McLaren made endurance history in 1995 when it achieved an against-all-odds victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the F1 GTR. With a car based on the road-going F1, which itself developed a cult following over the next two decades, the Kokusai Kaihatsu team, supported by the factory team, took advantage of the pouring rain at the Circuit de la Sarthe to beat the prototypes in the most important endurance race of all time.
The story of how McLaren showed up at Le Mans with a car that was never designed to race and took an overall victory on debut has been told many times over the years. So much so that it's easy to forget that it's been almost 30 years since the British company accomplished that feat. In fact, 1998 was the last year a McLaren F1 GTR was seen at Le Mans, as the demise of the GT1 class made the car ineligible to participate in the French Classic. Clearly, McLaren's return to top-level endurance racing is long overdue.
So when WEC organizers – the FIA and Automobile Club de l'Ouest – announced that GT3 cars would be eligible to participate in the series for the first time in 2024, McLaren jumped at the opportunity to return to Le Mans after the World Sportscar Championship years.
“It's been 27 years since we last raced with his official team in collaboration with BMW and 29 years since the last victory – says Michael McDonagh, director of McLaren Special Operations & Motorsport at McLaren Automotive – I remember that at Le Mans the Last year I met Richard Mille, president of the endurance commission, Thierry Bouvet, director of competitions at the ACO and the whole team and explained why McLaren wanted to return to the World Endurance Championship.
“We had already achieved many successes with the Artura and the 720S in GT3 and GT4 racing. And when the ACO decided to withdraw the LMP2 and reintroduce the GT3, for us it was the perfect moment, the strong point of this car We are really excited to be part of the WEC. Not just at Le Mans, but around the world.”
The new LMGT3 class offered McLaren an easy and affordable entry point into the championship, something previous GTEs lacked. However, the way the technical regulations are structured, manufacturers cannot simply take a GT3 car from British GT or GT World Challenge Europe and race it in the WEC.
McLaren will be back on the grid at Le Mans this year for the first time since 1998 when Steve O'Rourke's privately-entered car finished fourth
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Over the winter, McLaren had to spend several months modifying the 720S GT3 Evo to ensure it complied with LMGT3 rules. A rigorous testing program followed, although some tests scheduled for Dubai in February were canceled due to heavy rain.
“We have been preparing the car since October. When we started, the regulations were quite clear. It involved torque sensors and no wind tunnels. But as we progress, there are more rules to observe.”
“The first and biggest change for us was clearly the use of synthetic fuels. We had never raced using them for our GT3 and they can cause several parameter changes within the engine; for us there was a lot of dilution oil that you can't live with. So we spent a lot of time calibrating everything to solve this problem. It's solved now, but it took a lot of sleepless nights to get there, a lot of dyno work.”
“The introduction of torque sensors was also interesting for us. It's not something we've done before. Getting the hardware from North America, mounting it on cars and testing it was a challenge.”
McLaren's LMGT3 attack is led by United Autosports, who have already made a name for themselves in prototype racing with a victory at Le Mans in LMP2 in 2020, helping the team to the 2019-20 WEC crown, as well as a double title in the European Le Mans Series in LMP2 and LMP3 in 2020.
The Anglo-American team is also partially owned by Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren Racing. But McLaren Automotive, which is responsible for managing the brand's GT3, GT4 and one-make programmes, assessed a wide range of teams before choosing United as its partner in the WEC.
“It wasn't an obvious choice. In the middle of last year we looked at the number of teams we deal with and brought them together to make a proposal on how they would work with us in the WEC. We established four evaluation criteria that I won't share because these are things we keep internally. We went through these criteria with them and United was the team selected.”
United co-owner Brown's role as McLaren Racing CEO was set aside in McLaren Automotive's choice of United as its partner team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
“It's clear that Zak is part of the family, but we put that aside. We looked at what was the best client team to work with. United have a strong history, particularly in the WEC and at Le Mans, and I believe we have made the right choice.”
