Mad Mike unveils ‘Madmac’ McLaren drift Hypercar at Goodwood

New Zealand drifting sensation ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett and Lanzante have unveiled the ‘world’s wildest drift hypercar’ at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Marking a decade since bringing the discipline of drifting to Goodwood, Whiddett is raising the bar once again in 2024 and doing it in his signature style.

‘MadMac’ is his wildest project to date: a rotary-swapped, 1,000-horsepower, flame-spitting McLaren drift hypercar.

As documented on Mad Mike’s YouTube channel over recent months, the Lanzante and MadLab teams have combined technical knowledge, engineering expertise, and unconventional thinking.

The result, from the creative brains of Dean Lanzante and Whiddett talking at the 2023 Festival of Speed Ball, meant the Lanzante (UK) team built a one-of-a-kind custom McLaren. Mad Mike was then given 100 days to deliver on their side of the project, with the combined support of O’Gara Coach (USA). 

Lanzante, led by Dean Lanzante, provided the foundations for the project, calling upon the extensive experience and expertise of the McLaren P1, built up over the past decade.

Combining an inherently strong and versatile McLaren carbon fibre chassis with additional safety from an FIA-approved roll-cage, the team scanned, developed, tooled and sculpted bespoke P1 GTR and Lanzante-developed P1 LM bodywork.

This newly formed shape was stretched in all directions, giving a much more aggressive rear stance, as well as wider front arches to accommodate the expected steering adjustments needed for Whiddett to perform his iconic drifting style.

With this work completed, the basis for this ultimate one-off drift hypercar project was then ready for Mike and his expert crew to start stage 2.

“We pride ourselves in our projects and creating some of the most showstopping vehicles, but MadMac has taken this to a new level,” explained Lanzante as the car departed the UK. 

“Everything we do is completed to the highest level, so to have a chance to work with Mad Mike – the best in the business – and to take on a new challenge in a different area of the sport, was something we simply couldn’t say no to.

“The work Mike and his team have taken on, with the deadline of unveiling at Goodwood, shows the confidence and the abilities they hold. It is the perfect celebration for Mike’s 10 years of drifting at the Festival of Speed, and we are honoured to have played a part in it.”

With the deadlines already looming large, every day was critical to the success of the project being ready for the unveiling on the opening day of the Festival of Speed.

From the Lanzante workshop in Petersfield, MadMac was airfreighted to the MadLab at Hampton Downs, New Zealand, 10,000 miles away, with 100 days until its return flight to the UK was booked.

On arrival, the team wasted no time, but the final specification was far from determined. It was the first time Whiddett had got up close to the unique Lanzante build, and while ideas had been conceptualised, the exact plans around the final build were only developed as they learnt more about what could be done.

This included how to transition from an aerodynamically optimised, high-downforce track car to one that could drift in the style Mad Mike is renowned for.

As the strip-down of the MadMac project commenced and ideas flowed, a pivotal moment came for the team as they looked at how to genuinely build the world’s ‘wildest’ drift hypercar and how best to extract the necessary performance they wanted from the vehicle.

Originally fitted with a 3.8-litre V8 twin-turbo, the team made a bold decision to ‘go with what’s in Whiddett’s DNA’ as they looked at ways of generating the desired 1,000hp and Mike’s signature style from a powerplant they understood. The result? A custom, MadLab-built, three-rotor billet 20B turbo engine was installed into the heart of the McLaren’s carbon fibre chassis.

Mad Mike has become known for rotary engines in almost all his drift builds, but MadMac has taken this to the next level.

With the original transmission from the McLaren retained, ingenuity and engineering were then pushed to the limit again, as the team worked quickly to design, create and install a bespoke transfer case to connect the flame-spitting rotary engine with the factory-fit sequential gearbox.

Beyond this, the 100 days were optimised to make a list of further enhancements.

Custom uprights, a steering rack to provide further steering rotation required for drifting, designing bespoke wheels, installing a custom Haltech ECU and dashboard to ensure full control, transfer from GT3-style steering wheel mounted paddle shifting gearchanges to a modified gaming-style gear shifter, installing a hydraulic handbrake, and a trip to Japan to work with legendary body kit designer Rocket Bunny to enhance and emphasise the sculpted lines of the P1 GTR bodywork.

Then, once all of this – and much more – had been implemented, Mad Mike strapped himself in and took MadMac out around Hampton Downs.

With further development work continuing after many private shakedowns and testing days, the team utilised every last minute available before bidding their ultimate build farewell at Auckland airport. MadMac was loaded back onto a flight and transported back to England to an eagerly awaiting Lanzante team.

“It is fair to say that MadMac is the biggest challenge I have set myself in terms of builds, and it has been a huge effort by the whole team to get a project of this magnitude complete in just 100 days,” explained Whiddett. 

“The reveal of any project is always the most rewarding part, as it is an opportunity to step away from the overall build, and we get to see what fans and the wider world think of our efforts.

“Goodwood is the number 1 event for me of the year, and we have revealed some of our best builds there over the years, but this one is extra special. A perfect way to celebrate 10 years of drifting at the Festival of Speed and a very proud moment to honour my fellow New Zealander, Bruce McLaren.”

The covers were pulled to reveal its bespoke Red Bull livery at 10.00 am on Thursday, 11 July, as Mad Mike, Lanzante and O’Gara Coach presented MadMac to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on the Lanzante stand.

A day later, the world’s wildest drift hypercar made its first outing on the famous hill-climb course. It has since made the climb a second time and will on four more occasions over the weekend.

MadMac will continue to build its resumé across the globe over the next two years.

MadMac specification

Words & Images: Supplied