650s

The 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour has been won by the McLaren 650S GT3 of customer team Tekno Autosports in one of the hardest fought battles in the history of the event. On its debut outing at the iconic Mount Panorama, the 650S GT3 claimed the clean sweep over the course of the weekend with pole position, fastest lap, overall race win and a new lap record. The trio of Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb triumphed in the battle of strategies which saw five different manufacturers lead the race over the 12 hours. A record-breaking qualifying session saw the four examples of the 650S GT3 qualify within the top six, with pole position in the Pro-Am class for customer team Objective Racing and overall pole position and a new lap record for Van Gisbergen and the […]

Following the most successful season for McLaren GT, with the 650S GT3 winning on each of the four continents it competed on, 2016 will see more cars competing in more championships across the world. Plans for Factory Drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente are now finalised along with confirmation of the signing of Côme Ledogar to the works line up. In addition, the recently-announced Driver Academy is further strengthened with Colin Thompson joining for the 2016 season. The announcements coincide with confirmation that the 650S GT3 will line up as part of an impressive display at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show alongside the three-tier model range from McLaren Automotive for the first time. Joining the Factory Driver line-up for the 2016 season is 24-year-old Côme Ledogar. The young Frenchman made the switch from single-seater racing at the end of 2011, […]

A brace of victories for McLaren GT factory driver Shane Van Gisbergen with teammate Klark Quinn saw the 650S GT3 secure the coveted Highlands 101 title at the Australian GT season finale weekend which took place at Highlands Motorsport Park, New Zealand. With victory in the weekend’s opening race, followed by the win in the three-hour endurance race, Van Gisbergen secured his first wins on home soil with the 650S GT3. The first race of the weekend saw Van Gisbergen and Quinn qualify the Darrell Lea McLaren on the front row, narrowly missing pole position by just 0.044 seconds. A strong start by Quinn saw the Australian take the lead, which he held until a racing incident further down the field close to half-distance brought out the Safety Car. With the race neutralised, teams looked to optimise race strategies with […]

The McLaren 650S GT3 claimed its first championship over the weekend in Barcelona as McLaren GT customer team Teo Martin Motorsports secured the International GT Open Championship title, and also saw the first victory for the McLaren GT Young Driver Programme. A hard-fought double podium finish for factory driver Alvaro Parente and teammate Miguel Ramos secured the championship, while Young Driver Andrew Watson took overall victory in the weekend’s opening sprint race alongside Fernando Monje. A third 650S GT3, entered by customer team Peter Kox Racing also secured fastest lap of the race to reinforce the dominant display. Still only in its debut competitive season, the results in Barcelona underline the success from the outset for the latest model from the Woking-based outfit. The 650S GT3 is based on the road-going 650S Coupe, with a lightweight carbon fibre MonoCell chassis […]

McLaren established itself throughout the 1960s and 70s as a world-beating force in one of the most extreme forms of motorsport, Can-Am, winning five consecutive championships between 1967 and 1971. In honour of the 50th anniversary of the 1966 inaugural season, McLaren Special Operations (MSO) has created the limited production 650S Can-Am which takes its inspiration from the race cars of this golden age of motorsport.  The 650S Can-Am can be commissioned now priced at £255,850 with deliveries set to commence in the spring of 2016, 50 years on from the first race at Mont Tremblant, Canada.  Just 50 examples will be produced globally, all based on the 650S Spider. The Can-Am series, or Canadian-American Challenge Cup, was a no-holds-barred battle of power and speed around some of the most iconic circuits in North America and Canada.  It attracted the […]