McLaren Automotive->ke284 and McLaren Special Operations (MSO) have announced plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the F1 GTR's famous 24 Hours of Le Mans->ke1591 win next month with a special display at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The five examples of the F1 GTR that dominated the 1995 race, including the winning No. 59 car, will return for a parade lap at Le Mans prior to the lights going green for the 83rd running of the world's greatest endurance event.

Leading the five Le Mans cars on the 8.5-mile victory lap will be the F1 GTR's spiritual successor, the 986-horsepower P1 GTR. The hybrid->ke147 supercar->ke177 will thus make its global dynamic debut on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a privilege very few vehicles can brag about.

The track-exclusive P1->ke4608 will be driven by former racer Yannick Dalmas, who was part of the winning team in the Ueno Clinic-sponsored car, together with J.J. Lehto and Masanori Sekiya. Lehto and Sekiya will also join the parade, along with owners of the limited-edition 650S Le Mans, which McLaren also launched to celebrate the F1 GTR's famous win.

On June 18th, 20 years ago, the McLaren GTR won the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its maiden outing at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The No. 59 car took the checkered flag one lap ahead of a Porsche-powered->ke1 Courage C34. The next three cars to cross the finish line were also F1 GTRs. A fifth GTR took 13th place overall to give McLaren its most convincing performance at Le Mans.

Continue reading for the full story.

Why it matters

Winning the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans on the first attempt isn't for anyone, and the fact that McLaren dominated the event with a pack of race cars that still used most of the road car's technology makes the GTR's success that much more impressive. Celebrating this event 20 years later is mandatory, and the fact that McLaren managed to reunite all five F1 GTR's that raced together in 1995 is a great achievement, not to mention a huge spectacle for the Le Mans crowd.

To this day, McLaren remains the only manufacturer to have claimed the Triple Crown of Motorsport – victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, which only adds to McLaren's one-lap party at Circuit de la Sarthe next month. Book your tickets folks, this year's race will become hot before the lights go green!

McLaren F1 GTR

Find our more about the McLaren F1 GTR here.