Fastest

[maartenvanthek]

thank you very much.
on the jap sites i also found lots a pics of 19R, but earlier years were much harder. have you ever heard of a site called p9.com
there are lots a pics on it when you search on google for mclaren gtr, but IE cant find the website, that's a shame, it were about 150 pics...

[McLarenF1GTR]

was quoted in the german press as these boys are heroes in their native german.. i will try and find the source as a mate emailed it to me about 3 months ago.. know it was a private track day -- no camera shots or photos allowed for the family BBQ etc etc.. the article cited the track stewards conversations "with both brothers" who were apparently dragging each other for a few hours of fun.. did ralph keep one of his Team Lark cars i wonder?

btw, great info on the Callaway Sledgehammer, its what i thought.. to be a production car by definition, i recall the various AA's and FIA define it as "more than 50 units being produced" including one crash test dummy vehicle slamming into the good old concrete wall.. :->

saw that thread on the Monaco citings, cant imagine Ferrari allowing Michael to drive a McLaren with his salary package.. ralph would not be a problem though --- as BMW widely market the worlds fastest road car fact "powered by" etc..

[maartenvanthek]

don't forget ralph is paid by williams nog by bmw. and the main concurrent in england of williams is still mclaren. and what car did montoyadrive when the franch cops cuaght him doping 204 km/h?
an m5?

[McLarenF1GTR]

williams and mclaren are companies that refine their product; they go for "best of breed" at the time.. be it honda, renault, merc or BMW.. contracts are contracts.. montoya and ralph have M5's as get around cars paid for and insisted on by BMW in their williams contracts; my references below were to a private track day only etc.. the boys are mclaren (coulthard etc) drive bombed CL and ML mercs etc.. coulthard as you probably know has got involved with the SLR final design revision (including ergonomics) and road testing phase..

as it happens, i have a colleague at work who is an old school mate of Montoya's.. his gargage at home (other than the M5 & 500+Bhp mini) is full of little rally fella's.. namely lancia beta, fiats and a bombed clio sport i am told. his mini has been in magazines after his pit crew went to work on it, for his birthday present, without telling him..

[KoenigseggCC]

Hi,

Just wondering if you guys read the Febuary 2003 copy of EVO? its got an interview in it with Gordon Murray its pretty good (even if I do now think the guy has his head up his own ass) but yeah gives his opinions a a few of the new supercars and he actually likes the Zonda best, because its closest to what the F1 formula. If nobody has seen it I'll try and find it online or try and type it up and post it here for you all to see

Oh and there is a few photos of Mr Murray in what I assume to be the Mclaren offices, and over his left shoulder there is a picture in a frame, and its the same photogragh as Peloton25's avatar, so I'm going with the theory that he is actually Gordon Murray

But I put forward this theory...... the bugatti and the Mclaren made for 2 different markets? The Mclaren aim was to build "the best drivers car" and thats what Mclaren did, central driving position, no traction control or power steering or ABS or other electronic gizmos to get in the way and a great engine pushing you along. But you wouldn't exactly call it luxurious would you? sports seats (that apparently give you back ache after 10-15 minutes) arkward to get into, and slightly cramped you can see the people are gonna buy it for the way it drives and handles because its made for its handling.

But the Buggati went the other way, they realised people wouldn't use it everyday, they also realised that most people would never get the car above 180mph thats why it has a limiter, if you wanna go faster you call them and they come out and change the tires... BUT it does have a luxury interior (compared to the F1) and it is new, most of the people who buy the car will do so because they think its the ultimate, it has the highest top speed, and therefore it must be the best, right? they wont care if it doesn't offer a "pure" driving experiance like the F1, they'll want it for the ability to say they have the fastest car, these are the people who would want an F1 for the pose factor, but dont like the fact its a driving machine and has none of those nice electronic features other cars have, so they will pick the Buggati instead, and they will feel smug surrounded by leather and polished aluminum knowing that if they wanted to they could go faster than anyone else on the road, and the people who really care about how a machine drives and not just numbers will buy the F1, an F40, a Zonda, a Koenigsegg or any of the other great handling supercars.


errr, I kinda babbled on for a bit there, sorry.
I should also point out that is is all just my opinion
'Segg

[Porsche]

Originally posted by maartenvanthek
don't forget ralph is paid by williams nog by bmw. and the main concurrent in england of williams is still mclaren. and what car did montoyadrive when the franch cops cuaght him doping 204 km/h?
an m5?

It was a bike, I'll look up the model right now, It said somewhere....... bah can't find it, all I rememebr is that it was a speeding ticket for doing 124 mph (roughly 204 km/h) in a 78 mph in England somewhere, and his excuse was 'I'm used to driving very fast'.

[tvrfreak]

There must be several incidents like this. The one I heard about happened in France, and it was in a car. But I don't remember which car. Anyone know?

Also, Luca Cadalora (WSB motorcycle racer) almost got in serious trouble in Switzerland because he was riding a bike to Germany and some a$$hole would not move over to let him pass. He ended up overtaking on the shoulder. The self-righteous boor then pulled off and went to the nearest police station and raised hell until they closed the border. Luca was stopped and questioned, but when the truth came out, the motorist was charged with dangerous driving, filing a false report, and failure to yield. There is some justice in the world.

I don't know why I am posting this, except maybe the motorist's attitude reminds me of someone here.

[McLarenF1GTR]

re: KoenigseggCC post.. agree totally.. super cars are built by men with different desires/ego's and marketing pressures.. the Zonda is definitely a work of art.. add to that, the AMG know-how and compeditiveness with their BMW M cousins, we all expected it to do 220MPH. I am McLaren F1 GTR through-and-through, but if i owned a Zonda I would take it to Dr Ulrich Gauffres at Brabus, and demand they make it quicker than the F1. AMG are not Brabus.. Brabus-Alcon patented the 12piston front brake mechanism to pull up 600bhp+ limo's. Brabus head hunted many of the Merc engineers from the talent pool just before McLaren-Merc F1 relationship. Im BMW blood, but respect, they are true craftsmen with Merc powerplant performance!!

what i hope for is; the McLaren team in Woking will retrofit (or prepare a customer option too) the F1 with carbon brakes like the Enzo. this will silence any muttering or talk of a challenge period!