Debut 24 Hour Race at Spa for MP4-12C GT3 Proves the Car’s Worth

Winning would have been nice as well, but that’s sure to come for McLaren’s MP4-12C GT3 racers that were entered in this weekend’s Total 24 Hours of Spa over July 30-31, 2011. The three cars entered saw impressive lap times and successful integration of a future McLaren GT customer into the team at Spa. There was also a high-speed incident that enveloped one of the cars, but the safety systems ensured the GT driver was unharmed.

“The performance of the 12C GT3 and its drivers in car 60 was equally pleasing.  Feedback from the team’s engineers and drivers indicates that the 12C GT3 is meeting its reliability and driveability targets,” said Chris Goodwin, McLaren GT executive and McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver.

In the beginning of the race, the car driven by Project Manager Andrew Kirkaldy, bearing the number 59, was hit by a competitor, forcing the carbon chassis-based 12C GT3 off its trajectory and into the wall at turn 1.  Kirkaldy was cleared of any serious injury at a nearby hospital following a precautionary scan.

“I was obviously disappointed that one of our cars was forced out of the race so early.  Our performance has been strong in development tests and our debut race at Spa in the British GT Championship showed the car is technically reliable,” Kirkaldy said. “I’ve had the opportunity to review the incident and the impact was clearly significant.  If anything positive can be drawn, it’s that we are delighted to be using the 12C road car’s carbon ‘MonoCell’ chassis in our race car.  It proved here that it is an incredibly robust safety cell for the driver. Just a few hours after the incident I was back at the circuit with the team.”

McLaren GT said it will continue to develop the MP4-12C GT3 throughout the 2011 endurance season.