McLaren Automotive and the British GT Championship are to continue their partnership for the 2019 season.
McLaren Automotive is to supply the safety cars for this year’s British GT Championship. The safety car, a continuation of the existing arrangement, will be a variety of models from its range of sports and supercars for the seven-round calendar.
The role will be filled by various models from the Sports Series, including the 570S Coupe and 570GT and for the first time. The 720S Coupe from the Super Series will also lead the grid at selected rounds for the first time alongside its GT3 sibling.
The models in the Sports Series and Super Series feature lightweight carbon-fiber chassis with the 570S GT4 and 720S GT3 sharing the same chassis architecture as the road-going models, said McLaren Automotive.
The 2019 British GT Championship grid will see a total of six GT models from McLaren battling throughout the season, with three teams each running a pair of McLaren models.
Customer team Balfe Motorsport returns to the grid and will challenge for honors in both the GT4 and GT3 classes, with the 570S GT4 and the 720S GT3 respectively, as the 720S GT3 makes its UK competitive debut following an intensive testing and development program throughout 2018.
McLaren Young Driver Michael O’Brien enters his second year in the series at the wheel of the 570S GT4 alongside Graham Johnson, while Factory Driver Rob Bell will be sharing the cockpit of the 720S GT3 with team owner Shaun Balfe.
Meanwhile, McLaren Customer Racing welcomes new GT4 customer team HHC to the grid, along with a return for Tolman Motorsport. Both teams will challenge for GT4 honours, each campaigning in a pair of 570S GT4s. Tolman Motorsport, running with the four McLaren Automotive Driver Development Drivers across the two car entries, have now confirmed that James Dorlin and Josh Smith will pair up in the #4 car, while Jordan Collard and Lewis Proctor share driving duties in #5 for the season.
Benjamin Franassovici, British GT Championship general manager, said, “The championship is going from strength to strength, as evidenced by this year’s record 38-car full-season entry. It is also great to see McLaren Automotive so well represented with six entries, which include the new 720S GT3.
“We are very proud that a manufacturer of McLaren’s stature has chosen the British GT Championship as the platform to showcase the latest models in its range, including the 720S for the first time.”
The SRO-managed series British GT Championship has six UK rounds, plus one overseas event at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.
