24h Le Mans
The McLaren MCL-HY was introduced to the public for the first time at Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier today. The demonstration is a milestone on the British Hypercar’s route to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.
At McLaren Racing, the countdown to Le Mans began a while ago. Following several weeks of testing behind closed doors, the MCL-HY was revealed to the crowd at Goodwood Festival of Speed today. Thousands of fans applauded the British Hypercar that will be racing under the McLaren banner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2027.
The story of a prototype begins long before the starting grid. The McLaren MCL-HY has just written the introduction: the first encounter with the motor racing public. Testing is still ongoing – the development programme is only in its tenth week – but McLaren Racing were loath to pass up the chance of presenting the Hypercar to the knowledgable, passionate fans at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Development continues for the car revealed digitally on 4 May 2026. After its run up the famous Goodwood hill, the prototype will head back to the test circuit to continue development.
It was important to begin sharing the MCL-HY with fans. The prototype is the first McLaren destined to compete for overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since the esteemed F1 GTR that won the race on first attempt in 1995. Over thirty years later, a new McLaren generation is hoping to become a legend too.
The McLaren MCL-HY’s twin-turbo V6 engine is designed to deal with the demands of the Hypercar class. However, like all the cars in the category, there is more to this prototype than power. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, every detail is important: reliability, strategy, and staying power – of drivers and their racing machines. The delicate combination of these ingredients sets the French classic apart. No other race is as unforgiving as Le Mans.
In 2027, McLaren will join Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Ford, Genesis, Peugeot and Toyota in the Hypercar field. Be prepated for a historic clash of the titans.
James Barclay, Team Principal, McLaren Hypercar Team: “Goodwood Festival of Speed is the greatest car show on Earth, so it made sense for us to have this on our radar. But the truth is, it’s extremely early in our test programme so it was very lightly pencilled in. However, our team has done an incredible job, hitting every target on- and off-track so we made the last-minute call to divert the MCL-HY to the event for two of the four days and share it with the passionate motorsport fans who attend."
With a year to go before the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans, the McLaren MCL-HY’s adventure is only just beginning. Like all good stories, it started with an encounter. And what better backdrop than Goodwood to set the scene for the first date with fans? The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s greatest endurance race, has a reputation for electing its winner. The McLaren MCL-HY is on a mission to become the chosen one.
