McLaren GT3 Coming in 2012

WOKING, England
McLaren vows to come back to GT racing, and toward that end has teamed with CRS Racing to develop a GT3 racer based on the McLaren MP4-12C road car. The companies will supply the car to a small number of private racing efforts in Europe starting in 2012, McLaren said. Before that, McLaren and CRS will contest a limited slate of races in the 2011 season.

The MP4-12C, with its lightweight, one-piece molded carbon-fiber composite chassis, which McLaren calls the Carbon Monocell, is a logical choice for development as a GT-class racing car. It will follow in the wake of racing successes from the McLaren F1 GTR, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995. The MP4-12C has a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 that makes 600 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque.

The CRS Racing team is involved in FIA GT, the British GT championship and the Le Mans series, as well as two single-seater teams, the GP3 Series as Atech CRS and the Formula Renault U.K. championship series.