650S Sprint: PH races the new McLaren
The McLaren 650S has had its racing debut ... with the man from PH at the wheel!
McLaren vs Ferrari repeated on road and track
But let's rewind a little.
The calm before the storm
The email was ever-so-slightly mind blowing. An invitation for PistonHeads to participate in the first-ever race for the new 650S Sprint at the GT Cup round at Donington Park. We tested the car just recently. And while it's pitched as a track day car for the moneyed gentleman it can now go racing too.
Now it's Friday afternoon and I'm wandering around the busy paddock of Donington Park. Articulated lorries are spewing forth eager technicians and mechanics. Multi-coloured plastic floors spread like technicolour lawns, trailer units and awnings blossom into functioning team HQs.
With butterflies in my stomach, I'm dragging my roll-on luggage to the big silver McLaren liveried truck. The team are exceedingly professional. While other racers are unpacking their vans and tethering their tents, I'm hanging my suit in an air-conditioned wardrobe.
When McLaren goes racing it does it properly
It's all like a dream. No queuing outside a hut at 7am for me; the scrutineer comes directly to our team awning to inspect the car and our kit. Everything passes muster without a murmur. The briefing in the GT Cup tent is, well, brief. And polite. It's a triple header, the penultimate round of the season, which means three races over two days. And it's a Pro-Am format.
Our Pro is very pro. He's Rob Bell. Multiple Le Mans series winner, factory McLaren driver (former Aston Martin and also SRT Viper pilot), and a top bloke. The Am? Well, that's most definitely me.
Ahead of us, on this first day, is a free practice, then a qualifying session and finally a 45-minute race with one forced pit stop. The emphasis is on us amateur drivers, worryingly. We set the qualifying laps, we start the race. At 15 minutes in, the pit stop window opens and we can swap in the Pros to clean up whatever mess we made.
Practice is free
Winning is lovely, but the real demon on my shoulder during any race weekend is personal development. But the car seems different - it feels soft and keeps flicking up the gears prematurely. And the traction control is horrendously obtrusive. Is this really the same car? The team then kindly inform me I've been driving around in automatic transmission, with Wet suspension and Wet power mode engaged. And, yes, I was specifically told to change modes before driving away too. Ahem.
In a pattern to be repeated after every session, Team Manager Brad Fincham sits down with Rob and I to go through the data. "Development never stops," apologises Brad. With Rob's input a plan is formed to make an increase to the rear ride height half way through qualifying. I'd love to say I play some part in the decision, but I just nod and smile.
Hot gizzards
Qualifying goes much better. With the correct modes dialled in (in other words Race and Race), my lap times are dropping, and my sectors improving, I'm a very happy bunny. This is more like it.
Now it's my job to take onboard what Rob does better than me. The Racelogic Video VBOX is the team's preferred tool. Inspecting the feeds, there's some simple stuff to try; holding the gas flat through Starkey's and all the way to the left kerb of Schwantz. There's also some less simple stuff, like avoiding the brake dab in the middle of Craner, or just not sucking quite so badly at the hairpins.
Team pro Rob Bell proves an inspiration
So, we'll try that change in the first race.
It's all about the pitstop
I've never raced on a 'short circuit' until now. And not only is this a relatively short lap, but it's also a very short race. And the other competitors' tempers? Some of them are also alarmingly short! As the Noble ahead of me divebombs not one, but two Porsches, I start to mentally form the words, "that'll never work".
Carbon and glass fibre explodes at the Melbourne loop, the Noble impaling a Porsche whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And this is just lap one! Tyres are warming, the pace is quickening, and I'm starting to worry less about what's behind and more about what's in front. There's no time to fret about the car, and no need to either. For a track day car, we're going pretty well against some dedicated machinery. One by one, I'm discovering incidents around the track. It's not long before the safety car is out, as marshals wade through gravel traps to rescue crumpled supercars.
An intimidating grid to be part of? You bet...
We're rising through the field, half due to attrition, half due to fair-and-square overtakes. But it nearly all goes wrong as an early stab at the gas pedal sends me towards the inside of Goddard's, Tokyo Drift style. Brad, I'd like to report that I found the oversteer in the new set-up!
Perhaps not unrelated, the PIT IN board is shown seconds later.
