McLaren and IMSA have signed a multi-year agreement that will see the McLaren 720S GT3 compete in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.
The car will be run by Compass Racing and make its debut next month at Mid-Ohio as part of the IMSA Sprint Cup. The Sprint Cup, newly introduced in 2019, is part of the full Weathertech Sportscar Championship season and is open to all GT Daytona. After Mid-Ohio, further Sprint Cup rounds will be contested at Detroit’s Belle Isle, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock Park, Road America, Virginia International Raceway, and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The 720S GT3, which as unveiled in a striking black-and-orange livery, will be driven by Paul Horton and Matt Plumb.
“We’re honored and excited to formally announce our GTD McLaren program with the new 720S GT3,” said 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.”
Dan Walmsley, motorsport director at McLaren Automotive commented: “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.”
“With the North American market the largest for McLaren Automotive, it is great to have customer teams racing with the 720S GT3 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.”
IMSA President Scott Atherton added: “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.”
“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.”
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