McLaren Takes Next IMSA Step with Expansionto WeatherTech Sprint Cup Competition

April 19, 2019
Staff Report
IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – McLaren is moving up. After competing in the
IMSA MICHELIN Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class the past two
seasons with its GT4 model, the British high-performance sports car and
supercar manufacturer today confirmed plans to bring the McLaren
720S GT3 into the seven-race WeatherTech Sprint Cup series.
The seven-race series for GT Daytona (GTD) cars within the overall IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debuts on May 5 with the Acura
Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. The race will mark the debut for the
720S GT3 race car in the hands of Compass Racing and co-drivers Paul
Holton and Matt Plumb.
“The popularity of GT3 racing in North America has dramatically grown
over recent seasons, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is one of the most competitive GT series in the world,” said McLaren
Automotive Motorsport Director Dan Walmsley. “With the North
American market the largest for McLaren Automotive in respect of road
car sales, it is great to have customer teams racing with the 720S in such
an exciting and well-supported championship.
“We are proud to partner with IMSA and having McLaren cars competing in the GTD class from 2019 is an important and significant moment for
McLaren Customer Racing.”
McLaren already was one of IMSA’s 19 Official Automotive Partners
through its Pilot Challenge program. But the expansion into Sprint Cup
means that the starting grid will now include 14 different manufacturers; the most for a WeatherTech Championship race since there also were 14
in the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“We are honored and humbled that McLaren has chosen our race at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as the venue for the North American debut of the 720S GT3 race car,” said IMSA President Scott Atherton. “It’s fantastic
to see McLaren doubling down on its commitment by bringing this
program onto one of our biggest stages. It also reaffirms that IMSA’s
platforms continue to provide an unmatched ROI and an attractive target-rich environment for manufacturers and their customer racing
programs.”
McLaren already has an IMSA victory this season, as Holton and
co-driver Kuno Wittmer combined to win the four-hour Pilot Challenge
season-opening BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona International
Speedway in January. It was McLaren’s third series victory amid stiff
competition that included eight world-class manufacturers in the GT4
class.
It won’t be any easier in Sprint Cup. GTD is the largest class, and the
addition of McLaren runs the total number of manufacturers in the class to nine.
“We’re honored and excited to formally announce our GTD McLaren
program with the new 720S GT3,” remarked Compass Racing Team
Principal Karl Thomson. “The new WeatherTech Sprint Cup is a logical
next step for our IMSA effort, which celebrates its sixteenth-consecutive
season this year. We’ve been very successful in the MICHELIN Pilot
Challenge, but know how hard-fought the battles are in GTD and are
looking forward to the challenge.”
How will McLaren fare in its debut? Tune in to NBCSN at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 5 to find out. The two-hour, 40-minute Acura Sports Car
Challenge at Mid-Ohio also will be covered live by IMSA Radio on
IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.
Tickets are available now at MidOhio.com.