McLaren F1 GTR — BrandWiki

McLaren F1 GTR

car name	McLaren F1 GTR
category	GT1
designer	Gordon Murray Paul Rosche (engine designer) (BMW)
successor	Unnamed McLaren LMDh car (2027)
team	🇬🇧 Harrods Racing 🇬🇧 Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing 🇬🇧 Gulf Racing 🇯🇵 Team Lark 🇩🇪 BMW Motorsport
drivers	🇬🇧 Ian Flux 🇬🇧 James Weaver 🇬🇧 Ray Bellm 🇧🇷 Maurizio Sandro Sala 🇺🇸 Jake Ulrich 🇯🇵 Masanori Sekiya 🇫🇷 Yannick Dalmas 🇫🇮 JJ Lehto
chassis	Carbon fiber monocoque
front suspension	Revised McLaren F1 double wishbone suspension system
rear suspension	Revised McLaren F1 double wishbone suspension system
engine name	BMW S70/2
capacity	6064 cc
configuration	V12
turbo/na	naturally-aspirated,
engine position	rear, mid-mounted
gears	6-speed
type	manual sequential manual (Long Tail version)
tires	Michelin Goodyear (Harrods Racing) Pirelli Bridgestone (Team Lark)
debut	1995 Circuito de Jerez
races	120+
wins	38
cons champ	3
drivers champ	0
poles	6

The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the naturally aspirated BMW S70/2 V12 engine. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it won against faster purpose-built prototypes in very wet conditions. The F1 GTR raced internationally until 2005 when the final race chassis was retired.

Development

1995–1996

Gordon Murray, creator of the McLaren F1, originally saw his creation as the ultimate road car, with no intention to take the car racing. Although the car used many racing technologies and designs, it was felt that the car should be a road car first, without any intent built into the creation of the car to modify it into a racing car.

However, soon after the launch of the McLaren F1, the BPR Global GT Series was created. Starting in the 1994 season, the series featured racing modifications of sports cars such as the Venturi 600 LM, Ferrari F40, and Porsche 911 Turbo

1997

With the BPR Global GT Series reformed into the FIA GT Championship in 1997, rules regarding the cars used in the premier GT1 class were altered. Homologation specials like the Porsche 911 GT1 had already proven their worth in the final races of 1996, while newcomer Mercedes-Benz was showing the potential of their new CLK-GTR in testing. McLaren was therefore forced to give the F1 extensive modifications in order to be able to compete against cars that had been meant as race cars first and not road cars like the F1.

First and foremost, the F1 required extensive modification to its bodywork in order to gain as much aerodynamic downforce as possible. Although it retained the same carbon-fibre monocoque as the road car, the entire exterior of the car was purpose-built. A much longer nose and tail, as well as a wider rear wing, were designed in order to maximize the amount of aerodynamic downforce, while the wheel arches were widened in order to allow for the maximum amount of grip from the tyres allowed by the rules. Ground clearance was also changed to 70 mm front and rear, rather than the 60 mm front and 80 mm rear clearance of the 1996-spec car.

The engine also saw extensive modification, with a stroke reduction bringing the BMW S70 V12 down to 5990 cc in an attempt to prolong the life of the engines, while still maintaining the air restrictor-controlled 600 PS. The standard gearbox was replaced with a new X-trac 6-speed sequential transmission.

A total of ten more GTRs were built, with none of the previous cars being upgraded to the 1997-spec. In order to be allowed to construct cars that were so radically different from the F1 road car, McLaren was forced to build production road cars using the GTR '97's bodywork. These cars came to be known as the F1 GT, of which only three were built. The 1997-spec cars are commonly referred to as the "Long Tail" version due to their stretched bodywork, most noticeably at the rear.

At Le Mans 1997, the car reached 317 km/h on the Mulsanne straight. This was still slightly slower than some of the field, including the Porsche 911 GT1 Evo's - 326 km/h, Nissan R390 GT1's - 319 km/h and TWR Porsche Joest LMP's - 320 km/h.

Racing history

BPR Global GT Series

Debuting at the 1995, BPR season opener at Jerez, three F1 GTRs took to the track (two for GTC Competition, one for David Price Racing's West Competition). The McLarens showed their speed from the very start, taking the first three qualifying spots. In the race, facing stiff competition from a Porsche 911 GT2 Evo, the McLaren F1 GTR of Ray Bellm and Maurizio Sandro Sala was able to take victory by a mere 16 seconds. For the second race, French squad BBA Competition added their new F1 GTR to the series while Bellm and Sala would again take victory. This would be followed by a victory for West Competition at Monza, then GTC winning again at the fourth round at Jarama. However at Jarama, GTC's second chassis, #04R would be badly damaged in a practice accident. This was replaced by #08R for the next race.

