This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will see the dynamic debut of the new McLaren P1 hyper car. But that’s not the the coolest feature of McLaren’s plans. Breaking out the big guns, the British firm announced a rare and priceless display of Le Mans-winning McLaren F1s, including some hill action.
Three of the most iconic McLaren race cars of all time will be there at the Goodwood estate: the 1995 race-winning McLaren F1 GTR F1/01R; McLaren F1 LM one-off prototype; and the the Gulf-liveried McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’.
This special occasion is your only chance to see these amazing machines in one place. They would normally be locked up in McLaren’s HQ in Woking, but 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the brand, and what better way to celebrate this than showcasing a part of what makes the Company so great.
The McLaren F1 GTR is probably the most significant of the three, as it has a Le Mans victory to its name. Driven by Yannick Dalmas, J.J. Lehto and Masanori Sekiya, it wont the 1995 24 hour race and made McLaren the only only racing team ever to have won the Formula 1, Indy 500, Can-Am and Le Mans championships.
The F1 LM prototype was made in honor of the victorious GTR, and featured the ‘Papaya Orange’ of Bruce McLaren’s early Formula 1 and Can-Am racers. After that came the McLaren F1 GTR ‘Longtail’, chassis F1/20R, which was built for the 1997 season, in which he earned a second-place podium finish for the team in the big race.