- China GT Championship 2017 debut for 570S GT4
- 570S GT4 to be raced by McLaren China Managing Director, David McIntyre
- McLaren named Official Safety Car partner for China GT 2017
McLaren’s 570S GT4 track car makes its China debut this weekend in the first race of the 2017 China GT championship, before an estimated TV and online audience of over 75 million.
The 12-13 May event at Beijing Goldenport Park circuit provides an appropriate showcase for the McLaren 570S GT4, China GT having swiftly become the most influential elite racing contest in China since its launch in 2016. McLaren has been named Official Safety Car partner for China GT and will provide a 570S road car for this purpose.
A total of 16 teams from both China and overseas will compete in 12 races at six different locations: Beijing, Erdos, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Chengdu, and the new Zhejiang circuit. This year sees the inclusion of a GT4 class for the first time, in addition to GT3 and GTC competitions that ran in 2016.
A McLaren customer racing team, “The Winning Team”, will enter a 570S GT4 driven by two seasoned racers, in the GT4 class. With eight years of racing experience at various levels, McLaren China Managing Director David McIntyre competed in the Korean Speed Festival for three years running and the Malaysian Touring Car Championship in 2016. His team-mate is South Korean-born Dutchman, Roelof Bruins, who has been racing for 25 years in various series. Beginning his career at a young age in karting, he has competed in Korean Touring Cars for the past seven years, winning five championships during this time.
The duo will race the McLaren 570S GT4 at all 12 dates in the China GT calendar.
In addition to the carbon fibre Monocell II chassis of the McLaren 570S, which combines lightweight properties with innate strength to give superior track performance, the GT4 car features other cutting-edge technology crafted specifically for the racetrack, including an aluminium rear wing that balances extra downforce with a front splitter, the addition of bonnet ‘nostrils’ to improve overall airflow and a centrally mounted front radiator to optimise heat dissipation.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
A selection of high resolution images accompanying this release is available to download from the McLaren Automotive media site – cars.mclaren.press
About McLaren Automotive:
McLaren Automotive is a British manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports and super cars, located at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey. For the past 30 years, McLaren has pioneered the use of carbon fibre in vehicle production and since introducing a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with the 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis.
Following the global launch of McLaren Automotive in 2010, the groundbreaking 12C was revealed in 2011, the 12C Spider in 2012, and the limited-run McLaren P1™ went into production in 2013. In keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, the company unveiled the 650S, in Coupé and Spider form in 2014, while 2015 proved to be a year of unprecedented growth of the product portfolio with five new models launched across the full range. The strictly limited edition 675LT Coupé premiered at the Geneva Motor Show alongside the track-only McLaren P1™ GTR which, with 1,000PS, became the most powerful model ever produced by the brand. The much-anticipated Sports Series became the third – and final – model tier in the McLaren range with the 570S Coupé and 540C Coupé debuting in New York and Shanghai respectively, less than one month apart. The end of 2015 saw the launch of the fifth model, the 675LT Spider, which was as a direct response to customer demand. The year also saw the end of production for the first model in the Ultimate Series as the 375th McLaren P1™ was completed, closing what had become a defining year for the British brand. 2016 continued where 2015 had left off with the introduction of the 570GT – a second bodystyle for the Sports Series and the most luxurious car McLaren has ever built, as well as the 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint track variants. 2016 also marked the introduction of the company’s new business plan, Track22, which sees the company investing £1B in Research and Development to deliver 15 all new cars or derivatives by the end of 2022, of which at least 50% will feature hybrid technology. The uplift in sales in 2016 also saw the launch of the second shift at the McLaren Production Centre as well as the company’s third year of profitability in just six years of trading. In March 2017, the second-generation Super Series was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show with the global premiere of the McLaren 720S.
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