At next race at the Nürburgring, McLaren would successfully take the first five positions for GTC, West Competition, and new F1 GTR owners Giroix Racing Team and Mach One Racing. Following another victory at Donington, the F1 had a slight dry spell when it first lost to a Porsche in Montléry, then to a Ferrari at Anderstorp. However the F1 GTR would return to form by winning the final four races of the season. West Competition would take the teams championship with a total of two victories, while GTC would take third with five victories, and Mach One Racing fourth with three victories.

Going into 1996, McLaren debuted their upgraded cars in an attempt to continue their dominance of the series. Existing teams such as GTC Competition and Giroix Racing Team bought newer 1996-spec cars, while new teams such as BBA Competition, West Competition, and Mach One retained the older 1995-spec cars. BMW Motorsport, with the assistance of Bigazzi Team, purchased three F1 GTRs as well.

McLaren started the 1996 season in the same fashion as they had in 1995, with GTC Competition taking the first win in the hands of Ray Bellm and James Weaver. GTC, West Competition, and Mach One would trade off wins for the next three rounds until McLaren finally suffered a loss to Ferrari at Anderstorp yet again. GTC Competition would take victory again at Suzuka Circuit, but when the series arrived in Brands Hatch, the F1 GTR faced new competition. Porsche debuted their new 911 GT1, and took a strong victory in their first race. Although legally not allowed to score points at first, the 911 GT1 would still take victory again at Spa. Porsche skipped Nogaro, leaving McLaren to take the victory, but Porsche returned for the final round at Zhuhai, again taking the victory.

Even with the Porsche showing its dominance late in the season, McLaren's GTC Competition was still successful in taking the team's championship with West Competition taking third. For 1997, the BPR Global Endurance GT Championship would become the FIA GT Championship.

FIA GT Championship

Showing control of the BPR series early in 1996, McLaren now saw that their car was lacking against the likes of the new Porsche 911 GT1 in the all new FIA GT Championship. At the same time, McLaren was aware of the arrival of the new Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, Lotus Elise GT1, and Panoz Esperante GTR-1, all purpose-built racing cars that bore little relation to road legal cars like the McLaren F1. The new F1 GTR "Long Tail" cars were therefore developed, and with increased assistance from BMW Motorsport, McLaren continued into the 1997 season. Major teams included the BMW Motorsport-backed Schnitzer Motorsport, Team Davidoff, and Parabolica Motorsports. Privateers continued to campaign older 1995-spec and 1996-spec cars.

At the opening round, the new Mercedes showed its pace by taking the pole in qualifying, but the car suffered mechanically during the race. The newer F1 GTRs showed that they had overcome the performance advantage of Porsche by taking a 1-2-3 victory over six trailing 911 GT1s. However, for the next round, Mercedes-Benz would be able to put up a fight against the McLarens, with a new CLK-GTR losing to BMW Motorsports F1 GTR by less than a second. At Helsinki, with a smaller field on the temporary street course and more mechanical woes for Mercedes, the BMW Motorsport McLaren again took victory.

Unfortunately, Mercedes soon overcame their mechanical problems and took a 1-2 victory at the Nürburgring, ahead of five McLarens.

All Japan Grand Touring Championship

In 1996, Team Goh of Japan purchased two F1 GTRs of 1996-spec, chassis #13R and #14R, for participation in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship's (JGTC) GT500 class under the name Team Lark. Debuting at the opening round at Suzuka Circuit, the Lark team took a 1-2 finish, with winners Naoki Hattori and Ralf Schumacher. At the following round at Fuji, David Brabham and John Nielsen would take victory for the Lark McLaren. However, in the next two rounds, the Japanese rivals would overcome the McLarens, only to have Team Lark return to take victory in the final two rounds of the season. At the Sugo round, Lark badly damaged their one chassis, requiring them to borrow chassis #04R from GTC Competition as a replacement for the final JGTC round. With four victories on the season, Team Lark captured the GT500 teams championship ahead of factory squads from Toyota and Nissan. Team Lark's championship victory was the second season in JGTC/Super GT history where the GT500 class-winning car is not from a Japanese manufacturer; a Porsche 911 GT2 won the GT500 team's championship in 1995, although the driver championship was won by a Nissan driver that year.

