It is nine years since the first MT900R hit the race track. And the brainchild of Warren Mosler and Rod Trenne is still developing and growing. With Le Mans 24hr veteran Martin Short as head of Mosler Europe the "development through racing" philosophy has continued to improve the car for almost a decade now.
It started well with a class victory in the highly prestigious GrandAm series in 2002. The following year saw even more success with two wins in the faster GTS class, including one at the iconic Daytona 24hr race. On the other side of the pond, the Moslers took the British GT by storm winning the first three races with straight one-two finishes. Four more victories meant the Mosler finished first and second in the championship in it’s maiden year. The following year Spanish GT was conquered and in 2005 Short won the Silverstone 24HR.
As the years have progressed, the plaudits have continued with consistent and regular wins and podiums in many championships, across many continents.
There is not a single GT car that has been at the top of the sheets for such a long period. "The secret behind the long lasting success of the MT900R is the emphasis we put on development of the race car” says Martin Short. “At the start of this project nearly ten years ago this model was great. The MT900 was the first road legal car to use advanced composites for its primary structure, and that really paid off for the race car. But even as we swept the floor with the competition in British GT we were very aware development is the key to future success."
The looks of the MT900 are still as contemporary, even futuristic as the day the first model rolled out of the factory. An amazing achievement, especially as many supercars from the same age now look dated . The shape of the car was not only chosen for the aesthetic value but even more so for the astonishing aerodynamic characteristics. With a drag coefficient of just 0.25 it literally goes through the air smoother than a bullet.
"The Mosler Europe team, that has won the Dutch Supercar Challenge in 2008 and was runner up the year after, is the development team for Mosler Cars racing division. We are constantly trying to improve every aspect the car. By racing the same chassis for eight years straight now we believe we have come across and solved all the flaws the car can throw at you. Not only we are working on keeping the MT900R at the head of the field, we are working closely together with all Mosler outings throughout the world. With regular communication we are quick to spot and solve problems. I like to share the set up of my car with other Mosler teams who then give me feedback on how they have improved it, or just to help out another driver who has problems getting the set up right on a new track. This results in a classic win-win situation. Last year I went to Malaysia with two of my engineers to help Singaporean driver Melvin Choo win races in the GT Asia Challenge."
"We get regular feedback from other teams and this helped us to solve a oil cooling issue we had earlier in the year. As a brand, it is important to share this knowledge and help keep the Mosler competitive across the different series they are racing in. "This combined and continued effort has improved the MT900 to such an extent the GT3 version is now regularly beating GT2 cars of other marques at only half their cost. Mosler Europe's Martin Short again: "During the last two years I competed in the Dutch Supercar Challenge against a huge range of cars including Porsche 997 GT3s, Corvettes, Ferrari F430 GT2s, a Marcos LM600, Vipers and some space frame silhouettes. The first year I won the championship, the second year I was runner up despite missing some rounds. It is a great testimony to a model that started racing nine years ago and has improved over the years, and is still showing great success.
Competitors have had to develop new models to improve their pace, but we are beating GT2s worth well over half a million with our GT3 which is available at a much more competitive price.
The MT900GT3 started life as a race car essentially as it is now. We improved the uprights, brakes and fitted a bigger engine, and have continued making small changes However, Warren Mosler's original vision remains largely unchanged. The car is still competitive, and still being slowed down by the racing authorities to let the competition keep up!"
"If you compare lap times at one of the most challenging tracks in the world; Spa Francorchamps, it is clear the Mosler MT900GT3 is the fastest GT3 in Europe and the Mosler Challenge is the fastest GT series in Europe. I did a 2.20 there last year on regular racing tyres, while at the Le Mans Series weekend the large GT2 works teams could barely do that on their special tyres that are considered two seconds a lap quicker. The GT1 class, the pinnacle of GT racing, lapped Spa in a 2.17. I am sure with a full professional driver at the wheel and some light development, the Mosler MT900 could even be competitive in GT1!"
Development programmes continue with the MT900R going into a computer simulated wind tunnel using computational fluid dynamics to improve the aerodynamics of the car. This resulted in the MT900 GT300 for the Japanese SuperGT series. There are also plans to run another Cup car in this year’s Britcar 24HR at Silverstone in October. Meanwhile the MT900 GT3 is continuing to collect podium finishes and wins around the globe with the help of the recent aerodynamic lessons learned.
