n June 2014, McLaren announced that they would produce a GT3 version of the 650S, either as a new car or as an upgrade for the existing 12C GT3 – which will contest GT3 championships from 2015 onwards.[20]
Changes to the car from the road car includes a new 6-speed sequential motorsport gearbox; 380 mm ventilated brake discs with six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston units at the rear; a 52 mm wider track; revised suspension geometry and upgraded components. It is distinguished from the road car by larger air intakes and front splitter, and carbon fibre air intakes and a new rear wing.
The 3.8-litre McLaren V8 twin-turbo engine, also used in the 12C-GT3, produces 493 bhp (368 kW; 500 PS), and includes a new ECU to improve turbo boost and gearshifts. The power output is lower than the road going 650S’s due to homologation.
Andrew Kirkaldy, whose CRS Racing team developed the GT3 version of the McLaren MP4-12C, said that they were aiming to develop a version that conforms to the LM GTE regulations at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.[21]
The 650S achieved its biggest success when it won the 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race in Australia at the hands of Álvaro Parente, Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb. Van Gisbergen set a new outright lap record with a time of 2:01.567 on 7 February 2016.[22]