended in its original silver and orange promotional livery.

The second F40 GTE placed eleventh followed by another trio of GTRs: Olivier Grouillard was twelfth (Jacadi GRT), Andy Wallace was 13th (Harrods DPR) and Mark Blundell was 14th (Gulf GTC). The BBA Competition entry was back in 21st.

All the GTRs qualified.

LE MANS UPGRADE PACK

After Pre-Qualifying, McLaren went on to develop a special long distance kit for the 24 Hour race which all the customer teams signed up for.

Work focused on a new carbon brake pack, a dry-sump lubrication system for the gearbox, uprated driveshafts and a long-life clutch.

The £40,000 price also included a contribution to a 24 hour test with 01R at Magny Cours in May.

1995 DONINGTON 4 HOURS

The BPR Championship headed to Donington for another four hour hour race on May 8th.

As Pre-Qualifying had only been held one week before, none of the F40s showed up and nor did the BBA team.

The quintet of GTRs present dominated qualifying to occupy the first five grid positions.

Nielsen / Bscher started from pole in the DPR West entry, Wallace / Bell were second in the DPR Harrods machine and Giroix / Grouillard started third for Jacadi GRT. The Gulf-backed GTC entries of Bellm / Sala and Owen-Jones / Raphanel qualified fourth and fifth respectively.

Early on in the race, the DPR entries led from Bellm who soon peeled into the pits stuck in sixth gear. It took 21 laps to solve the problem which dropped the Gulf machine out of contention (it eventually finished 15th overall).

Wallace then nudged a backmarker when he braked a little late at the chicane; the slight impact was enough to break a suspension joint which cost the Harrods car three laps.

This left Nielsen with a 40 second lead over the Jacadi GRT machine, but as the West car’s tyres went off, it was reeled in and Grouillard set about establishing a big lead of his own.

With one hour to run, it seemed the GRT entry was on course for its first win of the year. However, a ten second penalty for speeding in the pitlane cut its lead dramatically. Grouillard did re-emerge in the lead, but his enthusiasm had got the better of him and he was immediately hit with a second penalty for speeding at the stop-go.

The resulting four-minute punishment actually proved academic as, before he could come into take it, the Frenchman coasted to a halt with transmission failure.

This allowed Nielsen / Bscher to secure their second win of the year while Raphanel / Owen-Jones finished second and Wallace / Bell were third.

1995 MONTLHERY 1000KM

Having been absent at Donington, the BBA Competition team were the only F1 representatives to show up for the Montlhery 1000km race on May 14th.

None of the other GTRs were present as the bumpy track with its punishing 70 year old banking was expected to take a severe toll on gearboxes, driveshafts and engines.

The F40 GTEs of Mancini / Monti / Ayles and Olofsson / della Noce qualified first and second while, in the absence of any other GTRs, the BBA crew of Maury-Laribiere / Lecuyer / Sourd had their best session of the year to start third.

Sourd briefly led the race, but contact with a slower car bent his left rear suspension. After three pit stops, the French team called it a day.

It looked as though the F40 was set for its first win of the year, even after second place Mancini was knocked out of the race by a slower Porsche. However, with 15 minutes to go, Olofsson (who had a four-minute lead) was also forced to retire when a failed electrical relay cut power to the alternator.

The race was eventually won by the Porsche 911 GT of Stefan Oberndorfer and Detlef Hubner.

1995 LE MANS 24 HOURS

For the Le Mans 24 Hours (June 17th and 18th) the McLarens ran 39.4mm air restrictors and were typically hitting around 195mph down the Mulsanne Straight.

All but two of the seven GTRs present were in their usual liveries. The works KKR entry was now black and grey to reflect backing from Ueno Clinic.

Meanwhile, the BBA Competition entry had been repainted by French artist, Cesar. The car’s new livery was inspired by a sculpture Cesar had created for Herve Poulain who co-drove with Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere and Marc Sourd.

As usual, the F40s proved fastest of the GT1 contenders; they started sixth, seventh and eighth.

