After an exceptional first season with the F1 GTR, McLaren were intent on retaining their dominant form throughout 1996. A number of changes were made in preparation for 1996 to the original design to help stay ahead of the F40 GTE's. Set-up changes saw ground clearance dropped a further 15mm at the front and a more aggressive chin spoiler affixed that stretched the overall length of the car by 80mm. Running an unchanged 600bhp engine, mechanical revisions to the ’96 spec F1 were made in the form of an uprated gearbox housed in a lightweight magnesium casing. The gearbox featured stronger shafts, thicker wall casings and wider gear wheels. Weight of the car was also dropped from 1050kg to 1012kg and performance further improved. The car on offer here is chassis 016R and was part of team Bigazzi for the 1996 season competing at the Le Mans 24 Hours finishing 11th overall with drivers Soper, Lafitte and Duez, the car also ran at Silverstone in the BPR championship finishing 4th overall with Piquet and Soper driving (016R was leading for most of the race but a strategy error caused the car to run out fuel causing it to drop a lap). Following 016R’s retirement form racing the car was converted for road use by Paul Lanzante and has been painted Historic Orange, a lot of the original parts that were removed have been retained and accompany the car. The car still holds the looks and the power from its original racing days, and is as raw yet useable as it looks. Inside the car has the traditional central driving position with one of the two passenger seats still available. The opposite side holds a fire extinguisher system and race panel incorporating the engine management system. 016R was supplied to its current owner in 2005 by DK.
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