McLaren Automotive, the British creator of luxury sports cars and supercars, is to expand its race-winning activities in GT racing with a number of new initiatives.

Headlining these is the announcement that a new 720S GT3 race car will join the successful 570S GT4, and this new model will begin testing next year for launch with customer teams in 2019.

McLaren Automotive is also appointing a network of specialist motorsport retailers who will retail road and track products alongside each other. From next year, owners will be able to compete in a one-make GT series. Finally, the company will be helping to nurture young motorsport talent with the launch of a Driver Development Programme.

The actions are all designed to bring McLaren’s customers even closer to the action than ever before – crucial for a brand born on the race-track, said McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt.

“McLaren is built on racing and providing our growing family of customers with unique and exhilarating driving experiences,” Flewitt explained.

“It therefore makes sense for us to unveil a dedicated, widened motorsport programme designed to support and enable more of our customers to focus on enjoying the thrill of pushing our cars on the track. The 720S GT3 will provide a stunning race-going addition to our Super Series product family and drivers will now be able to hone their skills under expert guidance backed-up by our technicians at the circuit and our motorsport retailers away from it.”

As the first element in the refreshed programme, and building on the recent successes with both the 12C GT3 and 650S GT3 cars, McLaren Automotive is to develop and build a GT3 race car based on the award-winning McLaren 720S. Two concept sketches have now been released.

The 720S GT3 will benefit from race and championship-winning experience and knowledge accrued by McLaren during six seasons of motorsport activities. Following an intensive development programme in the 2018 season, the 720S GT3 will make its competitive debut with customer teams in the 2019 season and will be fully compliant with GT3 regulations and eligible to compete in all GT3 race series globally.

To support a further part of the expansion plans for customer racing and track activities across the globe, McLaren Automotive has also confirmed the first details of retailers approved to retail the brand’s motorsport products.

“Motorsport retailers represent an important milestone for McLaren Automotive – strengthening a core part of the business, and bringing the world of road and track models even closer together,” said Jolyon Nash, executive director, Global Sales and Marketing, McLaren Automotive.

“Motorsport has been, and will continue to be, a core value to the McLaren brand which truly was born on the track, and this runs through the DNA of each and every product that we hand assemble.”

The company has also unveiled plans to extend its existing popular Pure McLaren customer track day series by creating the Pure McLaren-GT race series that will race in 2018 at iconic European racing circuits.
Open exclusively to individual McLaren owners with the minimum of an International D grade licence, they will be able to take advantage of a full ‘arrive and drive’ package with all cars maintained and run by McLaren engineers and technicians, freeing owners up to concentrate on their driving.

Alongside new cars will be a driver development programme designed to nurture a new generation of GT racers. To kick-start the McLaren Automotive Driver Development Programme, four promising British drivers have been selected from an existing stable of driving talent connected with McLaren who will compete in pairs driving two 570S GT4 cars during 2018.

In 2018, a competition will be launched for drivers to participate in a 2019 International Driver Development Programme run by McLaren Automotive. More details will be announced next year.

“The McLaren Automotive Driver Development Programme has been established to help gifted young drivers realise their motorsport ambitions: if they have the talent, regardless of their background, we want to be there to guide them and foster their racing skills,” said Flewitt.

“These drivers will be our future in endurance racing and in the four we have selected this year, we believe that with McLaren’s support all of them are potential GT championship winners,” Flewitt added. – TradeArabia News Service