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With all 500 road-legal McLaren Sennas selling out before launch, the company has unveiled another, more extreme concept. The Senna GTR is a track-only version of the Senna and will see only 75 examples being produced. It is the latest in McLaren's "Ultimate Series" of GTR cars, following the F1 GTR from 1995 and the recent P1 GTR.
The most notable visual differences between this and the standard Senna are the aerodynamic aids. The GTR is wider than the road car and the changes to the carbon fibre body are simplified by the fact that the fenders and other aerodynamic components have been designed as "clipped on" to the cockpit structure, allowing relatively easy modification. The front splitter is larger than on the "ordinary" Senna, which improves aerodynamic performance, as does the enormous rear diffuser which is both larger and extends further back. The rear deck is lower too, which aids cooling and helps the active rear wing do its job. The design of the doors also benefits aerodynamic efficiency, the outer skin being "pushed in" as far as possible towards the centre of the car to better channel airflow. All this aero-trickery has tangible benefits though. All in, the GTR generates 1,000kg of downforce, making it very sticky indeed.
McLaren obviously hasn't just left it at that. The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine has been tweaked to produce 825hp, up from 800 in the standard Senna. The GTR also gets a racing gearbox and revised double wishbone suspension. To keep the weight down and to comply with racing regulations, there's also polycarbonate "ticket window". Despite all the aerodynamic additions, at 1,198kg the GTR still only weighs about the same as a road-going Senna, which, with its carbon-fibre Monocage structure, was a good starting point for the racer, considering the strength and rigidity needed for a fast track car.
According to the company's Automotive Design Engineering Director, Dan Parry-Williams: "The McLaren Senna GTR Concept unveiled in Geneva is not the finished article but it does give a clear indication of our thinking for the car, which promises to be the most extreme and exciting McLaren to drive for many years, if not ever."