Best of the GTRs was the works KKR entry of Yannick Dalmas / Masanori Sekiya / JJ Lehto in ninth which was followed by a works Venturi 600 SLM in tenth.

Then followed the bulk of the McLaren contingent. Mark Blundell / Ray Bellm / Maurizio Sandro Sala started eleventh (Gulf GTC), John Nielsen / Jochen Mass / Thomas Bscher were twelfth (West DPR), Andy Wallace / Derek Bell / Justin Bell were 13th (Harrods DPR), Pierre-Henri Raphanel / Philippe Alliot / Lindsay Owen-Jones were 14th (Gulf GTC) and Jean-Denis Deletraz / Olivier Grouillard / Fabien Giroix were 15th (Jacadi GRT).

The BBA Competition art car started 20th.

The 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours proved to be one of the wettest on record. Multiple stops for tyres followed by a minor crash late on meant the highly fancied Courage C34 of Bob Wollek, Eric Helary and Mario Andretti was forced to play catch up for most of the race.

The West-backed GTR and the Gulf entry of Raphanel / Alliot / Owen-Jones took turns leading during the first few hours, but both cars crashed out before half distance.

The Harrods and Ueno Clinic machines then exchanged the lead several times. By half distance, the Courage had risen to third, albeit four laps in arrears.

By noon on Sunday, the Courage was just a lap behind the Ueno Clinic car which had in turn lost a lap to the Harrods entry as a result of poor tyre choice.

However, the Harrods car lost its lap advantage at the head of the field when it needed a new set of brake pads which set up an epic fight between Derek Bell and JJ Lehto.

Unfortunately, this was cut short when Bell started to lose gears. After a five minute stop, the yellow and green McLaren was passed by the recovering Courage and eventually finished third.

Andretti also overtook Lehto late on to put the Courage on the same lap as the lead McLaren, but in the end, it finished three minutes behind the British machine.

McLaren became only the third manufacturer to win Le Mans at their first attempt; amazingly, an LMP1 car had only topped the leaderboard for a single lap during the entire 24 hours.

Fourth and fifth positions were also taken by GTRs. Despite the Gulf GTC entry of Bellm / Sala / Blundell having lost 45 minutes after a crash at the Porsche Curves, some excellent driving saw it eventually recover to claim fourth. In fifth spot was the Jacadi GRT entry while BBA Competition finished 13th overall.

1995 ANDERSTORP 4 HOURS

Two weeks after Le Mans, the BPR Championship resumed in Sweden for the Anderstorp 4 Hours (July 2nd).

Only three GTRs were present: a brace of cars from Gulf GTC and the West-backed DPR machine.

Pole position fell to the Pilot Aldix F40 LM of Ferte / Thevenin with the Evoluzione variant of Monti / Ayles / Mancini second. Best of the McLarens was the Raphanel / Owen-Jones machine in third alongside which was the F40 GTE of Olofsson / della Noce. Nielsen / Bscher started fifth and Bellm / Sala were sixth.

Monti got the jump on Ferte at the start while Nielsen held third and Raphanel moved into fourth. Olofsson’s Ferrari retired on lap five after a collision with Sala. The McLaren sustained heavy front end damage, but limped back to the pits for repairs.

When Lindsay Owen-Jones took over from Raphanel, his GTR started to lose power and two laps were lost as the engine management system was attended to.

The final hour saw the F40s battle the West McLaren at the head of the field.

With half an hour to go, Mancini twice ran into the back of Nielsen before they collided again in front of the pits. Mancini flew off into the sand trap while Nielsen suffered a puncture. This allowed the Pilot Aldix F40 LM to assume a lead which it retained until the end.

The Nielsen / Bscher F1 held on to take second while the Raphanel / Owen-Jones GTR recovered to finish third. Bellm and Sala placed a distant 13th overall after their early incident.

1995 Suzuka 1000km

The BPR Championship headed for Japan at the end of August where, unlike all the other rounds, a small contingent of WSC-class prototypes were invited to attend.

