Watch Legend Keiichi Tsuchiya Test a McLaren F1 GTR on Track
Watch as the iconic ‘Drift King’ and the Le Mans-winning McLaren meet for the first time.
Keiichi Tsuchiya is so legendary in the motorsports community we aren’t sure what to believe about him anymore. He seems more of a fairy tale hero than a real human. If you don’t know about him, he became known in the racing community in Japan for drifting during sanctioned races. Why would one do that? Well, he was so much faster than everybody else, he had to find ways to entertain himself. Thus, he would drift the track for entertainment. During the race. Yeah, he was that good.
Once Tsuchiya was known as “DK” or “Drift King”, he would go on to popularize drifting into the sport that it is today. His racing career was also a thing of legend. Class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995 and 1999, as well as many other victories over the years. If there is one thing you can be certain about in regard to Tsuchiya-san, it’s that the man can drive. This is why you’ll see him throwing around a stunning McLaren F1 GTR around Circuit Paul Ricard in France. This test was done because he was to drive the car at Le Mans later that year. This was a practice session for him. Thanks to Best MOTORing official on YouTube, we get to see two legends combine for the ultimate racing nostalgia possible.
Interestingly during Tsuchiya’s practice session, there were a couple of F1 GTR’s out during the session as seen in the video. We are unsure of who else or what other teams were testing at the time, but it is interesting none the less to see more than one at one place or time.
For those unaware, the McLaren F1 GTR was built for the FIA GT1 class of the FIA GT Championship. This event was most likely a testing session for both GT1 and GT2 cars. During the laps, you can see a Porsche 911 GT1 flying around as well as a GT2 Dodge Viper.
While the narration is in Japanese for the entirety of the video, racing is a universal language. We suggest turning the speakers up a little bit and appreciating a good lap with Tsuchiya. It’s a once in a lifetime occasion.
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