The ever-growing list of competitors in the World Endurance Championship – thanks to its Hypercar rule set – will soon include McLaren, with the British outfit set to reveal the MCL-HY race car next week.
In a video promoting its unveiling on May 4, the headlight signature of the MCL-HY appears to be different to the Hypercar it revealed in June last year, when McLaren announced its WEC and Le Mans return in 2027.
Set to be based on a Dallara chassis with a turbocharged V6 engine powering it, the MCL-HY will be driving McLaren’s dream to once again win at Le Mans, having done so in 1995 on debut with the F1 GTR.
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However, while the F1 GTR was a road car which was converted into a race car, the MCL-HY is understood to be spawning a customer version for well-heeled track day enthusiasts, with Motor1 reporting it’ll be named the MCL-HY GTR.
McLaren has previously used the GTR name on the track-only version of the Senna – titled the Senna GTR – and could lean on that heritage for the latest hypercar.
“Only the slightest of refinements have been made to the customer variant to ensure usability, drivability and to maximise performance,” McLaren said last year.
If the MCL-HY GTR does come to fruition, it’ll follow the path set by the likes of existing Le Mans competitors in Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche, who have all made versions of their Hypercars which certain customers can buy.
In 2023, shortly after winning in its return to Le Mans, Ferrari revealed a customer version of the 499P called the 499P Modificata. This was followed in 2025 by the Aston Martin Valkyrie LM, based on the Valkyrie AMR-LMH.
Finally Porsche last year unveiled the 963 RSP, a one-off road-legal creation made for Roger (Searle) Penske.
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