McLaren released the details of Speedtail, the hyper-GT from the Ultimate Series at the end of last month. With first customer deliveries due early 2020, the automaker is embarking the year-long test programme for this flagship model prior to the production commencement at the end of 2019, which will see Speedtail prototypes running on test sites and later ‘normal’ roads across Europe, North America and Africa.
Meet ‘Albert’, the very first Speedtail attribute prototype developed. Its name pays tribute not only to the test mules of 1992 McLaren F1, but also to the Albert Drive premises where the F1 was designed. Even though bearing a special testing livery, ‘Albert’ has production-specification chassis and hybrid drivetrain and the three-seat cockpit with central driving position, along with shape-representative body panels, dihedral doors and the carbon fibre McLaren Monocage core structure. McLaren’s chief test driver and former IndyCar champion Kenny Bräck will be responsible for testing out the performance from 1,050 PS of power to the 403 km/h top speed.
“As the first fully representative prototype, ‘Albert’ will build on the invaluable work still being put in by earlier development cars, allowing us to sign-off vehicle attributes including chassis dynamics, brake performance, damper tuning, tires, NVH and aspects of ergonomics and comfort,” stated Ben Gulliver, the head of vehicle development of McLaren. We are now one step closer in seeing the final version of Speedtail.
