McLaren Sportscars

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Juntos

CRS and Kirkaldy were an obstacle to McLaren development in GT racing. Hope it gets better from now on.

The previous regime seem to have been fully slated on Dailyspodtsxar....

[Bcarr6]

Couple of Mclaren rumours going round in addition to the Super GT entry for 2019.

1- Teo Martin will run a pair of 720s GT3's in the GT Open

2- Another well Known Spanish team will be running a pair of cars in the Blancpain Endurance Cup

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Another well Known Spanish team will be running a pair of cars in the Blancpain Endurance Cup

Can't see Racing Engineering moving up the ranks.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Can't see Racing Engineering moving up the ranks.

Wasn’t aware they were the only Spanish team...

[gert]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Can't see Racing Engineering moving up the ranks.

moving up? They are in European Le Mans Series.
Blancpain would not be a move up, but a side step.

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Wasn’t aware they were the only Spanish team...

Campos ?
Drivex (in alliance with F.Alonso in Formula Renault) ?

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by gert

moving up? They are in European Le Mans Series.
Blancpain would not be a move up, but a side step.

Side step is about right.

Campos ?
Drivex (in alliance with F.Alonso in Formula Renault) ?

Drivex have been in the series before with very AM lineups (AMG's), so would make sense.. then again, there are a decent amount of Spanish teams in GT Open!

[NaBUru38]

It's Teo Martin:

https://sportscar365.com/other-serie...-gt3-customer/

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

It's Teo Martin:

https://sportscar365.com/other-serie...-gt3-customer/

Yes Teo were always expected.

The rumour was a second Spanish team running 720s Gt3s in Blancpain

[gert]

Can't remember where I read it, but Baporo was also mentioned in relation to McLaren.
(I think it was on Endurance-Info, but I can't find it anymore)

They used to run a Ferrari for SMP / Russian Bears in GTOpen some years ago IIRC.

[Bcarr6]

Mclaren have added Alvaro Parente, Michael Cooper, Kuno Wittmer to their factory lineup alongside Ben Barnicoat, Joe Osborne, and Paul Holton.

Mclaren Young Professional drivers will be Martin Kondric, Fran Rueda, Charlie Flagg & Michael O’Brien

Mclaren Development Drivers will be Jordan Collard, James Dorlin, Lewis Proctor and Josh Smith, who will run in 2 Tolman GT4s this year in Brit GT.

14 drivers over 3 tiers. Big statement, and certainly focused on rising talent over established GT heavyweights

[Juntos]

14 drivers but only two (Parente and Barnicoat) are factory material.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Juntos

14 drivers but only two (Parente and Barnicoat) are factory material.

Unfair judgement considering a number of them are junior drivers, there to learn and improve

[broadrun96]

And flat uninformed, but that is what is usually posted by that user lately.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

And flat uninformed, but that is what is usually posted by that user lately.

with a more considered opinion- they seem to be building for the future here, big focus on young potential not established names. nice to see

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Unfair judgement considering a number of them are junior drivers, there to learn and improve

I do agree. But I can't see a manufacturer developing a brand new car with a bunch of juniors. Anticipation or not, you need experienced people for a season. And two guys are not enough to make a team of three.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Juntos

I do agree. But I can't see a manufacturer developing a brand new car with a bunch of juniors. Anticipation or not, you need experienced people for a season. And two guys are not enough to make a team of three.

Id suggest you maybe need to learn a bit more about these drivers before judging them.

Joe Osborne isnt a spring chicken, and has good experience developing cars.

Rob Bell is still also present at Mclaren, he developed the 720s, he wont have a race programme beyond his British GT car, but thats not his role.

Michael Cooper is a well established name in US sportscar racing, and has driven for GM factory efforts before. He had a tough break last year after being dropped from his PWC programme when it was too close to the start of the season to really find a wealth of alternative programmes.

Paul Holton is young sure, but well proven in the GT4, and is very used to coaching amateurs (a lot of GT3 is PRO AM remember)

Kuno Wittmer, remember him from anywhere? IMSA GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer?

Martin Kondric is a development driver, but has a LOT of experience over the last few years..

Fran Rueda has been running incredibly well in GT Open for a number of years..

The rest of the junior drivers are there to learn and improve, this is clearly a long term strategy from Mclaren... Would you rather they employ a bunch of old guys who will be strong for a year and then retire?

Sure plenty of manufacturers do that, but increasingly people like AMG, Porsche, are investing in junior programmes to bring their own new guys up the ranks.

Why not

[Juntos]

Rob Bell seems not active in the new McLaren GT sporting activities.



When you leave home to follow your dreams, your road will probably be riddled with potholes, not always paved in happy Technicolor bricks. All the other drivers you mentioned are not spring chickens but not factory material. Kuno Wittmer is OK but be honest, if he was good as you quote him, he would have keep his job. People tend to overestimate some drivers.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Rob Bell seems not active in the new McLaren GT sporting activities.



When you leave home to follow your dreams, your road will probably be riddled with potholes, not always paved in happy Technicolor bricks. All the other drivers you mentioned are not spring chickens but not factory material. Kuno Wittmer is OK but be honest, if he was good as you quote him, he would have keep his job. People tend to overestimate some drivers.

Sorry but his job, and Micheal Cooper's job, was not lost by their efforts. The teams were shut down by budget restriction and model closeout. I would recommend you actually read up on why before deciding they were let go for their driving.

Rob Bell is in development, you know that thing you were complaining McLaren was ignoring. Development isn't done in race but before the car is homologated.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Sorry but his job, and Micheal Cooper's job, was not lost by their efforts. The teams were shut down by budget restriction and model closeout. I would recommend you actually read up on why before deciding they were let go for their driving.

Rob Bell is in development, you know that thing you were complaining McLaren was ignoring. Development isn't done in race but before the car is homologated.

Not sure facts matter to Juntos

[Juntos]

Time will tell us who was right, who was wrong...

[gert]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

... but increasingly people like AMG, Porsche, are investing in junior programmes to bring their own new guys up the ranks.

I agree with most of what you said, however it's not like Porsche has learnt something from McLaren here.

Porsche has had junior programmes for ages with their various Carrera Cups and the Porsche Supercup.
It's not uncommon to see the better ones get a Porsche junior or factory contract, or be picked up by a rival manufacturer.

[gert]

For the debut of their new 720S GT3 (in Australian GT), a new customer team has been setup with the name of 59Racing.

Like Garage59, they will run with the number 59 which - like the team name - is a reference to the race nummer of the 1995 Le Mans winner.

Luckily, that is not confusing at all :/

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by gert

For the debut of their new 720S GT3 (in Australian GT), a new customer team has been setup with the name of 59Racing.

Like Garage59, they will run with the number 59 which - like the team name - is a reference to the race nummer of the 1995 Le Mans winner.

Luckily, that is not confusing at all :/

Yes, good job they wont be racing in the same series....

[Bcarr6]

Perhaps at an easy target, but the new Mclaren has won a race, at its second ever race meeting, after almost winning the 12 hr at Yas Marina.

[NaBUru38]

There's no McLarens in the 2019 Blancpain GT Europe.