Although originally conceived by Gordon Murray as a road car only (albeit the ultimate road car), McLaren had a change of heart (possibly driven by the wishes of it's customers who wished to race the car) and decided to develop a racing version of the car to compete in the then new GT1 class of sports car racing. The GT1 class was intended for racing cars developed from road going vehicles (although this soon changed to the easier to fulfill requirement to have a minimum of one roadgoing version, which essentially killed the segment as the cars became more or less sports prototypes) and the F1 fitted the bill perfectly. McLaren did not intend to field a "works" car, but instead promised to give equal support to all it's customers.
The first prototype "GTR" (as the race version became known) was called "01R". It was used as a development machine to test the modifications made to the road car to turn it into a sports racer. Interestingly, the race version has a less powerful engine than the road car, due to tighter air inlet restrictors that are required by the rules. However, it is lighter than the already light street car and has very few creature comforts. The moveable rear air brake from the road car is not found on the race car, as automatically moveable aerodynamics are not permitted for use in racing. The underbody fan assisted aerodynamics from the "standard" F1 are gone too, a victim of the regulations. In their place, the racer has a large rear wing to provide downforce at speed. It also produces drag, so the race car has a lower top speed than the street version.
McLaren did not intend for the F1 GTR to be used in long distance sports racing, as they felt it would lack the necessary reliability to go the race distance. Instead they felt the car would be very competitive in the shorter sprint races and developed the car accordingly. Again, the intentions of their customers changed their minds. The buyers and intended racers of the GTR's wanted to have a go at the greatest race of them all, the 24hrs of LeMans.
The cars Achilles heel was felt to be it's all synchromesh gearbox. It was developed for road use, and lacked the durable straight cut gears of a racing gearbox. The synchromesh mechanism, essential for ease of use in street situations, was also a liability under the stress of race conditions. Gordon Murray believed that the existing gearbox would not last the 24hrs. Much pre-LeMans development work was put in to improve the durability of the transmission. As it happened, gearbox troubles did indeed cause problems in the race for most of the GTR's. For the 1996 season, an all new gearbox developed from scratch for racing was introduced for the GTR.
1995 was the F1's first LeMans, and McLaren built several cars for the racing program. 01R was not intended to be raced, and was to be kept on as a development mule for McLaren. However, a few months before the race, a Japanese consortium who owned the "UenoClinic" group of health centres in Japan, expressed an interest in sponsoring a F1 to run at LeMans. McLaren did not have time to build an extra car, so they agreed to supply the prototype car instead.
01R ran as number "59" and had the plainest livery of all the F1's entered that year. The carbon fibre front and rear ends were not even painted. The three drivers were the Finn J.J. Letho, Frenchman Y.Dalmas and the Japanese driver M.Sekiya. The car ran extremely well and as history records won the race outright. Not for many years had a car so closely based on a roadgoing model won this great race. Other first's included the first LeMans win by a Japanese driver, and the first win by a car with a BMW engine. As ever luck played it's part in their victory as up to the 22nd hour of the 24 hour race, the No.51 Harrods sponsored McLaren driven by father and son Derek and Justin Bell and fellow Brit Andy Wallace, had led the race comfortably. Unfortunately clutch trouble struck, dropping them down to 3rd place where they finished.
UT made this model of the winning F1, although earlier versions such as this one is were sold under the "Paul's Model Art" logo. These earlier models are more accurate also, as the split rear wing is correct for the 1995 series F1 GTR's. For the 1996 cars, UT correctly changed the rear wing to a single piece unit, but unfortunately started fitting the single piece wing to models of the 1995 season F1's. Personally I feel the fit and finish of this model good (as with most UT products) but I have some criticisms none the less. The first is that the disc brakes do not have any calipers. Later UT models have more realistically modeled brakes. My other big complaint is that of the appearance of the headlights. As on most UT McLarens, they don't appear to have any depth to them and look like the flat discs of silver paint that they are. UT ceased production in 2000 after they were absorbed by AUTOarts parent company. Since then no models of the McLaren F1 have been made in 1:18th and they have become increasingly rare and are now very sought after. Hence I'm very glad I bought this one when I did, especially as it is the most significant of all the racing McLaren F1s as it is the LeMans winner.
