Saleen 1 GT4 to hit global stage in 2020
California firm expects to give Porsche, Aston and McLaren a run for their money with new four-pot racer
Saleen is making a return to world motorsport with a new racer based on its 1 sports car, which will compete against the likes of Porsche and McLaren in the FIA’s GT4 class next year. The California-made model, previewed in the concept rendering you see here, is still under development, but Saleen expects strong results from the get-go because the Cup car it’s based on has been matching top GT4 lap times all season.
As per GT4 rules, the motorsport 1 will bear much resemblance to the road car. It’s built around an aluminium tub wrapped in carbon fibre bodywork, with a mid-mounted 2.2-litre four-cylinder sending 450hp to the rear wheels. The road car uses six-speed manual or automatic gearboxes, but the racer will almost certainly ditch these for a racing sequential. As the renderings shows, it’ll also gain aero pieces including a large adjustable rear wing, while inside we can expect the usual pairing-back, bucket seat and roll cage.
Remarkably, the fully kitted out road car weighs only 1,218kg, meaning on paper the Saleen 1 racer looks very well placed to live up to the potential the firm believes it has. Saleen certainly has plenty of form to build on, with its now iconic S7R brute having been a familiar and deafening presence at Le Mans and other global sports car series through the noughties. Although very different to that 7.0-litre machine, the S1 GT4 is the first car to follow it from Saleen.
It will inevitably also help fly the flag for the rejuvenated brand, which is back under the stewardship of Steve Saleen and will begin delivering the first examples of its 1 sports car in the coming months. Prices in the US start from just $100,000, or about £77.4k, not bad for a 369hp per tonne machine…
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