2022 Mclaren 720s Spider Performance on 2040-cars

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McLaren 720S Le Mans limited edition commemorates 25th anniversary of race win

McLaren made its first appearance as a constructor at the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 1995, fielding seven McLaren F1 GTRs and taking the checkered flag with a 1-3-4-5 finish. Car #59, driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya was the overall winner. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of that achievement, the company is rolling out a McLaren 720S Le Mans special edition. The 720S Le Mans is available in Sarthe Grey or McLaren Orange and features a functional gloss-black roof scoop and carbon-fiber louvered front fenders. The lower body sides, lower front bumper, and rear bumper are painted Ueno Grey. The unique five-spoke wheel design is inspired by that of the F1 GTR racer, and gold-painted brake calipers are fitted as well. The interior is equipped with carbon-fiber racing seats and is finished in black Alcantara with gray or orange accents. Drivers who plan to do some track time themselves can specify six-point seatbelts and a titanium harness bar. Multiple option packages can add more carbon-fiber exterior elements, and the brand's MSO Defined and MSO Bespoke programs offer further customization. The 4.0-liter M840T twin-turbo V8 is unchanged and spins out 710 horsepower at 7,500 rpm along with 568 lb-ft of torque. Paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, it's good for a top speed of 212 mph and a 0-to-62-mph time of 2.9 seconds. Just 50 examples worldwide will be produced, with deliveries scheduled to begin in September. U.S. pricing has not been announced, but expect to dig a little deeper than the $299,000 (plus $2,500 destination) for the standard 720S. Related Video:    

McLaren and Honda rekindle a winning combination

With the 2014 Formula One World Championship now drawn to a close, all eyes are fixed on next season. And for both McLaren and Honda, that means the dawn of a new era – or hopefully, the return to one bygone. After twenty years running Mercedes engines, McLaren is switching back to Honda next season, rekindling the most successful partnership the once-dominant team has ever had. Immediately after swapping to Honda power in 1988 – and with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel – McLaren entered its winningest era, racking up four consecutive world championships. In the two decades it's spent under Mercedes power since, it won three drivers' titles and one constructors', leaving the relatively brief Honda era as its most successful. It was also the most successful for Honda, which had enjoyed success with Williams and some with Lotus, but far more with McLaren – the likes of which it was never able to recreate. The Japanese automaker that was the first to break into the Euro-centric series left grand prix racing when it left McLaren, and despite returning to fund its own team for the better part of a decade, claimed but one checkered flag before calling it quits again. Whether the new collaboration will return both outfits to the winner's circle remains to be seen, but we're looking forward to finding out. In the meantime, after releasing a couple of images from the video shoot last week, McLaren has put out this minute-and-a-half video clip showing the MP4-29H running a few laps around Silverstone, marking the official start of what could be the second reign of the McLaren-Honda dynasty. News Source: McLaren Motorsports Honda McLaren Racing Vehicles Videos F1 mclaren-honda

2016 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix recap: another wild show on and off track

Normally we use this space to provide a lengthy recap of the weekend's Formula 1 race, but we're going to try something different since most folks reading this know what happened at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday. Instead, we'll alight on what we saw as the big issues in and around the race. Let us know what you think in Comments. Proper qualifying is back. Thank goodness. It only took a month of embarrassment to fix it. And so is passing! For the third race in a row, big performance improvements at the ten teams behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas and a wider tire selection at this race graced us with opening stints filled with dicing cars. Seeing the McLarens on screen doesn't make us cringe. Manor doesn't only make the global feed when it's being lapped. We've been complaining about parade races for so long that we forgot excitement was possible without rain or wholesale regulation changes. Yes, Mercedes is still the king of the jungle, but there are some other proper midfield beasts on the hunt, too. Malfunctions up and down the grid did help the show in Shanghai, like Lewis Hamilton suffering perpetual troubles, Nico Hulkenberg's runaway front wheel which red-flagged Q2, and Sebastian Vettel's and Kimi Raikkonen's flubbed hot laps in Q3 that let Daniel Ricciardo slip by into second on the grid. Come race day things went all Grand Theft Auto at Turn 1 on the opening lap, sending some of the best cars to the pits. Then came Ricciardo's puncture while leading, then came the Safety Car – all by Lap 5. Nico Rosberg got 38 seconds of airtime on the way to victory – at the start and the finish, and that happened to be his margin of victory, too – otherwise he was a ghost. Everyone else was struggling and juggling. Rosberg's win at the Bahrain Grand Prix put the German at five consecutive victories going back to last year's Mexican Grand Prix. The history books show that any driver who's won five straight contests has gone on to win the championship. With his triumph in China, the German has won the season's first three races, the history books again show that the other nine drivers who've pulled that off have gone on to win the championship. Rosberg, 36 points ahead of his teammate in the standings, is having none of it. He said of the other victors, "But they didn't have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate." Perhaps Mercedes was right not to make an engine deal with Red Bull last season.