Royal visit for McLaren.

Not content with entertaining Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, McLaren yesterday played host to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Duke visited Paragon, the new TAG McLaren Group headquarters and Technology Centre currently under construction near Woking, Surrey, but began his tour at McLaren International, the present headquarters of the West McLaren Mercedes Formula One team, where he was greeted by Ron Dennis, chairman and CEO of the TAG McLaren Group, and guided through the Trophy Room to view architectural models of the Paragon development.

The Royal party then drove the short distance to Paragon, which is located approximately a mile from McLaren International, where His Royal Highness was given a tour of the site by Ron Dennis, including the state-of-the-art wind tunnel facilities and the steel super-structure of the Technology Centre, which is beginning to take it's final shape.

Paragon will be the corporate and production headquarters for the TAG McLaren Group catering for its long-term growth, bringing together all the Group activities under one roof. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which is currently being developed by McLaren Cars with DaimlerChrysler, will be produced at this pioneering facility. This super sports car will be produced in limited numbers (3,500 in total over seven years) and demonstrates the transfer of 'leading edge' technologies developed in Formula One to the production car process. The famous British architectural firm Foster and Partners has designed the Paragon Technology Centre, which will be a showcase of industrial architecture for the 21st Century and is scheduled for completion on 12 August 2002.