McLaren P1 GTR nears completion

McLaren will use March’s Geneva motor show to lift the lid off its most outrageous, powerful and exclusive production car to date: the P1 GTR.

Named in homage to the first McLaren to wear the GTR designation, 1995’s Le Mans-winning F1 GTR, this 20th anniversary version boasts an incredible 1000ps, or 735kW.

That power is delivered from a race-tuned version of the ‘regular’ P1 road car’s electric-hybrid-boosted 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8.

While technical details are sketchy to date, the P1 GTR is confirmed to be fitted with drag reduction system (DRS) aerodynamic enhancements and energy recuperation system (ERS) push-to-pass functionality, both derived from today’s Formula One.

Unveiled as a design concept at last year’s Concours d’Elegance car show in Pebble Beach, California, it’s likely that McLaren used the event to court many on the short list of potential buyers of a production version.

Short list? To be invited to purchase a GTR version, you must first have ordered or taken delivery of the regular P1, with the production of GTR commencing in 2015 once the final and 375th P1 has left the McLaren factory.

Spotted currently undergoing testing in Europe and the Middle East, the P1 GTR is too extreme for road registration and doesn’t conform to any current race series homologation.

Instead, the $AU3.6million rocketship will built, run and maintained by McLaren Special Operation who will conduct exclusive ‘turn-key’ track days for buyers in a similar vein to arch rival Ferrari’s bespoke program for its XX cars.

According to McLaren, the P1 GTR ownership package includes “driving events at some of the world’s most iconic circuits”, vehicle support, access to McLaren’s race simulators, driver training and race fitness tuition.

More details will no doubt come to light nearer to March’s Geneva show.