This is unsurprising, yet cool nonetheless. McLaren is taking its 720S sports car and turning it into a full-blown, factory-supported racer. McLaren, like all serious sports car builders, has more than a little history in turning the factory cars into racers. This is not a new thing. Indeed that’s what the “sports” in sports car means: You can, are encouraged, and are supposed to race the thing.
Specific Intent
Back in the 1950s (to just pick an era at random) if you drove something like a Jaguar XK120 and didn’t race it on the weekends, you were somewhat suspect. You raced your Jaguar, because Jaguar raced theirs. It was what one did, old sport. Of course, back in the 1950s, a McLaren road car wasn’t even a gleam in young Bruce McLaren’s eye. At that time, he was messing about with modified Austins and such in his rural New Zealand. And winning with the darn things. Fast forward more than half a century, and the company that bears his name is still in the thick of things. The thumbnail sketch here is how the new 720S GT3 will be a follow on effort to McLaren’s successful 570S GT4 and 650S GT3 racing program. The 650S stacked up the trophies like nobody’s business, winning 19 races, landing on 19 podiums, and grabbing the pole position for the Spa 24 hour race. The 720S GT3 will begin testing next year and launch with customer teams in 2019.
Technical Specs
The specs for the upcoming 720S GT3 are very impressive indeed. Power ...