Lanzante to make Red Bull RB17 road legal

The car as it stands looks as if it could be the ultimate extreme of this genre of unlimited track-only machines. Developed by an F1 team, built using F1-spec components and techniques and capable of close-to-F1 lap times, it’s one of that rarified type within this genre in that it’s not wedded in any way to a road car equivalent.

And yet it will see use on the road at some point. Confirming rumours that have been swirling since the car’s reveal, Lanzante, the masters of road-legalising track cars, have announced plans to offer conversions.

Don’t worry, they have no intention of turning the 15,000rpm, 4.5-litre V10-engined machine into a cosseting GT. Lanzante clarified the RB17’s road conversion won’t dilute its singular focus in a statement on social media: “We will be working with owners ensuring the project is maintained true to its design brief”.

The company wasn’t too far behind from the very beginning. It partnered with Red Bull-sponsored Mad Mike on the build of his McLaren 650S GT3-based P1-look drift car, the MadMac, which of course spent its Festival of Speed weekend in the Red Bull Racing paddock.

Lanzante’s road conversion work to date of course includes the McLaren P1 GTR, Senna GTR, Pagani Zonda R, Pagani Huayra R and Porsche 935. It’s also created long-tailed, high-downforce, LM and Spider variants of the p1, as well as the TAG F1-engined series of Porsche 930s.

As above the RB17 has yet to actually run, with designer Adrian Newey confirming that the Cosworth-developed 4.5-litre V10 engine is currently in the dyno-testing phase. He’s also confirmed that the RB17 as it appeared at FOS was an earlier model than where development has taken it now, with the latest iteration allegedly having a shorter wheelbase too. 

Customers won’t be getting RB17s until the end of next year at the earliest, so we won’t expect to see Lanzante-spec road conversions sauntering into Breakfast Club Supercar Sunday until at least 2026.

Goodwood photography courtesy of Pete Summers