McLaren F1 GTR goes to auction
Need a new track day toy for next year? Gooding & Co. has just the thing
It will be sold by Gooding & Co at its Scottsdale auction in January. They were the same auction house that sold the roadgoing F1 earlier this year for $8.47m, making the $5-$7m estimate attached to this car look like pocket money. Nearly.
The Fina liveried (doesn't it still look great?) chassis 21R was driven by JJ Lehto and Steve Soper in the 1997 FIA GT Championship. It won at Hockenheim and Helsinki but this particular car didn't race at Le Mans. It comes from a private collection and has been restored by McLaren. Prepped and ready to go for the 2014 track day season then...
See here for a video from the 1997 GT series. Keep a look out for Soper in this GTR about 40 seconds in.
[Source: The Supercar Kids, Gooding & Co]
This is a shot my dad took of #21R at Donington in 1997. We watched part of the race from the grandstand above the pitlane. At the time we were staggered by the sheer professionalism of the Mercedes pit crews. They were servicing two cars at once during the race. It was very evident that GT racing had changed from the series we first saw as the BPR in 1995 at Donington.
I dearly hope somebody buys #21R to actually use it. There's no point in these magnificent cars gathering dust - they should be used. And used hard.
More photos from that event here: http://www.motorcardiaries.co.uk/2012/fia-gt-1997/
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff