McLAREN MP4-12C

The MP4-12C has proven to be another masterpiece from the home of McLaren, one of Britain’s multiple World Championship-winning racing car constructors. Penned by Frank Stephenson and launched back in 2011, it’s manufactured around a one- piece carbonfibre MonoCell that weighs in at a mere 80kg. Unlike its road- going predecessor, the Gordon Murraydesigned F1, it has two conventional side- by-side seats. Power is supplied by a mid- mounted 3.9litre twin-turbo V8 designed and developed by McLaren in conjunction with Ricardo, which, in standard form, develops a massive 617bhp. That’s sufficient to propel the supercar from 0- 60mph in a mere 3.1 seconds and on to a top speed of over 200mph. The unit drives the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual- clutch gearbox.

Unlike the F1, which was originally intended for road use only, the MP4-12C was designed to excel on both road and track, so it was not long before the official GT3 version became the first McLaren to enter the international sports car racing arena since the all- conquering F1 GTR. The newcomer made its debut in the form of a single- car entry at the 2011 Spa round of the British GT Championship, and was followed by a three- car assault on the 24- hour race at the same circuit.

Following further encouraging outings that year, the company set about constructing 25 examples for the 2012 season – the shakedown tests for which were carried out at Dunsfold on the same tarmac employed by the Stig of Top

Gear fame. In order to comply with the regs, the race cars actually have less power than their roadgoing cousins – 493bhp – and, for the sake of lightness, drive through a six- rather than a sevenspeed gearbox, while the steering wheel is the same as that employed in the MP4-24 Grand Prix car. The model’s first international victories were achieved by Hexis Racing, who won the two 2012 rounds of the FIA GT1 World Championship held at the Circuito de Navarra.

Two of the custom GT3 cars were acquired by Gulf Racing in order to contest the popular sixround Blancpain series. Car no. 9 was campaigned by the pairing of Mike Wainwright and Rob Bell, while this chassis wore number 69 in the hands of Roald Goethe and Stuart Hall. It achieved placings at Silverstone, Paul Ricard and the Nürburgring.

The following 2013 season, chassis 007 was entered in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup once more, this time as a pro car with drivers Rob Bell, Nico Verdonck and Adam Carroll. The team scored third place at Monza and seventh in Pro class at the highly competitive Spa 24 Hours; the number of laps and distance this car covered have yet to be beaten by any other McLaren since.