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McLaren Senna Visits the United States, Comes Home With Four Record Benchmarks

Remember “The Boston Tea Party,” the political and mercantile protest that spiraled out of control and led to the American Revolution? Well, the relationship between the British and the Americans has certainly evolved in a positive manner ever since, up to a time when a decidedly UK-prone sports car manufacturer has sent one of its most prized possessions on U.S. soil to conquer with its performance the hearts of some major local publications.
McLaren Senna 42 photos
Photo: McLaren Automotive
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Public relations are everything in this day and age, so there is no room for puny loyalist interests anymore – especially for the globally-interested automotive zone. Sweden’s Koenigsegg clearly showed that with its U.S. world records in the Agera RS. Albeit on a smaller scale, McLaren is also a good example of the willingness to submit to performance tests created by outsiders.

The British company recently allowed the Senna to submit itself to some track torture on the terms established by four major U.S. automotive publications. And it was successful in setting new benchmarks for the Automobile “Pro Racer’s Take,” Road & Track’s “Performance Car of the Year,” Car and Driver’s “Lightning Lap,” and Motor Trend’s “Best Driver’s Car 2019.”

For the first couple of track performance records, the automaker was present on the National Corvette Museum’s NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, while the third and fourth involved different tracks – the Virginia International Raceway and Laguna Seca, respectively.

No wonder the Senna performed beyond the call of duty as the Woking team specifically honed the Ayrton-tribute supercar for easily switching between road and track, packing a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 with 800 hp into a lightweight 1198 kg (2641.13 lbs.) carbon-fiber clad body.

As such, the Senna concluded Automobile’s Pro Racer’s Take with Andy Pilgrim at the helm in 2:02.86 and the NCM’s West Circuit was used to deliver Road & Track’s Performance Car of the Year 2019 best-ever lap time of 1:23.34 (with a turn four lateral g-force of 1.64, among other feats).

Car and Driver’s new Lightning Lap 2019 king among 13 years of testing and a poll of 263 cars then moved to the 4.1-mile Grand Course at the Virginia International Raceway for a record time of 2:34.9, an unofficial overall VIR record with an average speed of 134.5 mph.

Last, but certainly not least, the Motor Trend selection for Best Driver's Car 2019 allowed the Senna to flex its camshaft muscle on the Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca in under 1:28, with a time of 1:27.62.
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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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