BMW RLL driver – Bill Auberlen – drives the McLaren F1 GTR at Mid-Ohio 2015 in honor of the last street-based GT car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 1996 BMW Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR is the unicorn of racing cars. Gordon Murray is the man behind the McLaren F1. His creation was the fastest production car for almost a decade when it was surpassed by Bugatti Veyron, Koenigsegg CCR and SSC Ultimate Aero TT. However, unlike forced induction (turbo or supercharged) cars mentioned above, the F1 is still the fastest production car with a naturally aspirated engine which was unsurprisingly made by BMW.
Dubbed S70/2, the engine was 16 kg heavier than 250 kg Murray had in plan, but it was also 14% more powerful, producing 627 hp.
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McLaren had no intention to take it racing, but many customers and racing teams started seeing the potential in the F1 as soon as the first cars had hit the roads. Although the engine was custom made for “road use” McLaren F1, it was also fitted in the McLaren F1 GTR race car which won Le Mans in 1995.
