McLaren announces new GT1 World Championship cars

Sports car manufacturer and developer McLaren has announced 25 of its MP4-12C GT3 models will be taking part in this year's FIA GT1 World Championship.

Teams using the vehicle in this year's championship include series champions Apex Motorsport, as well as Lapidus Racing, who will be entering a number of MP4-12C GT3s at the upcoming  24-hour races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

The 2012 race season gets underway on March 31st, with the opening rounds of the VLN and ADAC GT Masters championships taking place at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe and Oschersleben circuits in Germany respectively.

Furthermore, the MP4-12C will be used as the safety car at the FIA GT1 World Championship race at the Nogaro circuit in France on April 8th to 11th.

Andrew Kirkaldy, project manager for McLaren GT, said: "In one year, McLaren GT has taken the 12C GT3 from concept to race readiness.

"We will learn more about the car in the early part of the season – and expectations will naturally be high of a car full of Formula One technology – but our objective is to make the 12C GT3 as much a pleasure to own and run as it is race."

The road version of the McLaren MP4-12C delivers a top speed of a limited 320 km/h (200 mph), with the vehicle able to accelerate from zero to 200 km/h in just 8.9 seconds.

Furthermore, it has a stopping distance from this speed of under 30 metres – approximately seven car lengths – highlighting the importance of the powerful brakes, which help to improve safety for the driver and other road users.

Released in 2011 and weighing just 1,301 kg, the car is powered by the M838T 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, producing 592 bhp and 601 Nm of torque.

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Posted by Mark Thompson