The McLaren 650S Sprint has secured its first championship silverware taking the 2016 Saudi GT Championship title at the Reem International Circuit, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A dominant performance at the final round of the season saw the 650S Sprint claim pole position, fastest lap time and overall race win.
The 650S Sprint contested its first competitive season in Saudi Arabia run by Al Ghassan Dragon Racing Team, sponsored by Mobil 1 Saudi Arabia. The season has seen driver HRH Prince Mohammad Bin Faisal Al Saud claim three victories, one further podium and three fastest laps to earn the team and driver championship trophies.
The track-dedicated 650S Sprint was unveiled at Pebble Beach in 2014 and is based on the road-going 650S Coupé. The aerodynamically enhanced design of the 650S Sprint offers increased levels of downforce, and the revised air intakes offer optimised cooling of the 3.8-litre twin-turbo M838T engine. In the 650S Sprint, the proven powerplant is retained from the 650S road car, with a unique engine and transmission calibration to further enhance on track drivability and driver engagement.
Andreas Bareis, Managing Director at McLaren Automotive Middle East & Africa commented: 'Congratulations to Al Ghassan Motors and Dragon Racing on securing the Saudi GT championship, and in such impressive fashion with pole position, fastest lap and the race win. This is a great way to end the season and it puts the 650S Sprint on the racing map. This has proven a superb string of results for the team, and there are already exciting plans in place to build on this for next season.'
About McLaren Automotive:
McLaren Automotive is a British manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports and super cars, located at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey. For the past 30 years, McLaren has pioneered the use of carbon fibre in vehicle production and since introducing a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with the 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis.
Following the global launch of McLaren Automotive in 2010, the groundbreaking 12C was revealed in 2011, the 12C Spider in 2012, and the limited-run McLaren P1™ went into production in 2013. In keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, the company unveiled the 650S, in Coupé and Spider form in 2014, while 2015 proved to be a year of unprecedented growth of the product portfolio with five new models launched across the full range. The strictly limited edition 675LT Coupé premiered at the Geneva Motor Show alongside the track-only McLaren P1™ GTR which, with 1,000PS, became the most powerful model ever produced by the brand. The much-anticipated Sports Series became the third – and final – model tier in the McLaren range with the 570S Coupé and 540C Coupé debuting in New York and Shanghai respectively, less than one month apart. The end of the year saw the launch of the fifth model, the 675LT Spider, which was as a direct response to customer demand. The year also saw the end of production for the first model in the Ultimate Series as the 375th McLaren P1™ was completed, closing what has become a defining year for the British brand.
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To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative and highly acclaimed sports cars, McLaren Automotive has partnered with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise and technology including, AkzoNobel, ExxonMobil, Pirelli and SAP.