Pole position was unsurprisingly claimed by one such car: the works-backed Kudzu DG-3 Mazda of Franck Freon / Yojiro Terada / Takashi Yorino.

Six F1 GTRs were present to include those of DPR Harrods, Jacadi GRT and BBA Competition (still in its Cesar art car livery), all of which had been absent at Anderstorp.

The DPR entry of Nielsen / Bscher arrived in the same black and red Davidoff livery it had worn at Monza.

The GTC machine of Bellm / Sala / Sekiya swapped its usual Gulf colour scheme for a replica of the black and grey Ueno Clinic livery seen at Le Mans.

Once again, the Ferrari F40s proved to be the quickest GT1 cars over a single lap: Olofsson / della Noce started second in their GTE (now running a new 3.5-litre engine) followed by Ferte / Thevenin in the Anderstorp-winning LM.

Best of the McLarens were the GTC entries. The black and grey Ueno Clinic machine of Bellm / Sala / Sekiya was fourth. In fifth was the Gulf example of Raphanel / Owen-Jones. They too had a Japanese co-driver in Hideo Fukuyama.

John Nielsen / Thomas Bscher started sixth for Davidoff DPR, Fabien Giroix / Jean-Denis Deletraz / Tomiko Yoshikawa were ninth for Jacadi GRT and Andy Wallace / Karl Wendlinger were eleventh in the Harrods-backed DPR F1.

The BBA Competition entry of Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere / Jean-Paul Libert / Jun Harada started back in 23rd.

Having initially held station behind Olofsson’s F40 and the Freon Kudzu, Bellm took the lead at first round of stops and the Ueno Clinic car thereafter proved uncatchable.

Wendlinger lost a wheel and retired 20 laps into his shift with the Harrods machine while the Kudzu went out soon afterwards with broken transmission.

The GTRs gradually took control and, at mid distance, they occupied the top four positions with the two F40 GTEs close behind.

With around 300km to go, two of the front running GTRs were eliminated in separate accidents on the same lap. Deletraz was taken off by a GT2 class Honda which had made way for the Ueno Clinic F1 but failed to spot the GRT entry. In the Gulf machine, Owen-Jones was third when he was rammed into retirement by a Venturi.

After nearly seven hours racing, Bellm / Sala / Sekiya took an impressive win while Bscher / Nielsen finished second to retain their slim advantage in the championship standings. The BBA entry finished eleventh.

1995 SILVERSTONE 4 HOURS

Only the GTC Motorsport and Dave Price Racing GTRs were present for the Silverstone 4 Hour race on September 17th.

GRT driver, Olivier Grouillard, defected to the Harrods-backed team and took sponsors Jacadi and Elf with him. Team owner, Fabien Giroix, pledged to take the matter to court claiming Grouillard had defaulted on payment for his drive.

The Harrods GTR took pole after Wallace set the fastest time before a rain storm in second qualifying. Sala / Bellm were second for Gulf while the best of the Ferraris was that of Ayles / Mancini / Monti in third.

Owen-Jones / Raphanel lined up fourth on the grid in the second Gulf GTR while problems for the F40 GTE of Olofsson / della Noce and the West GTR of Nielsen / Bscher saw them start back in 16th and 27th positions respectively.

With weather conditions uncertain, the field began the race on a mix of dry, inter and wet tyres.

After a collision with a slower car in qualifying, Nielsen suffered his second indiscretion of the weekend when he put his car in the gravel at Club on lap nine. He was fortunate to escape and set about climbing back up the field.

The F40 GTEs started the race on slicks. Olofsson had stormed into second when the rain started to fall in earnest, by which time Wallace (on inters) was 90 seconds ahead.

Heavy rain saw the pace car emerge, after which the GT1 cars struggled to cope with the amount of water lying on the track. Many span out, including championship contender Sala who thumped the barrier and retired.

The lead briefly fell to the Lilian Bryner / Enzo Calderari Porsche 911 GT, but as the rain eased, the Harrods GTR regained its position at the head of the field.

