Only two road-legal GTR-1s were built to meet homologation requirements set forth by the ruling bodies which the racing cars ran under.

From 1996, Reynard Motorsports' special vehicles division began working with Panoz to develop a grand tourer style racing car meant for the upcoming FIA GT Championship in 1997.

Instead of the standard 32-valve DOHC 4.6L V8, Panoz turned to Roush Racing of NASCAR to construct a 6.0L V8 based on the Ford engine.

The Q9 GTR-1 Hybrid, nicknamed "Sparky", was constructed by Panoz, Reynard, and Zytek and developed by David Price Racing for the 1998 season.

In honor of its electric power, the car received a unique purple paint job with large yellow lightning bolts.

By using less fuel, the car would thus be able to make fewer pit stops in endurance races, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and thus would be able to spend more time on the track and achieve a farther distance.

[1] Zytek's oil-cooled, permanent magnet, Brushless DC electric motor/generator was powered by a VARTA 300-volt, 260-cell nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack.

French squad DAMS would use two in Europe along with British team David Price Racing who received the final two cars.

Meanwhile, David Price's first Esperante GTR-1 would debut at Hockenheimring for the FIA GT Championship, and managed to finish 11th overall behind the McLaren and Porsche competitors.

DAMS would continue in FIA GT, while David Price would drop out in an attempt to develop the Esperante GTR-1 Q9 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In IMSA, Panoz was more dominant as they won seven of the eight races, including taking an overall win at the rain drenched Sebring Fall Festival in October.

This was also helped by the fact that the FIA GT Championship decided to abandon the GT1 class, leaving the Esperante GTR-1 unable to compete in Europe.

The design of the Esperante GTR-1 would form the basis for the LMP-1 Roadster-S, using the same front engine layout and large nose.

It is thus seen that the LMP-1 Roadster-S is an Esperante GTR-1 with its roof taken off, the cars actually do share the same chassis according to a short documentary snippet on YouTube presented by Don Panoz (2021).

Following this event, the car was purchased by French squad Larbre Compétition and further modified, being renamed the Panoz GTP to reflect its change in class.