The McLaren 720S GT3 is coming

It was probably inevitable, but that makes it no less exciting. McLaren is making a GT3 version of its 720S supercar, and this is a hint of how it will look.

We’ve just got sketches to go from for now, and the car won’t race until 2019. Next year has been set aside for an “intense development programme”, before customer teams can race them the following season.

It will replace the 650S GT3, which gives us a good clue as to what to expect; a road-going McLaren supercar with all the usual race car flourishes (roll cage, harnessed bucket seat, much safety) but a road-based engine.

Video: Top Gear’s Chris Harris races a McLaren 650S GT3

Expect the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 from the regular 720S to transplant over, only with its power tweaked to match the regulations of whichever series it’s being raced in. The 710bhp you get from a showroom car isn’t a given, then.

There’ll also be heaps of additional aero; these sketches reveal a splitter that could plough snow (if it wasn’t made of expensive carbon) and some tasty little dive planes at the front, while round the back there’s an almighty diffuser, a different exhaust setup and a humongous fixed spoiler rather than an active wing.

More details will follow as the car’s development progresses. Like what you see so far?