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McLaren F1 GTR - from road sports car to Le Mans winner

Name: McLaren F1 1992
Brand: McLaren

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Created on May 3, 2021

Text:

Daniel Reinhard

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

McLaren Automotive Limited

McLaren

McLaren / Werk

BMW AG

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

McLaren Automotive Limited

McLaren

McLaren / Werk

BMW AG

Archiv

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McLaren F1 (1992) - Developer Gordon Murray with his super sports car

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McLaren F1 (1992) - at the presentation in Monte Carlo

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McLaren F1 (1992) - three seats, the pilot sits in the middle

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Overall winner 24 Hours of Le Mans 1995: the #59 McLaren F1 GTR with Yannick Dalmas - JJ Lehto - Masanori Sekyia

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McLaren F1 GTR (1995) from the Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing team - winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 17 and 18, 1995

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McLaren F1 GTR (1995) - the winning car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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McLaren F1 GTR (1995) - 24 Hours of Le Mans 1995 - in famous Harrods livery

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Two McLaren F1 GTR (1995): the yellow-green Harrods F1 GTR in front of the overall winner with number #59

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24 Hours of Le Mans 1995: McLaren F1 GTR with BMW V12 6.1-liter engine with drivers Andy Wallace, Derek Bell and Justin Bell finished third overall

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Two McLaren F1 GTR (1995) at the most famous Le Mans passage: Dunlop chicane

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McLaren F1 GTR (1995) #25 at the start of the long straight at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans by the GTC Gulf Racing team - retired after 77 laps

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - Nelson Piquet at the wheel at Silverstone

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - during test drives on the Silverstone circuit

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - during test drives at Silverstone

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - close to the production car

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - Race car on test drive

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8th place in the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans: the #39 McLaren F1 GTR from the Italian team Bigazzi with Danny Sullivan - Nelson Piquet - Johnny Cecotto

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24 Hours of Le Mans 1995: #42 McLaren F1 GTR (BBA Compétition) with French drivers Jean Luc Maury Laribiere - Marc Sourd - Hervé Poulain finished 13th

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - View of the steering wheel and cockpit

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - Jacques Laffite familiarizes himself with the race car at Silverstone

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - lightweight construction and functionality

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - with powerful rear wing

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - Nelson Piquet has the race car explained to him

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - Nelson Piquet takes a seat in the race car

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - Steve Soper in the cockpit of the racing car

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McLaren F1 GTR (1996) - View of the BMW V12

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5th place in the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans: The #34 McLaren F1 GTR (Gulf Racing) with Lindsay Owen Jones - David Brabham - Pierre Henri Raphanel.

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McLaren F1 GTR (1995) #24 from the GTC Gulf Racing team at Le Mans 1995 - 4th place

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2nd place in the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans: the #41 McLaren F1 GTR (Gulf Team Davidoff) with Jean Marc Gounon - Pierre Henri Raphanel - Anders Olofsson

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McLaren F1 GTR Longtail (1997) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1997

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McLaren F1 GTR (1995) from the Giroix Racing Team with the Swiss racing driver Jean-Denis Délétraz and the two Frenchmen Fabien Giroix and Olivier Grouillard

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With the Le Mans race car McLaren F1 GTR (1996) the then McLaren mechanic Matthew Carter drove to Le Mans 1997, on normal roads!

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Summary

The three-seater McLaren F1 mid-engine sports car was not actually intended as a racing car. But in 1995, private teams competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with optimized road sports cars and surprisingly won. Now BMW had also tasted blood and race-optimized F1 GTRs were developed. Although they lagged somewhat behind the great success, they are among the most beautiful racing cars of all time. This report is about the GTR version of the McLaren F1 and shows it in many historic pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Bigazzi and BMW
With a works line-up at the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans
From the McLaren F1 to the F1 GTR
An investment for the future

Estimated reading time: 4min

Preview (beginning of the article)

On May 28, 1992, the McLaren F1 was unveiled to the world on the occasion of the F1 GP at the Sporting Club in Monaco. At that time, it was not even driving under its own power, but it impressed the visitors who had come, including people such as Dennis Hulme and Ayrton Senna, who is said to have rumored that he was not sure whether he could even afford this car. The price was set at around DM 1.6 million (USD 970,785, £ 634,500) - no one had ever tried to offer a production car at such a high price before. A maximum of 300 units were planned, and this limit was also noted in the customer contracts.

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