McLaren P1 GTR - Beautiful and Brutally Fast
When McLaren introduced the P1 GTR concept in August of 2014, the general sportscar public was impressed but was not convinced that the beautiful and brutally fast concept will be in production soon. However, on 17th of February 2015, McLaren presented the world a new racing hypercar, ready to be delivered to the customers and ready to battle almost anything on any track.
McLaren P1 GTR
Racing car based on one of fastest production cars ever made
If you are familiar with full specifications of a regular, road going P1 you will be interested that there is a very small increase in overall power and torque. The P1 GTR has exactly 986 bhp comparing to 903 bhp for the regular model. Even if this increase does not sound that much, you must understand that there is almost 1000 bhp at one’s disposal and every other aspect of the car is improved. For example, weight is down 50 kilograms by using new materials for the roof and some body panels. Then, there are revised braking and suspension systems and a big improvement in aerodynamics. In fact,the P1 GTR has 10% better downforce at high speeds than the road going version. Of course, since P1 GTR is racing-only model, all aerodynamic components are fully adjustable for different tracks and track conditions. This means that the extremely fast P1 is insanely fast in P1 GTR trim. There is no official performance figures yet but when the car will be shown to general public in Geneve, McLaren could release a full spec list.
McLaren P1 GTR
New hypercar class for ultra rich gentleman drivers
But the performance and technology of this car is just the half of the story. The other half is exclusivity and the new P1 GTR costs exactly 3.06 million dollars and it is only available to customers who already own a regular P1. However, for that amount you will get an unbelievably sophisticated race car and access to McLaren’s technicians, pit crew and driver-training program. McLaren is organizing a special race series which will start later this year and will feature only gentleman racers with the new P1 GTR. An initial testing session for owners will take place at Silverstone, before a proper track session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. It will be very interesting to see P1 GTR in action since there is already competition in form of the LaFerrari FXX, future Aston Martin Vulcan and Porsche 918. It looks like the very rich car enthusiasts are finally getting a series for them, competing in hypercars on the world’s best tracks.
Legendary McLaren F1 GTR with new McLaren P1 GTR
Interestingly, McLaren is celebrating its 20th anniversary of 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans win with releasing of P1 GTR and showing it in same color scheme as 1995 winner, the famous McLaren F1 GTR. Lets just hope that new and fantastic P1 GTR will be as fast and as successful as the legendary F1.
