McLaren - which has at times utterly dominated such motor racing spheres as Formula One, IndyCar and Can-Am - has only won the Le Mans 24-hour race the once, but boy was it a doozy. Some 30 years on from that epic win McLaren is coming back to Le Mans, prepping a hybrid Hypercar for 2027, and you can own a slice of the project...
Hang on, own it?
Yep, but first let's set the scene. McLaren is, like BMW, Cadillac, Porsche and Alpine, going to run its car to the LMDh rules, which means it buys a chassis off the peg - from Dallara in this case, with whom McLaren already works in IndyCar racing - and adds its own engine and bodywork, with tight proscriptions on the hybrid system that it can use.
The Project: Endurance... er, project is actually unique as it involves the first full tie-up between McLaren's racing team and its road-car making business, which are technically two separate entities.
"McLaren Racing's return to the FIA World Endurance Championship marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for us. We have a rich history in the sport together with McLaren Automotive, having raced and won on our first attempt at Le Mans in 1995. This customer programme will offer buyers an incredible chance to own an authentic race car and get closer to the action on track” said Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing.
Customer programme?
Oh yes, this is the good bit. Porsche may have made a one-off road-going version of its Le Mans 963 racer, and Ferrari has built a tiny number of road-legal 499Ps for special customers, but you can actually buy into McLaren's Le Mans project if you have the necessary readies.
According to McLaren: “Project: Endurance purchasers to the very heart of an elite motorsport development and testing programme. Customers will have full behind-the-scenes access to the upcoming McLaren Racing LMDh programme, key team personnel and drivers - and become a part of McLaren Endurance Racing's story.
“As well as owning the Project: Endurance car, the customers will be at the very centre of the development programme for the McLaren Hypercar that will challenge for victory in the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). They will also experience the euphoria of the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year, as part of McLaren's campaign to again win the Triple Crown of motorsport -this time in a single season.”
Those who buy-in will also get an exclusive two-year track-day programme, at which they can actually drive 'their' McLaren Hypercar to experience the savage performance of these 330km/h racers. Each owner will receive driver coaching from a race professional, with individual pit crew and race engineers supporting throughout.
What's the whole Triple Crown thing? Something to do with rugby?
Nope, this one all on four wheels. The Triple Crown is an unofficial sweep of the three greatest motor races - the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 hours.
Only one driver has completed the triple - the late, great Graham Hill - but McLaren has done the triple in the past. Obviously, it has won lots of Monaco Grands Prix, and McLaren chassis were used by several Indy 500 winners in the 1970s and 1980s, but the solitary Le Mans win came in 1995.
That year, a group of privateers (and one private team kind of backed by the McLaren factory) entered racing versions of the legendary V12 F1 road car at Le Mans. In a race beset by driving rain, and with all of the McLarens racing under the threat of gearbox problems, the Lanzante team (more or less a factory team) won, the first time a debutant team had one at its first attempt since 1923, and the first road-legal car to win the race outright since the 1960s. McLarens famously filled four of the top five places at the end.