The LMGT3 class was conceived primarily as a form of customer racing, although the degree of manufacturer involvement has varied across the grid at the start of the 2024 season. McLaren was present at this month's 1812Km of Qatar with a large field of personnel, but intends to reduce support from the parent company in the coming races, while United gets to grips with the updated 720S GT3 EVO.
“We brought four or five engineers and two managers to Lusail. But we also have people at our headquarters. This was the first race for us and we wanted to make sure the car was as it should be, so we didn't give up any support. Even if we are a customer racing team, the support is there.”
“From a technical point of view, I don't think there should be a limit to the manufacturer's support. If the car has a functional defect, the company must resolve it for the customer. So, for anything technical, we have a duty to support the customer”.
“On the field the support is minimal, as is that of the other teams. In Qatar we saw more people with us just because it was the first race. But once we get everything working so that the staff feel comfortable, the support to our team during the race will be lighter.”
One area where McLaren was not involved in its LMGT3 program was driver line-up, with United selecting the two crews themselves after taking into account financial considerations. The #59 car is driven by Carrera Cup Brazil champion Nicola Costa, British GT runner-up James Cottingham and ex-Formula 3 Gregoire Saucy, while United driver Josh Caygill and ELMS winners Nico Pino and Marino Sato complete the trio on the #95.
“We have some people who are very close to McLaren, but we haven't provided any official drivers because of the whole process involving paying drivers. The teams rely on this revenue. For McLaren it's not an additional cost, it's the team to have to finance it, that's the game. So they need the drivers' income.”
It was not an easy start to McLaren's WEC debut at the Lusail International Circuit, with its two cars finishing 13th and 14th in class, several laps behind the winning Porsche. The #59 suffered a broken rear suspension in a contact on the first lap, which required seven laps of repairs, putting it behind the #95 crew, hampered by technical problems and two penalties for track limit infringements.
McLaren had an extensive support network on the ground for the car's WEC debut, but it plans to reduce this as United gets up to speed
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
But McLaren has big ambitions for its biggest endurance program in three decades, as you would expect from a brand that has had so much success in Formula 1, IndyCar and the now-defunct Can-Am series. Although McDonagh wants to tone down expectations for this year, given that the series is completely new, he hinted at some big projects McLaren is working on for 2025.
“We are here to win. This is our objective. We must be realistic, it is the first season. We must demonstrate the resistance of the car.”
“If I look beyond 2024, 2025 is an important year for us. It's been 30 years since we were at Le Mans for the first time. So, this year we will try to learn as much as possible to have a good position for the next year. I can't go into detail, but 2025 will be a big year for McLaren in motorsport.”
McLaren updated the 720S GT3 mid-cycle at the start of 2023, before making further changes to the car towards the end of the year to bring it into compliance with LMGT3 regulations. The 720S has since been dropped from the McLaren range and replaced by the new, more powerful 750S model. For this reason, the British brand refers to the racing version of the car simply as the McLaren GT3 Evo.
Furthermore, McLaren has already decided which model will form the basis of its next sports competitor. While we still don't want to talk publicly about the successor to the 720S, which could still be several years away, the new Artura coupe could be part of the roadmap.
Beyond GT3 racing, the Hypercar program still remains on the table, with McDonagh insisting that the project will take off at some point in the future. According to him, the LMDh formula will be the one McLaren would “bet on all odds”, a choice that has already proven popular for several manufacturers who are new to or returning to top-level endurance racing.
“It's no secret that the Hypercar has always been an aspiration of ours. And it's an aspiration we intend to realize in due course. That time hasn't arrived yet. But it's not that far away. Keep your eyes open and maybe in the next few years we'll do something.”
Although the hypercar commitment could be postponed by a few years, given that the project awaits the green light from the leaders of Woking, in less than two months the McLaren logo will return to La Sarthe for the first time since 1998. In an LMGT3 class that already featuring sportscar racing heavyweights such as Porsche, Corvette and Aston Martin, the presence of a respected British brand such as McLaren will only add to the appeal of Le Mans.
What can McLaren achieve in its first WEC season?
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
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