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MSP Sports Capital buys minority stake in McLaren Racing

LONDON — U.S.-based investment group MSP Sports Capital is taking a significant minority stake in McLaren Racing in a deal the Formula One team said would give them the tools to return to the top of the sport. The long-term investment, announced on Sunday, is for an initial 15% holding rising to a maximum 33% by the end of 2022. McLaren said it values the British racing outfit at 560 million pounds ($740.5 million). Under the deal, MSP will put 185 million pounds into the former world champions, who last won a race in 2012 but are still historically the sport's second-most successful team, over a two-year period. Luxury sportscar maker McLaren Automotive remains wholly owned by the McLaren Group, whose majority shareholder is Bahrain's Mumtalakat holding company, and is not part of the transaction. The consortium members include The Najafi Companies, a private investment firm, and UBS O'Connor, a hedge fund subsidiary of Swiss investment banking firm UBS. MSP is headquartered in New York and the principals have a background as owners and investors in Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association (NBA) among other ventures. Jahm Najafi will become a vice-chairman of McLaren Racing, while Jeff Moorad of MSP and Rodrigo Trelles Zabala of UBS O'Connor will join the McLaren Racing board. McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown said the investment marked the start of "the next chapter" and would allow the team to "turbocharge" their efforts. Paul Walsh, executive chairman of the McLaren Group, told a video conference that the new cash flow would not impact the debt level of McLaren directly. "We have got a number of activities in place where we will look to refinance some of our debt next year and attendant with that there could very well be some kind of equity raise," he said. "What this (deal) does is mean that McLaren Group is not funding on a cash basis in Racing." MSP's arrival increases North American interest in a sport whose commercial rights are held by U.S.-based Liberty Media. Moorad, a former NASCAR team owner, said MSP had looked into acquiring Force India when that team, now Racing Point and owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, went into administration in 2018. They also considered former champions Williams, whose sale to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital was announced in August.

McLaren Elva is the next Ultimate Series model, with 800 horsepower

McLaren's latest Ultimate Series hypercar has been revealed, and its name is Elva. The McLaren Elva is an open roadster named and themed after the open race cars built by founder Bruce McLaren and the Elva sports car company in the 1960s. This new car is the lightest and one of the quickest cars from McLaren yet. The new Elva's resemblance to the classic race car is clear with undulating, exaggerated wheel arches, discreet rear air scoops, low nose and completely exposed cockpit. But it has trademark design cues from modern McLarens such as the squinting headlights, slender taillights and a tail dominated by air vents and a diffuser. The Elva has no roof or windows, but it does have McLaren's typical butterfly doors, and a windshield will be available as an option. Hidden under the voluptuous body is a version of the McLaren Senna's twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, but thanks to a high-flow exhaust, it now makes 804 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. It's coupled to a seven-speed transmission that sends power to the rear wheels only. McLaren says the engine will propel the car to 62 mph in under 3 seconds, and it will hit 124 mph (200 kph) in 6.7 seconds, which is faster than the Senna. This is in part made possible by the Elva being the lightest McLaren road car yet. A final weight hasn't been announced, but we know it's less than the 2,900-pound Senna. Much of the credit for the weight savings goes to the new carbon fiber chassis and body, plus the lack of any kind of driver enclosure. McLaren doesn't even include an audio system as standard (it's a no-cost option) to help keep the weight down. The seats are made of carbon fiber. Even the brakes, which are based on the already light setup in the Senna, get titanium calipers that save about two pounds in total. While light and serious, McLaren has still tried to make the driving experience reasonably comfortable. It has implemented a fancy set of vents, vanes and deflectors in the front of the car called the McLaren Active Air Management System to channel air around the passenger compartment. That way, the "cabin" is still tolerable even if you're not wearing a full-face helmet. If you do decide to wear a helmet, there is a storage area under the cowls behind the seat that has space for your headgear. The seats can be covered in a variety of materials from leather with additional protective coatings to a new durable, breathable fabric.

Formula One speeds towards radical thousand-horsepower shakeup

The teams, the drivers, the fans, the circuits... few, if any, were satisfied with how Formula One has shaped up since the current regulations took hold last year. But that doesn't mean they aren't working on it. At a recent meeting of the F1 Strategy Group, the leading parties in the sport outlined a new framework that would radically shake up the cars themselves while keeping costs in check. And the biggest change could see the engines producing around 1,000 horsepower. Although a proposal put forth by Ferrari to ditch the current V6 hybrid engines in favor of new twin-turbocharged units was rejected by Honda and Mercedes, the members of the group approved in principal to increase the fuel flow in the existing engines to dramatically boost output. As it stands, the current 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 engines develop around 600 horsepower, with an additional 160 or so kicked in by the electric Energy Recovery System, for a combined output of about 760 hp. What's not clear at the moment is whether the increased fuel flow would necessitate either the return of mid-race refueling (currently banned) or the installation of larger fuel tanks. Red Bull and McLaren also submitted proposals to radically redesign the shape of the cars as well, however a more evolutionary approach was adopted instead. Though far from finalized, the new design would keep the same basic form of the current chassis, but with adjustments to make them more aesthetically pleasing while producing more downforce. Wider tires are also said to be part of the mix. With more power and more grip from the tires and aero, the resulting cars would most certainly end up going much faster than the current ones, which are already starting to nudge the lap records at some of the circuits, many of which were set during the V10 era. The F1 Strategy Group is made up of representatives of the FIA, Formula One Management and six leading teams. The next step will be for the teams' technical directors to iron out how to implement what their bosses have agreed to. If they settle the details fast enough, the revised regulations could be pushed through in time for next season. News Source: AutosportImage Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Motorsports Ferrari Honda Infiniti McLaren Mercedes-Benz F1