► McLaren Artura Trophy unveiled alongside GT4
► GT4 will compete in GT championships worldwide
► Not a hybrid, due to GT4 formula rules
McLaren Automotive has announced another race-spec version of its new-era supercar – the 2023 McLaren Artura Trophy. It accompanies the Artura GT4 detailed below but offers more power and extra downforce and its own one-make racing championship.
It’ll compete in the new McLaren Trophy Championship for amateur GT drivers, a 2023 support round for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe series at tracks including Spa. The cars will be prepared by independent race teams and the series is a Pro-Am formula, aimed at up-and-coming young professional drivers and amateur GT drivers alike.
The Trophy model is based on the regular GT4 car (below) but has no need to adhere to Balance of Performance regulations – giving the Artura Trophy performance closer to the GT3 class.
The McLaren Artura GT4 race car: need-to-know guide
This fetching orange and blue creation is the first McLaren Artura GT4 car, the race-spec version of McLaren’s new supercar.
Like its (very successful) predecessor, the McLaren 570 GT4, it’ll be sold to customer racing teams and is eligible to race in various GT series all around the world.
Is it a hybrid like the Artura road car?
No, GT4 racing regs don’t allow that. So instead it’s purely petrol powered, via the Artura’s new 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 engine. The part of the monocoque that would normally carry the battery now accommodates the fuel cell and other components.
Losing the hybrid running gear helps the GT4 car weigh around 130kg less than the Artura road car. It uses a race-spec seven-speed gearbox in place of the road car’s eight-speed unit (partly because the hybrid road car doesn’t have a reverse gear, and instead uses the electric motor to go backwards; race regs demand a reverse gear).
Any advantages over the old McLaren 570 GT4?
Artura’s platform is lighter, stiffer and stronger, and its new V6 engine is lighter too. McLaren says it’s also more fuel-efficient, with better throttle response.
Development driver Rob Bell says the Artura’s chassis enables it to be set up with less roll than the 570 GT4, ‘but it’s not edgy; anyone could jump in and feel at ease.’
It also features bespoke race-spec ABS and traction control by Bosch, with a greater range of ability than the road car-based TC in the 570.
There’s also an upgrade in the form of a limited-slip differential where the 570 GT4 featured torque-vectoring by braking instead.
Kilo for kilo, McLaren says the Artura GT4 is 100kg lighter than the older 570 GT4 car.
McLaren also says the Arutra will be easier and faster to work on for race teams.
Anything else?
The seat is fixed but the pedal box slides, to easily accommodate drivers of different sizes in multi-driver endurance races.
Where the Artura road car has a deliberately clean shape, the race car features dive planes, splitter and rear wing with seven angles of adjustment. Cleverly, the dive planes are positioned in such a way as to be inboard of the front wheels, so that they can’t be damaged as easily in skirmishes with other cars.
The rear deck is split into sections, and can be removed without touching the rear wing for easier and faster access when the car’s being worked on.
Debut at 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Artura GT4 was shown in public at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it was demoed by racing driver Bell, who won last year’s timed shootout in the McLaren 720S GT3X.
Customers will receive cars in time for the 2023 season, when the Artura GT4 will make its racing debut.