McLaren is heading back to Le Mans, and they're bringing serious firepower. The British brand has unveiled the MCL-HY, a 720-horsepower FIA Hypercar that will compete in the World Endurance Championship's top class starting in 2027. But here's the kicker: a track-only version, the MCL-HY GTR, will also be available for a select group of lucky customers.

This return is steeped in history. McLaren's first Le Mans victory came in 1966, when founder Bruce McLaren drove a Ford GT40 MkII to glory. Then, in 1995, the team stunned the motorsport world when a lightly modified road car—the F1 GTR—pulled off an outright win in one of the wettest races in the event's history. With roughly 17 hours of steady rain, drivers JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas, and Masanori Sekiya navigated the treacherous Circuit de la Sarthe to deliver McLaren's second victory. Now, the team is aiming for a third.

The MCL-HY will enter a stacked Hypercar field that includes Ferrari's 499P, Toyota's GR010 Hybrid, Porsche's 963, Cadillac's V-Series.R, and BMW's M Hybrid V8, among others. It's a seriously competitive lineup, but McLaren is no stranger to fighting at the front.

While the race car won't be homologated for the street, the MCL-HY GTR track day variant will be developed in parallel, giving enthusiasts a chance to experience Hypercar-level performance behind the wheel. A robust testing program kicks off this month, running through 2026 ahead of homologation.

This isn't just about Le Mans, though. McLaren sees the MCL-HY as the final piece of a larger puzzle: a renewed assault on motorsport's legendary Triple Crown. With the team already competing at the pinnacle of Formula 1 (Monaco Grand Prix) and the NTT IndyCar Series (Indianapolis 500), the Hypercar program completes the set. It's an ambition that only McLaren is uniquely positioned to pursue, and the countdown to 2027 has officially begun.