Our class is dominated by a triple-pack of FF Corse modified Ferrari Challenge cars. Yes, it's McLaren versus Ferrari. Somebody pinch me! Rob shoots out of the pits ahead of two of the Italians. In the pits I'm watching Rob reeling in the class leader. At its narrowest point the interval is just over a second. "Come on Rob!"
Yes, that's me shouting. But despite sticking in a new best lap time for the car, a 1min 34sec, and my cries of encouragement, we finish the race second in class. And whatever Ricky Bobby might tell you, second place isn't first loser. It's a trophy!
Avoiding trouble
Speaking personally qualifying went well. I broke out of the 36s and into the 35s. But two things still niggle as we enter the grid for the second race (and my last of the weekend). The first is that we're 16th overall and third in class. And the other is that Rob is in the 34s now.
The start of the 45-minute race was eventful, but this 25-minute single-driver race is insane. The first corner sees a Porsche spinning off to the outside. At Craner Curves, we're two abreast, and a gentle sweep to the inside sees us drop to single file again.
F1 mindset taken to a GT racing context
The whoosh of escaping boost announces my decision to lift. There's no way I want to be on full gas for what's coming next. The correction has been applied, and the Porsche's oversteer to the left has now ripened. Matured, even. It's a full on slap to the right, and we're all, thankfully, ready for it. We're through! All except one - the Mosler ahead has made a meal of it and a wheel in the turf is enough for him to start a grass-bound journey of his own. He cuts the corner, out of control, from Schwantz to Maclean's. Now I'm back on it, but fighting my HANS device to see if the Mosler will erupt across our own paths...
And so it goes for the first lap. With cars spinning off, we're rising through the ranks again. The Sprint is a great race car to put people under pressure too thanks to the brilliant LED lights and the wide, imposing, silhouette. Fighting with a Porsche a spray of gravel propelled by 450hp peppers the McLaren as he runs wide. It's like being hit with a shotgun. But his exit is compromised, and it's another position to us. I hope like hell it didn't puncture the radiator. The race is over half-done now, and I'm finally getting to grips with the slightly more oversteery setup. When all of a sudden, I realise that I'm catching a Ferrari. From our class. There's a possibility for third in class. Trophy time!
A few weeks ago it was enjoying its Pebble debut
That's my own voice, as the excitement within me builds. Then at Goddard's there's another Ferrari, facing the wrong way! From our class! Third place is ours by default, but second is possible. Hold on, there's water on my mirror? The lap times are dropping as we trip over each other. I've never experienced blocking like it. After two laps of trying I back off a little to try and take a run at it.
That water on the mirror is getting worse. Eyes front!
Sure enough, he goes tight as I go wide. We emerge on to the start finish straight, and I've got the best exit. The Ferrari might have some serious poke out of the corners, but the 650S has great top end and fantastic brakes. And in this moment, it also has the inside line into Redgate. Here comes the squeeze. But we're level, and I'm not going to be pushed off my line. I resist... I'm nearly in the grass but this line is mine. When I finally take the corner and the position, it's in a flurry of oversteer at something way less than the ideal speed. The hard-punching 458 comes back one more time, but I'm happy to hand out a blocking move of my own.
Diverse grid packed with plenty of tasty machinery
Final race
The last race of the day is for the pros. Rob drives the car out into the glorious orange sunset, and I walk out to Hollywood corner for a good viewing spot. It's another epic, with the fabulous mix of cars blasting through lap after lap. At the front of the pack is a Radical RXC, closely followed by Sprint's elder brother - a McLaren MP4 12C GT3.
The lap times tumble again, with Rob reasserting his status as a pro driver at 1min 33sec. Though without a spinning Ferrari to boost his results, and some unlucky breaks with traffic, he gets the 'worst' result of the day. But that's still another trophy for third!
Silverware on the first outing - not a bad effort!
But in hindsight, I think I asked the wrong question.
The metal might be uncannily good, but it's the flesh and bone that sent me home gripping a trophy, like a kid leaving Willy Wonka's factory. Having an engineer as the Team Manger was an education. Having a BRDC driver as a team mate was inspirational. It was 48-hours of pure petrolhead nirvana that I will be living over, and over, and over again every time I close my eyes.
That, and the sight of a spinning GT3 Cup car about to hit me.
PH tests the new McLaren 650S Sprint
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