Hypercars Now Have Their Own "Series", Thanks to SRO

"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy) 01/03/2015 at 08:51 • Filed to: None

3

4

Stéphane Ratel Organisation, the honchos behind the Blancpain GT and Sprint Series and the GT class series before them, has finally given the owners of the McLaren P1, the LaFerrari, the Porsche 918, the Koenigsegg One:1, the Bugatti Veyron and their kind the opportunity to show what they're made of and do what they're built to do: race on race tracks.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and no, it's not an actual series with a championship based on points you can earn. Rather, it's a more organized and regulated version of a track day, but for those people who own hypercars (SRO calls them Ultracars, but either way) like those mentioned above and feel like they can't get the most of them because they're just garden ornaments.

Per SRO's statement:

SRO Motorsports Group feels that the fortunate owners of these exceptional Ultracars should be able to do more than valet park them in front of a palace. And there is no doubt that car aficionados worldwide would love to see these Ultracars in action.

I put the emphasis on those two statements because, well, they make perfect sense. It's not like we will have to watch a regular monkey, an orangutan, a hamster, and (PLEASE, NOW) a Cocker Spaniel hoon hyper—erm, Ultracars on our monitors repeatedly.

Another point worth noting is this:

And their DNA means that the most appropriate environment for them is a race circuit. However, previous experience with the GT1-category has shown that extensively race prepared 'Ultracars' did not meet the teams' budgets.

There. See? So SRO decied they give every owner a chance to do so.

The USC track days will happen on the Paul Ricard and Misano rounds of the Blancpain GT Series, and while there are two classes—road Ultracars with road tyres, and track-only Hypercars like the FXX and the Maserati MC12 Corsa ( !!!!!! ) made in the last 10 years—there will be no competitive timing and placing, which means no champions.

The kicker? Only 30 minutes of track time.

But the owners that choose to participate in the lunch-to-lunch program (I know someone's gonna say: "No one's gonna go there, they want their cars as garden ornaments", but what if they don't?) get special treatment, which includes race gear made just for this club, and "access to the dedicated Ultracar Village, including a high-level VIP hospitality service, and take a privileged look behind-the-scenes at the Blancpain GT Series."

Oh, if I had a 918 and Agera R, I'd be hard-pressed to choose. But if you own ALL of the eligible cars on the club, as what I'll be listing here:

Non- Exhaustive List of Eligible Cars

Homologated Road Cars

Aston Martin One 77

Bugatti Veyron

Bugatti Veyron Supersport

Ferrari LaFerrari

Koenigsegg Agera

Koenigsegg Agera R

Koenigsegg One:1

Lamborghini Reventon

Lamborghini Reventon Roadster

Lamborghini Veneno

Lamborghini Veneno Roadster

McLaren P1

Porsche 918 Spyder

Pagani Huayra

Non-homologated, Track Prepared Cars

Ferrari Enzo FXX

Ferrari 599 FXX

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento

Maserati MC12 Corsa ( !!!1!1!! )

McLaren P1 GTR

Pagani Zonda R

consult your doctors, psychologists, clergy, lawyers, accountants, mechanics, Leena Gade, and Old Man Bernie Grinch.

Actually, no. Consult Leena so she can train you how to drive an open-top Ultracar, and kill Bernie.

Autofixation > Wheelerguy 01/03/2015 at 09:49

0

I would pay to watch these cars on the track. Especially without a stupid commentary or Chris Harris getting them sideways all the time. I just want to see what they can do and hear them while they're doing it.

Patrick Nichols > Wheelerguy 01/03/2015 at 10:01

1

INB4 "This is stupid. Plenty of guys could lap these guys with a GTR/ZR1/EVO/STI/etc. for a fraction of the price" comments. Because thats not the point.

On a side note, it would be awesome to see some out of the box ideas for what could race here. Maybe the F40 that was modded on that discovery show. Or maybe someone would be dumb cool enough to bring an RS200. Or one of those road legal formula one wannabe cars that they had on top gear. I know the list isn't exhaustive, but I get the sense that they're looking for more mainstream and modern cars rather than what else might compete (in both price and speed) with their idea of hypercars.

Wheelerguy > Patrick Nichols 01/03/2015 at 10:13

1

Or, hell this thing.

On the side note: Maybe a Historic Ultracar Club?

Patrick Nichols > Wheelerguy 01/03/2015 at 10:52

0

Hell yeah, 1 more class definitely needs to be added for historic hyper cars, but I would really love to see what some of the older cars could keep up with these cars.

Fuck it! Just bring back Group B!