Team Lark would not return to defend their title in 1997 due to disputes with GT Association over car handicaps, and no McLarens raced in the series. McLarens would return though in 1999 with Team Take One purchasing McLaren F1 GTR #19R, a 1997-spec car, for competition in GT500. The competition from Toyota

BRDC GT Championship

Starting in 1996, with the expansion of the BRDC GT Championship (later known as British GT), the Lanzante Motorsports team saw an opportunity to purchase a former GTC Competition F1 GTR of 1995-spec. Although quick enough to take six pole positions over the season, the team struggled during races, managing only a single victory against a large variety of sportscars. Although drivers Ian Flux and Jake Ulrich managed to easily take the GT1 class drivers championship, the pair failed to beat out GT2 and GT3 class teams for the overall championship. Following the season, Lanzante abandoned the McLaren, and only a one-off race by Parabolica Motorsports saw the only competition by a McLaren in 1997.

In 1998, British GT changed it rules to more closely compare to those used by the FIA GT Championship. These rule changes saw the return of a McLaren to British GT, with Steve O'Rourke's EMKA Racing running a 1997-spec chassis, and later joined by Team Carl at Silverstone. EMKA would manage to take two race victories, and drivers Tim Sugden and Steve O'Rourke would take second in the overall drivers championship.

For 1999, although the FIA GT Championship had abandoned the GT1 class, British GT continued to allow the cars to run. EMKA Racing continued with AM Racing joining with another 1997-spec car before they were forced to drop out halfway through the season. EMKA managed a mere single victory, consistently being beaten by Porsche 911 GT1s and Lister Storms. For 2000, British GT finally abandoned their GT1 class, and the McLaren F1 GTRs were no longer eligible.

24 Hours of Le Mans

Although officially not part of any one racing series, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was still considered important enough for McLaren to enter. Competing at Le Mans meant racing against many of their normal GT1 competitors from various series, as well as some unique cars which ran Le Mans only. McLaren first ran Le Mans in 1995, with all seven chassis built at the time being entered. Although only six cars were being used in the BPR Global GT Series, chassis #01R which had been used as a McLaren testbed was also entered for the Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing team.

Prior to the race, it was assumed that one of the competitors in the WSC class of Le Mans Prototype would easily take the win, since they were custom built racing cars with no relation to street cars like GT1 cars. However, during the race, various WSC cars succumbed to technical difficulties and dropped well down in the standings, while the GT1 class cars continued on without difficulty. In the closing hours of the race, five McLaren F1 GTRs were still racing while only three WSC cars remained. A close battle in the final hours saw the Kokusai Kaihatsu McLaren competing against the Courage Compétition prototype, with the McLaren finally taking the overall win in one of the shortest distances covered since the 1950s. Other McLarens finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 13th overall, with only two F1 GTRs failing to finish. In honor of McLaren's achievement, the company developed five special F1 LMs for customers to mark the five finishers. The winning car, which was driven by Yannick Dalmas, Masanori Sekiya, and JJ Lehto, was retained by McLaren and never raced again.

Returning in 1996, competition from the Le Mans Prototypes was stiffer as Porsche had a factory team in the class. GT1 class itself was also more competitive, again with Porsche having a factory team with their new 911 GT1s.

Other competitions

At the close of the 1996 seasons, Bigazzi Team SRL, Giroix Racing Team, and David Price Racing took their F1 GTRs to Brazil to compete in races at Curitiba and Brasília. Bigazzi took both victories just ahead of the other two McLarens. Bigazzi would return to Brazil again in 1997 to take victory at the Mil Milhas.

Team Davidoff raced in a number of events outside of the mainstream in 1997, appearing at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga with drivers Thomas Bscher and John Nielsen (racing driver) taking a 21 lap victory over the nearest competitor. Later, the car appeared at the Le Mans Autumn Cup, finishing second in combined heat races. BBA Competition would fly to China for the FIA GT exhibition event at Zhuhai, taking second.

In 1998, for the short lived GTR Euroseries for privateers, Davidoff raced their F1 GTR in the opening round at Jarama, taking a dominating victory. The following week, the car was brought to the opening round of the 1998 Italian GT season, the 1000km of Monza. Davidoff's McLaren was able to defeat open cockpit prototypes to take overall victory by eleven laps. The car appeared one last time at the final race of the GTR Euroseries season, a four-hour race at Spa. Unfortunately the car was forced to retire with a blown head gasket.