McLaren MP4-12C at the 2010 Festival of Speed

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

30 June 2010 09:49

McLaren will show its new MP4-12C supercar for the first time in public at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend.

McLaren's F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and reigning world champion Jenson Button will drive the 12C up the Goodwood hillclimb on Saturday and Sunday in the Supercar Run.

They're wheeling out the F1 stars again?

Yep. The MP4-12C is being heavily promoted by McLaren's grand prix racers. Back in March 2010, Hamilton and Button drove the 'XP Beta' prototypes around the Goodwood circuit; now – in classic Ronspeak™ – the pair are driving up Lord March's driveway in the latest 'VP9 Validation Prototype' versions of the new V8 supercar.

The 12C you'll see at Goodwood this weekend is painted in McLaren Orange, a nod to Bruce McLaren's racing cars from the 1960s and 1970s. If you miss them tear up the hill, make sure you swing by the McLaren Automotive stand near the Sunday Times Supercar Paddock, where you'll find a car and a bare rolling chassis where you can coo over the intricate one-piece carbon tub and the Macca's innards.

Any other McLarens at Goodwood this year?

You bet. McLaren remains the only manufacturer to triumph at Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and in F1, so it will wheel out its 1995-winning Le Mans F1 GTR1.

It's been a long drip-feed. When can we actually buy a McLaren 12C?

The new 12C supercar goes on sale in spring 2011. The exact price hasn't been announced yet, but McLaren says it will compete in the 'core' entry-level supercar market, between £125,000-£175,000.

By Tim Pollard