In the final 5 days of Mad Mike Whiddett's ultimate drift McLaren build, the team encountered some scary moments. The drifting McLaren, codenamed "MadMac," was set to be built in 100 days. Given a whole catalgoue of new suspension components, and a rotary engine swap, the McLaren P1 from O'Gara Coach and Lanzante is a far cry from the McLaren P1 the idea started with. You might remember we talked about this thing when the build first started, and now we're here to see its conclusion.
In its final hours, the MadMac McLaren needed an entirely restructured exhaust and turbo system after melting part of it during shakedown testing, which damaged the turbo. As if that weren't enough of a challenge to make the deadline, the McLaren actuator that handles gear shifts was on the receiving end of some mystery water damage, and needed to be disassembled, cleaned, and put back together. Topping it all off, the team encountered some fueling issues on its final dyno runs, but were luckily able to sort out a premix problem that was causing some fluttering of throttle in the rotary engine at low RPM.
All said and done, the MadMac is now on a plane headed to the UK from New Zealand, set for an electric debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it's sure to be one of the favorites among drifting and motorsports fans alike. How McLaren purists will feel about it is yet to be seen.
Thumbnail photo by Graeme Murray (@graememurraynz)
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