Over the course of just 100 days, Mad Mike Whiddett and his team of collaborators have committed to building Whiddett's dream car - a drift-ready McLaren P1 GTR dubbed the MADMAC - to debut at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Now, a little caveat before we begin. This vehicle isn't strictly a McLaren P1 GTR, at least not entirely. This is a chimera of sorts build by O'Gara Coach, built from a road-going P1 GTR from British McLaren specialist, Lanzante, and a race-ready 650S GT3. It wouldn't be a Mad Mike build without some proper insanity right from the start.
The challenge for Whiddett and his team over the 100 days leading up to Goodwood FoS will be to transform an otherwise posh and purpose-focused circuit killer hypercar into the rowdiest drifting hypercar the world will have ever seen. And what seems like a relatively straightforward task has already opened up a can of worms in the form of engineering challenges. For one, the McLaren only has 35-degrees of full lock articulation. It's certainly not built for going sideways. A little suspension wizardry in the form of custom arms, some Parts Shop Max parts, and ingenuity, and that was sorted with relative ease.
Moving into the next big step, the team focused on the engine. The 3.8L twin-turbo V8 from McLaren is truly a racing engine. It's perfect - but it's not Mad Mike DNA. As you were probably wondering when you first heard about this project, yes, Whiddett and the team are swapping in a rotary. It just isn't a Mad Mike build without the screaming and fire-spitting rotary making big power. We'll be following this build closely as the build series continues. We cannot wait to see this thing shred at Goodwood FoS!
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