Woking, Surrey - The only thing better than having access to the world's finest circuits is having access to the world's finest circuits with a former Grand Prix driver to show you the way round.
And that's what the members of the exclusive Mclaren P1 GTR Driver Programme will be getting, with the announcement that Bruno Senna, who joined the company as factory GT driver earlier this year, will be acting as mentor at each of the P1 GTR track days.
The (extremely wealthy) enthusiasts who have bought into the P1 GTR Driver Programme will take part in a special training and preparation schedule, to get them up to speed before they're let loose on the track.
This will include a race seat fitting (each P1 GTR has a one-piece carbon-fibre seat literally moulded to the shape of the driver, just like a Formula 1 car), a Human Performance Centre assessment, and final discussions around design and livery. Yes Cyril, each driver gets to choose his car's colour scheme.
LEARNING CURVE
Before each track day, each driver will also have access to the racing simulator at Woking, so he can learn the circuit before he gets there.
Senna explained: "The 735kW P1 GTR is built to be the ultimate driver's car around any given circuit. It has more power, more torque, better aerodynamics and more grip than the street-legal P1, and we need to make sure that the drivers can exploit that extra performance.
"The programme is designed to prepare each driver, mentally and physically, to make the most of the car and the track. In the same way as a professional racing driver builds up his performance during the course of a race weekend, the team on the ground at each event will be working closely with the drivers to hone their skills and push them further than they believe possible."
The first customer P1 GTR has already rolled off the production line at Woking and been moved to the Special Operations workshop to be custom-finished around the owner.
Its front track is 80mm wider than on the street-legal P1, and the car sits 50mm lower on centre-locking wheels shod with 19 inch Pirelli slicks. The big front splitter is matched by a bigger-than-standard rear wing, mounted 100mm higher than the standard P1's on 400mm pillars.
The programme will include track days at Catalunya, Sepang, the Circuit of the Americas, Silverstone, Monza, the Red Bull Ring, Spa Francorchamps, Bahrain and Yas Marina.