McLaren Enters Multi-Year Deal With IMSA Sportscar Championship

Fresh off its 2019 World Performance Car win, for the McLaren 720S, the British marque has now announced signing a multi-year deal with IMSA (International Motor Sports Association), the premier sanctioning body for sports car competition in North America. McLaren has officially entered as a manufacturer in the US- and Canada-based IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup 2019, which will see customer teams racing in the largest GT3 championship in the US market. And McLaren will be competing in the newly-launched Sprint Cup championship this season the McLaren 720S GT3.

McLaren will be competing in the Sprint Cup championship this season the McLaren 720S GT3

Speaking about this latest development, Dan Walmsley, Motorsport Director, McLaren Automotive, said, "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."

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McLaren 720S GT3 cars will be driven by McLaren Factory Driver Paul Holton and Matt Plumb

The inaugural round of the Sprint Cup at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next month, from 3-5 May 2019, will see McLaren's customer team Compass Racing compete with the 720S GT3, in the highly-competitive GT Daytona (GTD) class. The car will be driven by McLaren Factory Driver Paul Holton and Matt Plumb, with the pair contesting all seven rounds of the 2019 Sprint Cup season. Compass Racing has contested in IMSA championship for the past 16 consecutive seasons and has enjoyed significant success over the years, scoring 30 race wins and 44 further podiums.

This is not the first time the team will be racing with McLaren cars, in fact, over the past couple of seasons, Compass Racing has with McLaren 570S GT4, and most recently took the first McLaren victory during the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race event. Holton was joined by fellow Factory Driver Kuno Wittmer at the wheel of the 570S GT4 for that historic result. The 720S GT3 will make its North American debut at the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio, on 3-5 May.