This is the 585bhp Artura Trophy that De Andrés and Pintos won the 2023 McLaren Trophy with, and which is still competing this year. Come join us!
The McLaren Artura replaced the 570S as the British firm’s “home-made” racing model, both in FIA GT4 competitions and for the single-make Trophy it organizes, a car that has been designed and manufactured in Woking based on the production Artura and that you can buy for £220,000, around 260,000 euros. Gonzalo Martín de Andrés and Tommy Pintos were the brilliant winners of the same in 2023, and Lucas Ordóñez has sat behind the wheel of his colt so you can really get to know it.
Lucas Ordóñez tested the colt and told us all his secrets.
GT4 without restrictions
The first key, which is fundamental, is that we are testing the Trophy version, and it does not have the FIA restrictions for its GT4 competitions, which try to equalise the performance of several very different cars, thus allowing more brands to enter the competition and for the races to be more equal. So the Artura Trophy cars are faster, almost as fast as the GT3 cars, they do not have a bridle, and that gives their drivers great power and a lot of satisfaction. “I have never gone through the Jarama horse racing curve so fast,” Lucas Ordóñez told us after the test.
The second key is that the previous 570S did not have “real” self-locking differentials, but electronic ones, something that many of its drivers complained about because, despite their quality, they were not as effective as the electronically controlled mechanical ones and caused an overexertion of the brakes that diminished the overall performance of the car a few laps into the start of the race, since they were responsible for correcting the skidding. The new Artura solves this problem with its rear self-locking differential. From here, we can start talking.
The aerodynamic support provides great stability to the rear and makes it more drivable.
Spectacular
We start from the outside, with the aesthetics. “It is a mix of a racing car and a street car, aesthetically spectacular, you see those gills, those spoilers… I think it shines even more in person than in photos,” Lucas Ordóñez tells us. “Also, the decoration itself of Gonzalo’s SMC team is always very carefully done, down to the last detail.”
Once inside, “you get into a customer racing car where the only thing you see of the street car is practically the profile, the design of the dashboard, and that’s it; the rest are anti-roll bars, the modified steering wheel, the steering column set back much further, the bucket seat… The dashboard, the information screen, is completely racing-style. It’s impressive to see the carbon chassis when you get in and feel super-protected by that monocoque.”
The cockpit, lined with carbon, is much changed compared to the standard car.
“The steering wheel is rectangular and has a single grip. It makes it much easier to see both the driving and the screen with all the data, lap times, temperatures, tire pressures, indicators of all kinds. It is very simple, very easy, very customer racing, so that it is not very confusing. And even the indicators on the buttons are very clear, very large, and I really liked it. It is very, very simple, attractive and comfortable. The padding prevents the carbon paddles from slipping and with that click they make the sensation of shifting up and down gears brutal.”
The flangeless, twin-turbo engine delivers 585 hp. Cut-off is at 8,100 rpm.
Motor
The engine has been stripped of the electric part that characterises the production model, both the electric motor and the battery, which means it is no longer a plug-in hybrid. All that remains is the 3.0-litre 120-degree V8 with two turbos that blow like angels, and which sends power to the rear wheels. In addition, the exhaust is new.
“The engine delivers power immediately, it has no flange or any kind of restriction. I am used to driving GT4s and GT3s that have a flange that restricts power, and you notice that they have a harder time pushing. Here it delivers those 585 horsepower without filters, it is impressive, it is what impressed me most about the car. It is a very electronic, very linear delivery, in which it offers you all the power from below.”
This is how impressive it looks when its scissor doors open.
Lucas gives us a guide on how to drive this thoroughbred, how the lines should be: “With a GT3 or GT4 car you don’t have to take a very V-shaped line, you get to the apex at minimum speed and accelerate early. In this one you have to do more of a V because when you accelerate to the max the car tends to understeer, to get bogged down at the rear and understeer, and it takes you out of the curve. For this reason I had to adapt the driving style a little to deliver all the power from the moment you hit the brakes. The fight for all the teams in this car must be to get the perfect settings to be able to press the accelerator as soon as possible, without having to lift the foot, it’s impressive how fast it accelerates.”
On the other hand, the rear end is very well held in deceleration. I have done a lot of horse racing, I have done a lot of Le Mans, and it is super stable at the rear. I think that aerodynamically it is very well done. It is a car that gives you good sensations, whether you are a professional driver or a gentleman. I think that it gives you a lot of options to feel comfortable because of its docility, that, I think, is one of the characteristics that McLaren has worked on the most in this Artura. They did not want to make a difficult car that tends to oversteer and give you scares, no, quite the opposite, I think it is a car that is well done to give sensations of speed, very good braking, super stable, and not to have that fear of oversteer. You tend to guide it with the nose and the truth is that it is quite docile at the rear.
The Jarama circuit was the setting for the test.
I had no problem attacking the brakes, both on the brakes and on the straight, both at the end of the straight and entering Monza, for example, where you enter with the brakes very, very on the brakes and the car responds perfectly.”
As for the gearbox, it is an 8-speed dual-clutch. “It is slow for a racing car and fast for a road car, it doesn’t give any jolts, it is very smooth, everything is very linear and electronic. In a GT3 everything is much more aggressive. So I think it is a very reasonable and comfortable gearbox because obviously there are all kinds of drivers in this championship.”
The cockpit, lined with carbon, is much changed compared to the standard car.
The best and the worst
“The power delivery is what I liked the most, the speed in acceleration, corner exit and top speed is impressive. I also really liked the braking.
What I would improve is the corner exit, being able to give it gas and not understeer so much, but I think it’s a bit of a set-up issue. And I only did three laps, I can’t expect to have a car to my liking in such a short time.
The brakes do their job much better than on the previous 570S.
Then, the cabin, visibility, gearbox, brakes, steering wheel position, the adjustable pedal distance for different drivers… the car has many virtues. It is very well done, with great balance, suitable for both professional drivers and gentleman drivers. And the electronic adjustment of the steering wheel is impressive, how a racing wheel can be raised and lowered electronically.
Another positive point is how the aerodynamics hold on from behind, that big rear wing. I think it helps a lot to keep the car well held from behind in fast curves, the Horse Riding area, super easy to do almost at full throttle, the speed you reach going up the Pegaso ramp and approaching the horse riding area with these 580 horses is impressive.
“We can say that it is halfway between a racing car and a road car. But of course, the road car is so atomic that in the end the result is spectacular. It is the fastest I have ever gone on a horse race in my life!”
Pintos and De Andrés have formed an unbeatable duo.
Gonzalo de Andrés and Tommy Pintos, European champions 2023
The Spanish duo of Gonzalo de Andrés and Tommy Pintos were crowned champions of the 2023 McLaren Trophy Europe with the Artura of this racing event after achieving a double podium with a victory included in the final round of the season held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The McLaren Barcelona-SMC Motorsport team also finally achieved the runner-up position in the team championship after a very hard-fought season.
Gonzalo, son of the well-known trainer of the same name, is a veteran who has inherited his father’s skills and profession, and has had Tommy Pintos, a promising young player, on his team at his side.
Emilio de Villota, Team Principal McLaren Barcelona, said: “The team has been perfect both when it comes to preparing for the weekends and also seeking the limits of the car in each setup to give the best tools to our drivers. I am tremendously proud of what we have achieved and I can only thank all the parties involved who have made us champions of the McLaren Trophy Europe 2023.”
