Equity Mag Jan_18 Book Folder

COLLECTOR'S PIECES
“Being second is to be the f irst of the ones who lose”
Believe these words for Senna ended up on the podium in
80 of the 162 F1 races he participated in during his career.
The McLaren named after him goes after the jugular as well.
It is part of the Ultimate Series, the first of which was the P1
followed by the GTR version of the P1 and now this. Bruno
Senna, Ayrton’s nephew, was reportedly roped into the
development of the car. The supreme confidence of
McLaren loyalists is such that even while the Senna was still
under development, months before anyone saw what the
car would look like, all 500 units of this limited-edition car
were already sold. With McLaren, seldom are there any
doubting Thomases.
“Fear is exciting”
If there is ever a machine purpose-built to instil unholy
amounts of fear into you, this is it. The 4-litre V8 engine that
sits between the two carbon fibre seats produces 800Nm of
torque and 789hp of power. Not a lot of horses, you might
add. And you’re right. But remember that by stripping away
even basic creature comforts like air-conditioning, McLaren
has effectively reduced the weight of the supercar to measly
1,198kgs. We’re now looking at a similar power-to-weight
ratio as the LaFerrari.
“Racing, competing, it's in my blood. I have been
doing it all my life.”
What is true about Senna’s life, is true about McLaren’s as
well. It was a brand that was born on the track. Bruce
McLaren built and raced his first McLaren F1 at the 1965
Monaco Grand Prix. Since then, the marque has been one of
Formula One’s most successful teams. In 1988, with Ron
Dennis at the helm, McLaren embarked on a project to build
its maiden road-legal supercar. By 1993, it debuted a car that
was officially homogenized for the street called it F1 in a nod
to its racing heritage. Since then, there’s been no looking
back for McLaren Automotive. This Senna, like all the
previous McLaren road cars, takes the best technology from
Formula One and trickles it down to its supercars.
“If you no longer go for a gap that exist, you are
no longer a racing driver.”
McLaren is billing their latest wunderkind as “the ultimate
road-legal track car”. To make the Senna a proper racing
car, McLaren has innovated. They’ve kitted it with bespoke
Pirelli P Zero center-locking lightweight wheels that can
blitz a track and have also added a new generation of
smaller and lighter carbon ceramic brake discs which are
believed to be four times more thermally efficient than
conventional carbon discs. A shout-out to the aerodynamics
of the car too which is what makes this machine possibly
faster around a track than the P1.
Step into a Senna and you’ll notice that to recreate a
“cockpit”, the Start button is located on the roof as are the
buttons to release the top-hinged doors. Switch the car into
“race mode” and the chassis drops nearly two inches
resulting in a machine that hunkers down with sinister
purpose. The movable flaps inside the air intakes on both
sides of the front bumper will increase or decrease grip, as
the need arises, to keep it balanced. The large rear spoiler is
nearly four feet off the ground and creates the necessary
downforce keep the supercar from lifting off.
“I have no idols”
If only Senna were alive to see the McLaren named after him,
he might have changed his mind after all.
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EQUITY