Barely a year away from its debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s top-tier, McLaren Racing has issued a progress update and video of the engine that will power its hotly-anticipated Hypercar in 2027.
The new, purpose-built V6 twin-turbocharged unit – project-led by McLaren Endurance Racing’s technical team at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking – fired up on the dyno and, with it, brought McLaren United AS WEC Team’s first Hypercar engine to life.
A pair of identical powerplants have since completed their initial dyno test phase, including exploratory laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe – home to the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, which McLaren famously won at its maiden attempt back in 1995.
“Words cannot describe how it felt to fire up the engine for the first time...but I’ll try!” commented McLaren United AS Team Principal and Executive Director of McLaren Endurance Racing, James Barclay. “To hear the engine – the heart of the car – come to life is a huge milestone for the programme, and one of which we can be very proud.
“Listening to and seeing the engine do its first laps of Le Mans was also extremely emotive – it is the sound that, if all goes to plan, will become the soundtrack to some great memories and achievements for the team.
“This is just the start, and we have a long way to go, but we’re learning and making improvements in-line with what we would expect and, most importantly, we’re running to schedule.”
The first yet-to-be-named McLaren Hypercar is currently in-build, with the full car on the dyno outlined as the team’s next big target. Ex-Peugeot racer Mikkel Jensen was revealed as the British brand’s first official driver for 2027 earlier this month.
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