McLaren takes its supercar to the streets

McLaren's prototype GT3 version of its MP4-12C supercar. Photo / Supplied

A road-going version of McLaren's GT3 race car will be the next derivative of the MP4-12C supercar, which goes on sale in Britain this month.

Meantime, deliveries of the MP4-12C to other markets - including Australia - have been delayed until the end of the year because of the disruption of components from Japan.

The hard-core GT3 will be available only to privateer teams to race in 2012 after a strictly limited homologation production run of just 20 examples this year. It is priced at £310,000 (about $640,000).

McLaren is already planning a street-legal version of the GT3 car in response to demand for a stripped-out track car. Ian Gorsuch, regional director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, said it was initially building 15 GT3s.

"That's purely for teams - not for individuals - although we have some individuals who want one for their collection," he told website GoAuto. "When supply does open up, there could be a lightweight road version. One is purely for racing teams; the other is a track car."

Billed as the first non-F1 race car built by McLaren since the McLaren F1 GTR, the GT3 employs the same 75kg one-piece carbon-fibre MonoCell chassis as the MP4-12C road car, as well as a "race specification" version of its 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 with unique engine-management system.

Other vital statistics include a Ricardo-designed six-speed sequential gearbox that is 80kg lighter than the road car's seven-speed transmission.

McLaren's first GT3 racer also features specific electronics including a new Bosch Motorsport ABS braking system and a McLaren Racing-developed aero package comprising a new front splitter, door blades and a large, fixed rear wing.

The race car, which will appear at July's Goodwood Festival of Speed, also features a suspension set-up that eschews the road car's ProActive Chassis Control System in favour of race-tuned anti-roll bars and dampers due to GT racing regulations.

McLaren Group chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said it was confident the MP4-12C race car would form the basis of a GT assault as successful as its track record within and beyond F1.

"The new MP4-12C sports car is the essence of a race car and we used Formula One simulation technology to get us ahead in our development programme," he said.

"We have had great success outside of Formula One - from the US, to France, to Japan - and there is no reason why we can't repeat that success in sports cars after 2012."