McLaren entered the sportscar racing folklore in 1995 when it claimed an against-the-odds victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with the F1 GTR. Running a car based on the road-going F1, which itself developed a cult following over the next two decades, the factory-supported Kokusai Kaihatsu squad capitalised on heavy rain at Circuit de la Sarthe to beat purpose-built prototypes in the biggest endurance race of all.
The story of how McLaren turned up at Le Mans with a car that was never intended to race and scored an outright win on debut has been retold many times over the years. So much so that it’s easy to forget that it’s almost been 30 years since the British outfit achieved 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 left the car ineligible to particpate in the French enduro. Clearly, McLaren’s return to top-level sportscar racing had been long overdue.
So when World Endurance Championship organisers the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest announced that GT3 cars would be eligible to compete in the series for the first time in 2024, McLaren jumped on the opportunity to return to Le Mans and the spiritual successor to the World Sportscar Championship.
“It's 27 years since we last raced [with its factory squad in partnership with BMW] and 29 years since we last won,” says Michael McDonagh, director of McLaren Special Operations & Motorsport at McLaren Automotive. “I remember back at Le Mans [last year], I met with Richard [Mille, chairman of endurance commission], Thierry [Bouvet, ACO’s competition director] and all the team, and laid out why McLaren wanted to come back to the World Endurance Championship.
“We already had a lot of success with both Artura and 720S in GT3 and GT4 racing. And when the ACO decided that LMP2 was being pulled out, GT3 was coming back in, it was the perfect timing for us, it was just the sweet spot for that car. We are really, really excited about being part of WEC. Not just Le Mans but across the globe.”
The new LMGT3 class has offered McLaren an easy and affordable entry point into the championship, something that was lacking with the previous GTE divisions. But with the way the technical regulations are framed, manufacturers cannot simply take a GT3 car from British GT or GT World Challenge Europe and ply it in the WEC.
Source: Autosport