Wallace and Grouillard held on to score the car’s first win of the season despite serving two 30 second stop-go penalties (the first for speeding in the pitlane and the second for missing the penalty box).

A fifth place finish for Bscher and Nielsen in the West-backed DPR machine was enough for them to clinch the European section of the BPR GT Championship. Owen-Jones / Raphanel came home a distant eighth.

1995 NOGARO 4 HOURS

Three weeks later, the teams headed to Nogaro for the penultimate round of 1995.

Better suited to the McLarens than the Ferraris, the Nogaro track saw all four GTRs outqualify the F40s.

Locking out the front row were the Dave Price Racing entries with the West-backed F1 of Nielsen / Bscher on pole and the Harrods machine of Wallace / Grouillard second. Then came the Gulf GTC cars of Raphanel / Owen-Jones and Bellm / Sala followed by the F40s of della Noce / Olofsson and Drudi / Ayles.

For the first hour, the grid positions barely changed, but after the first stops, Grouillard took over the Harrods car and began to chase down Bscher.

Having dropped to second, the West car later began to suffer from fuel vapourisation and the Harrods GTR eventually lapped its sister DPR entry on the very last corner.

Wallace and Grouillard took their second win of the season while the runners up position and fastest lap for Nielsen / Bscher meant they clinched the BPR world title to add to the European crown they had secured at Silverstone.

Olofsson’s F40 retired from third with an electrical failure and looked to hand the final podium position to the Owen-Jones / Raphanel Gulf GTR. In a continuation of the bad luck it had experienced all season though, the McLaren’s fire extinguisher discharged itself over Raphanel on the final lap. The Frenchman bailed out after crossing the line but by this time Bellm had already gone passed.

1995 ZHUHAI 3 HOURS

The Zhuhai street circuit in China hosted the final BPR race of the year on November 12th.

At three hours, this was the shortest event on the calendar and several teams switched liveries to reflect backing from different sponsors.

The Bscher / Nielsen DPR entry reverted to its black and red Davidoff colour scheme while the Harrods machine arrived in the white and red of San Miguel beer.

The Giroix Racing Team entry was still painted blue and grey, but the Franck Muller watch company had taken over title sponsorship in the absence of Jacadi and Elf.

After the Ferrari F40s had been outqualified at Nogaro, normal service was resumed with pole going to the GTE variant of Olofsson / della Noce.

Wallace / Grouillard continued their good recent form and started second ahead of the other F40 GTE driven by Drudi / Ayles / Gounon. In fourth was the 911 GT Evolution of Jarier / Bouchut behind which were the GTRs of Bscher / Nielsen and Bellm / Wollek.

Bob Wollek replaced the error prone Sala for this race while the second Gulf GTC machine stayed at home.

Giroix / Deletraz started eighth and the BBA Competition entry of Maury-Laribiere / Libert was 17th on the grid.

The bumpy Zhuhai street circuit led to a high overall attrition rate, but only one of the McLarens failed to finish. This was the Gulf GTC entry of Bellm / Wollek which had occupied second during the early stages until it subsequently developed a gearbox problem. The drivers continued, changing gear only four times per lap, and still looked set for a good result before the ‘box eventually failed.

All three F40s retired as well, which left the way clear for another dominant McLaren victory.

Despite a couple of incorrect tyre choices and a malfunctioning fuel light which meant they made an extra stop, the speed of Wallace and Grouillard in the white and red Harrods / San Miguel GTR meant they were untouchable. Victory in Zhuhai was their third consecutive win.

Nielsen / Bscher finished second to cap off a fine year and Giroix / Deletraz were third. Maury-Laribiere / Libert came home behind the fourth place Bryner / Calderari Porsche 911 GT.

1995 BPR GT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

With ten wins from twelve races and outright victory at Le Mans, it had been a stunning debut season for the F1 GTR.

In the BPR Driver’s Championship, Nielsen / Bscher finished level on 252 points, Bryner / Calderari were second on 205 and Ray Bellm was next on 201.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: LAT (Motorsport Images) for McLaren - https://www.mclaren.com