In 1998, British GT changed it rules to more closely compare to those used by the FIA GT Championship. These rule changes saw the return of a McLaren to British GT, with Steve O'Rourke's EMKA Racing running a 1997-spec chassis, and later joined by Team Carl at Silverstone. EMKA would manage to take two race victories, and drivers Tim Sugden and Steve O'Rourke would take second in the overall drivers championship. For 1999, although the FIA GT Championship had abandoned the GT1 class, British GT continued to allow the cars to run. EMKA Racing continued with AM Racing joining with another 1997-spec car before they were forced to drop out halfway through the season. EMKA managed a mere single victory, consistently being beaten by Porsche 911 GT1s and Lister Storms. For 2000, British GT finally abandoned their GT1 class, and the McLaren F1 GTRs were no longer eligible. 24 Hours of Le Mans Although officially not part of any one racing series, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was still considered important enough for McLaren to enter. Competing at Le Mans meant racing against many of their normal GT1 competitors from various series, as well as some unique cars which ran Le Mans only. McLaren first ran Le Mans in 1995, with all seven chassis built at the time being entered. Although only six cars were being used in the BPR Global GT Series, chassis #01R which had been used as a McLaren testbed was also entered for the Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing team. Prior to the race, it was assumed that one of the competitors in the WSC class of Le Mans Prototype would easily take the win, since they were custom built racing cars with no relation to street cars like GT1 cars. However, during the race, various WSC cars succumbed to technical difficulties and dropped well down in the standings, while the GT1 class cars continued on without difficulty. In the closing hours of the race, five McLaren F1 GTRs were still racing while only three WSC cars remained. A close battle in the final hours saw the Kokusai Kaihatsu McLaren competing against the Courage Compétition prototype, with the McLaren finally taking the overall win in one of the shortest distances covered since the 1950s. Other McLarens finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 13th overall, with only two F1 GTRs failing to finish. In honor of McLaren's achievement, the