Having swept to the top of international GT racing with a formidable BMW power unit, the McLaren F1 found itself firmly in the crosshairs of ‘Bee-Emm’s domestic rivals: Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
Read MoreDespite 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…
Read MoreMcLaren built nine examples of the first generation F1 GTR from 1995, all of which were raced bar one: chassis 09R. Although demand for the GTR from racing teams was strong, McLaren supplied…
Read MoreAlthough conceived purely for road use, the McLaren F1’s groundbreaking specification meant that, once converted into a top flight GT1 racing car, it had the measure of every other machine on…
Read MoreChassis 21R was one of four 1997 F1 GTRs supplied to BMW Motorsport. In addition to having created the 6.1-litre engine for McLaren’s F1 supercar programme, BMW Motorsport had purchased three…
Read MoreAlthough 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…
Read MoreAfter 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…
Read MoreSince 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…
Read MoreAs 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…
Read MoreHaving secured the 1996 Japanese GT Championship, Team Lark decided not to participate in the 1997 series in protest at over-arching restrictions designed to ensure their McLarens did not win…
Read MoreAlong with 21R, 24R and 26R, chassis 23R was one of the four long tailed F1 GTRs sold to BMW Motorsport for the 1997 season. Having purchased three cars the previous year (to contest the Le…
Read MoreChassis 24R was one of four 1997-spec. F1 GTRs delivered to BMW Motorsport. As supplier of the McLaren F1’s engine, BMW decided to begin racing with a trio of F1 GTRs in 1996. That year, their…
Read MoreChassis 20R was one of three 1997 F1 GTRs originally supplied to the Gulf-backed GTC Motorsport team. 20R and 25R were owned by GTC, while chassis 22R was prepared by GTC for German…
Read MoreChassis 27R was the penultimate of ten F1 GTR Long Tails built for the 1997 season. It was purchased by Scottish banker, David Morrison, who was Chief International Economist and Co-Head of…
Read MoreBacked with a fistful of Philip Morris cash, McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, teamed up with Kazumichi Goh for a factory-backed assault on the 1996 Japanese GT Championship. Goh would run a two…
Read MoreChassis 15R was the third F1 GTR ordered by L’Oreal Chairman and CEO, Lindsay Owen-Jones. The first two had been 1995-spec. examples (08R replaced 04R after it was crashed at Jarama). The…
Read MoreWhen 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…
Read MoreOne of nine 1996-spec. GTRs built, chassis 11R was delivered new to the Giroix Racing Team to replace 07R (their car from 1995). After the team lost sponsors Jacadi and Elf when Olivier Grouillard…
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