It started well with a class victory in the highly prestigious GrandAm series in 2002. The following year saw even more success with two wins in the faster GTS class, including one at the iconic Daytona 24hr race. On the other side of the pond, the Moslers took the British GT by storm winning the first three races with straight one-two finishes. Four more victories meant the Mosler finished first and second in the championship in it’s maiden year. The following year Spanish GT was conquered and in 2005 Short won the Silverstone 24HR.
As the years have progressed, the plaudits have continued with consistent and regular wins and podiums in many championships, across many continents.
There is not a single GT car that has been at the top of the sheets for such a long period. "The secret behind the long lasting success of the MT900R is the emphasis we put on development of the race car” says Martin Short. “At the start of this project nearly ten years ago this model was great. The MT900 was the first road legal car to use advanced composites for its primary structure, and that really paid off for the race car. But even as we swept the floor with the competition in British GT we were very aware development is the key to future success."
The looks of the MT900 are still as contemporary, even futuristic as the day the first model rolled out of the factory. An amazing achievement, especially as many supercars from the same age now look dated . The shape of the car was not only chosen for the aesthetic value but even more so for the astonishing aerodynamic characteristics. With a drag coefficient of just 0.25 it literally goes through the air smoother than a bullet.
"The Mosler Europe team, that has won the Dutch Supercar Challenge in 2008 and was runner up the year after, is the development team for Mosler Cars racing division. We are constantly trying to improve every aspect the car. By racing the same chassis for eight years straight now we believe we have come across and solved all the flaws the car can throw at you. Not only we are working on keeping the MT900R at the head of the field, we are working closely together with all Mosler outings throughout the world. With regular communication we are quick to spot and solve problems. I like to share the set up of my car with other Mosler teams who then give me feedback on how they have improved it, or just to help out another driver who has problems getting the set up right on a new track. This results in a classic win-win situation. Last year I went to Malaysia with two of my engineers to help Singaporean driver Melvin Choo win races in the GT Asia Challenge."
"We get regular feedback from other teams and this helped us to solve a oil cooling issue we had earlier in the year. As a brand, it is important to share this knowledge and help keep the Mosler competitive across the different series they are racing in. "This combined and continued effort has improved the MT900 to such an extent the GT3 version is now regularly beating GT2 cars of other marques at only half their cost. Mosler Europe's Martin Short again: "During the last two years I competed in the Dutch Supercar Challenge against a huge range of cars including Porsche 997 GT3s, Corvettes, Ferrari F430 GT2s, a Marcos LM600, Vipers and some space frame silhouettes. The first year I won the championship, the second year I was runner up despite missing some rounds. It is a great testimony to a model that started racing nine years ago and has improved over the years, and is still showing great success.
Competitors have had to develop new models to improve their pace, but we are beating GT2s worth well over half a million with our GT3 which is available at a much more competitive price.
The MT900GT3 started life as a race car essentially as it is now. We improved the uprights, brakes and fitted a bigger engine, and have continued making small changes However, Warren Mosler's original vision remains largely unchanged. The car is still competitive, and still being slowed down by the racing authorities to let the competition keep up!"
"If you compare lap times at one of the most challenging tracks in the world; Spa Francorchamps, it is clear the Mosler MT900GT3 is the fastest GT3 in Europe and the Mosler Challenge is the fastest GT series in Europe. I did a 2.20 there last year on regular racing tyres, while at the Le Mans Series weekend the large GT2 works teams could barely do that on their special tyres that are considered two seconds a lap quicker. The GT1 class, the pinnacle of GT racing, lapped Spa in a 2.17. I am sure with a full professional driver at the wheel and some light development, the Mosler MT900 could even be competitive in GT1!"
Development programmes continue with the MT900R going into a computer simulated wind tunnel using computational fluid dynamics to improve the aerodynamics of the car. This resulted in the MT900 GT300 for the Japanese SuperGT series. There are also plans to run another Cup car in this year’s Britcar 24HR at Silverstone in October. Meanwhile the MT900 GT3 is continuing to collect podium finishes and wins around the globe with the help of the recent aerodynamic lessons learned.
