The No. 6 and No. 9 McLaren 650S GT3s from K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports have been forced to withdraw from the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship at Miller Motorsports Park. The reason? They’re simply too good.
Miller Motorsports Park sits at an altitude of over 4,400, which requires the imposition of increasingly strict regulation on engine power. And no matter what they do, they just can’t get those dang McLarens to stop being so powerful!
From the press release:
Located well above sea level in Tooele, Utah, Miller Motorsports Park sits at an elevation of over 4,400 feet. The higher elevation levels required the series officials to adjust the Balance of Performance (BOP) specifically for turbocharged cars competing this weekend, lowering each car’s allowable boost to equalize the turbo cars against their naturally aspirated competitors. The BOP regulations put in place for this event demand that K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports run a maximum turbo boost level that is unachievable, regardless of engine tuning, with the homologated turbo and engine package the McLaren 650S GT3 was designed and built with.
“McLaren GT have been concerned about the boost correction methods used in Pirelli World Challenge,” said Andrew Kirkaldy, Managing Director of McLaren GT. “This has been communicated to the series and we have asked for changes prior to Miller. When the Miller BOP was released, it was clear that we could not achieve the boost levels and we have been in almost daily contact with our technical staff and Pirelli World Challenge personnel to try and find a solution for K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports to race. Unfortunately despite our best efforts we could not find a solution that was acceptable to Pirelli World Challenge.”
Photo via K-PAX Racing on Twitter
Contact the author at nicole.conlan@jalopnik.com.