- The McLaren P1™ achieves its one remaining performance target
- An average speed in excess of 178 km/h (111 mph) necessary to achieve the required lap time around the 20.8km (13 mile) circuit
- ‘McLaren P1™ vs. the Nürburgring-Nordschleife’ – a short film celebrating the team’s achievement at the Nürburgring is available to view and embed at: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=E9IWiTpWeiM
50
years since New Zealand racing driver Bruce McLaren founded his
eponymous race team, McLaren has entered a new chapter in technological
excellence with the launch of the McLaren P1™. Having put the car
through tests in some of the harshest conditions on earth and with
obsessive focus on perfection, one final developmental objective for
this next generation in high performance sports cars remained; the
Nordschleife, the infamously challenging ‘northern loop’ of the
Nürburgring in Germany. A film crew followed the action by air and the
stunning footage is now available to view and embed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The
McLaren P1™ is the most technologically advanced car ever produced in
the UK and is the result of 50 years of race-winning success and
technical expertise, from the most successful name in global
motorsport.
At
the launch of the McLaren P1™ at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, McLaren
stated that with all the skill and dedication put into this vehicle
there was no doubt that the car would complete a lap of the Nordschleife
in under seven minutes. No mean feat for a stripped out racing car, let
alone a road-legal production car.
The
Nordschleife, one of the most revered motor racing circuits in the
world lies to the south of Cologne, Germany and forms part of the
infamous Nŭrburgring circuit. It is widely known to be the most
demanding and difficult racing circuit in history, too challenging for
Formula 1™ and with some of the most notorious corners in racing, it is
the ultimate test in ability for any car. Three time Formula 1™ world
champion Jackie Stewart named the Nordschleife ‘The Green Hell’ due to
the daunting challenge given the amount of turns and sheer elevation of
this track.
McLaren
Chief Test Driver, Chris Goodwin, who put the car through its paces
during the development programme at the circuit says ‘The track is like the rollercoaster from hell’.
Unveiled
initially as a design study at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, the McLaren
P1™ is priced at £866,000 with just 375 cars to be produced, built by
hand in Woking, and all sold less than two months after the car went on
sale. Previous supercars launched by McLaren include the McLaren F1, now
over 20 years old but still widely considered to be one of the greatest
supercars of all time. In addition, following the company’s global
launch in 2010, McLaren Automotive launched the groundbreaking 12C and
12C Spider.
To
try and capture the intensity of the challenge and the sheer beauty of
this groundbreaking car being pushed to its limits, creative agency VCCP
joined McLaren on this project to create a dynamic film to celebrate
the new McLaren P1™ joining the exclusive sub-seven minute club, the one
remaining performance target set by McLaren for this remarkable
vehicle.
Dan
Gifford, the film’s director has received critical acclaim for over 100
commercials. In 2011 he collected two Silver Sharks at Kinsale and the
Grand Prix for Best Film at the Eurobest Awards and has also won a
silver Lion at Cannes 2012.
The
soundtrack to the film is a mixture of the haunting tones of ‘Dem
Worlds’, sung by artist Emika who is an English electronic musician of
Czech origin and laid over with the notes of the McLaren P1™ bringing
an ethereal quality, bridging the power, beauty and rawness of the
moment.
This
film is a testament to all those at McLaren who pushed the boundaries
to develop a car with one clear goal: to be the best driver’s car on
road and track.
