Following the formation of the FIA GT Championship in 1997 Mclaren saw that the F1 GTR was falling behind their competitors Porsche, with their 911 GT1, and the newcomer Mercedes, with the brand new CLK GTR. Mclaren had no choice but to upgrade the F1 GTR, and in the same year, the F1 GTR Longtail was developed with the assistance of BMW Motorsport. The Longtail was an upgraded version of the previous race car, but this time it had a longer rear and a bigger wing, providing more downforce. In the opening round of the FIA GT Championship the Longtail managed to win a second ahead of the CLK GTR, but in the next race at the Nurburgring the Mercedes managed to overcome its mechanical issues and won the race. On the next race at SPA the Longtail won again before the CLK GTR. However, following the abolishment of the GT1 class in 1998 due to the CLK GTR domination, BMW Motorsport had no choice but to focus on their other projects such as the V12 LM. The Longtail would continue racing until 2005. As of now, the car is believed to be one of the rarest in the world, infact, only 10 production cars were ever built, with an insane price tag of over 3 million dollars.