Anyway, I had a blast shooting an F1, but I can't say I really knew much about this particular car, or how it differed from the "regular" F1. (I'd also like to get my photo description correct)
Great photos those were from you - thanks!!
I know the car well. A 1997 McLaren F1 GTR longtail would be it's proper name. In total, McLaren built 28 F1 GTRs, but only the final 10 had that longtail bodywork. In 1995 they built 9, sort of loosely converted from the road car into an adequate racer. In 1996 they built another 9, this time with a little more focus on serious changes to improve their competitiveness.
This car in your photo is GTR #19R. This was the very first built of the 10 longtail F1 GTRs McLaren made for the 1997 FIA GT series and of course another attempt that year at a win in the Le Mans 24Hr race. No overall victory in 1997 at LeMans was achieved, but they ended up 1st in the GT1 class at least.
This car was sort of the prototype of the longtail racers, and initially did not have a very active racing career. Borrowing one of the images above, when it was initially unveiled it wore this as it's Presentation livery - the flourescent squiggles weren't exactly a hit and didn't last too long.
Early in 1997 it continued in its development role, but was eventually used in one race that year wearing essentially the livery you photographed it in, plus some sponsor stickers.
Suzuka 1000km (for Team Lark McLaren) 9th place - Drivers: (Sekiya/Nakaya/Tsuchiya)
Incidentally, "Sekiya" on that list is Masanori Sekiya, the Japanese driver who two years earlier had joined JJ Lehto and Yannick Dalmas in a 1995 McLaren F1 GTR during McLaren's first attempt at the LeMans 24Hr race, and the three drivers survived a rainy and trecherous course through the night to stand on the podium the following day as the overall winners! A total of 7 F1 GTRs had entered - two failed to finish the race, but the other five finished in 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th places overall. An amazing feat for a manufacturer on their very first try.
Back to GTR 19R, it was dormant through 1998, but then in 1999 it reappeared on track again in Japan at the Suzuka 1000kms race again in the hands of a new team and new drivers and finished 2nd! It also competed in the 1999 All Japan GT Championship but struggled to get great results. The livery it initially wore had "Nicos" sponsorship, and at this point the car had been repainted bright yellow with some banner stripes in blue/red along the car. Pretty sure that sponsorship lasted just the one season of 1999, then in 2000 they kept the livery mostly the same but picked up "SOK" as their title sponsor.
At the end of the 2002 AJGT season the car was removed from professional competitive racing and would eventually end up in the hands of Symbolic Motors in LaJolla, CA. They had the car resprayed at that point back to that Pink/Black "LARK" livery the car had first competed with and after showing it in Monterey that Summer, found a customer for the car in Texas named Kevin Crowder.
He used the car at private track events around the USA, with it being prepared sometimes by Hudson Historics out of NY. This
set of photos by David Haueter, in addition to your own set, are really some of the best there are out there of 19R.
Crowder sold the car back through Symbolic in 2008, and was the reason it was back on the lawn at the The Quail that year when you happened upon it. Symbolic apparently were able to sell the car to someone from the UK now, who actually chose to keep it here from that point to use on some tracks in the USA, before it was finally air-freighted to the UK in June 2009.
I haven't seen it since then and don't know who's got it at the moment, but that's a pretty good history so far and I am sure it will turn up again eventually to add another entry to the list.
Does that help with your caption?
>8^)
ER
