Epic New Zealand rally (including an F1)

[lswf1]

The 'Epic New Zealand' road tour has kicked off in Auckland with 32 McLaren's including one F1 (looks like chassis #009 from Melbourne).

News Hub had a TV article on it thus far: http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/mcla...-nz-2016112718

Looks like two P1s and a number of 675LT's.

They'll be coming through my home town Wellington tomorrow so fingers crossed the cars will be on display!
http://cars.mclaren.com/home/events/...land-2016.html

Will be sure to post up photos if I get to spot them!!

[Peloton25]

Chassis 018 also made an appearance at one of the dinners, but it seems the owner chose to drive his P1 instead.

>8^)
ER

[lswf1]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

Chassis 018 also made an appearance at one of the dinners, but it seems the owner chose to drive his P1 instead.

>8^)
ER

He did. There's some nice photos coming up on the McLaren Auckland facebook page including a small snippet of the cars together

I'm slowly getting through all my photos of seeing them in Wellington.

[lswf1]

I've struggled to get the photo loader to work for me but I've written about the McLaren rally with plenty of pictures on my blog here: https://therpmjournal.com/2016/12/01...ce-of-mclaren/

#009 did receive some minor damage on the rally. From the looks of rubbing against a parking bollard or the likes. No doubt will be sorted out fairly rapidly. Was fantastic to see so many McLaren's all in the same place!

Has taken my F1 count up to 6 now which I'm super stoked about.

[Paulthagerous]

Not the most reliable news site in the world, but reports coming in of the F1 going off the road into a ditch, with reportedly minor damage. Driver apparently has a broken wrist:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/8716...ear-queenstown

[lswf1]

Originally Posted by Paulthagerous

Not the most reliable news site in the world, but reports coming in of the F1 going off the road into a ditch, with reportedly minor damage. Driver apparently has a broken wrist:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/8716...ear-queenstown

Haha yes Stuff really has a habit of over exaggerating! This case seems no different.... Would be pretty minor damage by the looks of the photos http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11759861

[Peloton25]

McLaren's representative made a statement and claimed the driver was actually uninjured, contrary to the early reports.

We have a member here who is following the NZ tour with invitation from McLaren Auckland and he indicated that from what he could tell after seeing 009 once it was covered that any damage will be fairly minimal. He can elaborate when he has time to relax at the end of the event.

I suspect he will also have some wonderful images to share - seen a few previews already.

>8^)
ER

[Peloton25]

You'll find mention and photos in this blog post of a minor incident 009 had already had earlier in the week.

https://therpmjournal.com/2016/12/01...ce-of-mclaren/

In spite of all this misfortune, I would still rather see the cars driven than parked and hopefully none of this will put a damper on the frequency with which this particular example gets used.

>8^)
ER

[Sauc3]

Originally Posted by Peloton25

We have a member here who is following the NZ tour with invitation from McLaren Auckland and he indicated that from what he could tell after seeing 009 once it was covered that any damage will be fairly minimal. He can elaborate when he has time to relax at the end of the event.

I suspect he will also have some wonderful images to share - seen a few previews already.

>8^)
ER

I do believe that's my cue!

I saw the car in the bank as I drove past before even hearing about an accident, already under covers and under close watch from police and McLaren representatives. Later I glimpsed it passing through town on the back of the flatbed, and the overall 'shape' is still definitely intact, so nothing like the extent of #061 or #072 suffered. I'm positive it'll be on the road again in no time!

As for the rest of the tour, it's been a fantastic (if not somewhat tiring) experience chasing these cars all over this glorious country. Watching all these cars get put through their paces in some of the most scenic and treacherous terrain on earth has been so much better than coming across them sat purely for show or in museums.

I'll leave with this picture for now, there's certainly more incoming but I've got around 5,000 images to work through for McLaren before posting more here!

There's also a slight chance of more appearing on my instagram: @dthoffmann sporadically as I work through them.




EDIT: Whilst I've got you all here and remember, here's an album of all my useable F1 photos collectively gathered, a bunch - especially of #018 - that I've not shared here before. I'm intending to update this with more #009 once I've completed the photos from this event.

[lilcraigford]

McLaren Automotive recently put up a nice video with highlights from the New Zealand Tour: The Ultimate Road Trip - The McLaren Epic Tour of New Zealand