2019 Mclaren 600lt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

McLaren to unveil 'latest competition car' at Goodwood Festival of Speed

One of the very best automotive events of the year kicks off next week in England – the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Manufacturers from around the globe will descend on the Earl of March's estate in West Sussex to display their wares, while some of the world's greatest cars will streak up the estate's 1.16-mile Hillclimb Circuit. Goodwood isn't just a place to see high-performance cars run up a driveway, though. Manufacturers often use the the event as a debut location for some of their sauciest road cars and newest racers. This year, that will include McLaren, which has announced that, in addition to demonstration laps from former Formula One World Champion Jenson Button as well as runs in a one-off 650S and P1, an all-new competition vehicle will make its debut. While we were holding out hope for the debut of the P1 GTR, the more likely case indicated by the teaser sketch, shown above, is that we'll see the successor to the 12C GT3 racer, the 650S GT3. Like its predecessor, the 650S GT3 will likely take part in the FIA's GT3 and GT1 championships, alongside the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin and BMW. We'll have all the details on the 650S GT3 when it makes its debut on Friday, June 27. Meanwhile, keep an eye open for Goodwood content, as the festival kicks off on June 26 and runs through June 29. Take a look below for the official press release from McLaren. McLAREN AT GOODWOOD 2014 The arrival of summer in the UK means it's Festival of Speed time again, and McLaren Automotive is gearing up for what promises to be another great weekend of cars and stars at Goodwood. As an official partner of this world-famous annual event, McLaren will have a major presence in Lord March's country park over the course of the weekend and will be following the Festivals theme of 'Addicted to Winning'. We have something particularly special in store – for the first time, we will be unveiling a new model at the Festival as McLaren GT uncover their latest competition race car. Our exhibition stand, which proved such a draw in 2013 as we showcased the then-new McLaren P1™, will once again be a key attraction of the weekend. We will be located to the right of Goodwood House this year, near the TAG Heuer Drivers' Club Walkway, so it's a great place to look out for famous faces. The McLaren 650S will be on display making its Festival of Speed debut having been revealed at the Geneva Motor show in March. The McLaren P1™ will also be present.

Alonso and Button try out Honda's Uni-Cub mobility scooter

As two of the best racing drivers in the world, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have some pretty serious wheels at their disposal. They'll both be driving the latest McLaren-Honda MP4-30 on the track this year, will likely have access to supercars like the new Acura NSX or McLaren 650S for toying around with when they're not working, and probably each have an enviable motor pool of their own at home. This, then, must have been quite a change of pace for them both. As you can see from this video tweeted by McLaren, the two highly accomplished F1 drivers hopped on a very different set of wheels recently: namely, Honda's Uni-Cub "personal mobility device." The experimental electric motorized bar stool is controlled by shifting your weight to and fro (like a Segway), but stands just two feet tall and tops out at less than four miles per hour. At that rate, it would take them almost an hour to take one lap around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, where the 2015 United States Grand Prix will be held in October. In that same time span, for perspective's sake, they'd be lapped more than 30 times by their rivals... so they'd better stick to the racing machinery once the championship gets under way. What happened when @alo_oficial and @JensonButton got hold of a UNI-CUBAcA?A¦ https://t.co/YP8r9z1OsG - McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 10, 2015

This is what it's like to drive McLaren's unbridled P1 GTR

McLaren is used to making the most of what it's allowed to do within certain limits. Those limits may be set by government regulators who determine what is and what is not acceptable for use on public roads, or by motorsport governing bodies like the FIA and ACO who determine what's fair to race on the track. But the P1 GTR is another beast entirely. Like the Aston Martin Vulcan or Ferrari FXX K, the McLaren P1 GTR represents the very best of what Woking can do without any restrictions beyond the engineers' own capabilities. Which is all well and fine in theory or sitting still on a show stand, but given the nearly $3 million price of entry, most of us will never find out what it's like to actually drive on a track like it's meant to. Fortunately the blokes over at Autocar had just such a chance to take Britain's finest out on the track at the Losail circuit in Qatar, and were good enough to bring a GoPro camera or two along for the ride. The video is only about five minutes long, and half of it is taken up by preparations and explanations from McLaren's affable factory test driver Chris Goodwin, but it represents our best look yet at what it's like to drive this gentleman racer's plaything flat out. Related Gallery McLaren P1 GTR View 18 Photos News Source: Autocar via YouTube McLaren Coupe Special and Limited Editions Supercars Videos mclaren p1 mclaren p1 gtr