McLaren Extreme 986bhp GTR

McLaren has finally shown the P1 GTr at the Pebble Beach Concours d’elegance. after asking its 375 P1 customers how they felt about a harder cored, track only version and presumably being greeted by a resounding ‘build it!’ the Woking car maker is set to join the burgeoning hypercar track toy market, where a LaFerrari XX is likely to be a key rival.

The P1 base is obvious, but everything beyond the car’s basic body is satisfyingly crackers. The colossal fixed rear wing replaces the standard P1’s speed-activated item, a development that will up downforce well beyond the road car’s already high level as should the eye-popping rear diffuser, which looks pure race car.

The twin exhausts are almost comically big much like they were in the design sketches but they do give a firm nod to the GTr’s greater performance. The P1’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain’s peak output rises from 903 to 986bhp, and while McLaren is currently tight-lipped about the GTr’s technical details, the enhanced exhaust system suggests the extra power comes from the P1’s fossil-fuelled source. Increased track widths and slick tyres complete the somewhat striking transformation.

Priced at `20 crore* a stark climb over the base P1’s `8.79 crore* the GTr is being sold as a ‘programme’; each buyer will get a tailored package of driver training elements, including fitness tests, time in racing simulators and six trackdays on ‘iconic Formula 1 circuits’. Production numbers are yet to be confirmed, but a McLaren spokesman told us to expect ‘low double digits’.

The P1 GTr design study made its bow at the Pebble Beach concours event on august 15. GTr production will start once the final road-going P1 has been completed in June 2015, which its maker is keen to point out is the 20th anniversary of the legendary Le Mans win by the McLaren F1 GTr (pictured left).

a canny marketing opportunity or a hint at an endurance racing comeback? We’ve got everything crossed for the latter.