Vips Has ‘No Expectations’ for Sports Car Debut with RLL

Former single-seater racing star Juri Vips says he has ‘no expectations’ for his first-ever sports car race as he prepares to make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in next weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona with RLL Team McLaren.

Estonian driver Vips is part of an inexperienced lineup aboard the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-run No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo GTD Pro entry together with fellow single-seater converts Max Esterson and Nikita Johnson, plus Dean MacDonald.

As well as his first endurance race, the Rolex 24 will mark the former Red Bull Formula 1 reserve driver’s first professional race outing of any kind since a one-off NTT IndyCar Series appearance for RLL at Portland International Raceway in 2024.

“It’s an exciting challenge, but I still have a lot to learn to get my head around these GT3 cars,” Vips told Sportscar365 ahead of the Roar Before the 24 test.

“I did one test day in a GT3 car about a year-and-a-half ago, and that was the extent of my prior experience.

“The [IMSA-sanctioned Daytona] test was good, I got a good idea of what I need to do, but it’s my first endurance race, so there is a lot I still have to learn — also on the regulations side with when you can unlap yourself and stuff like that.”

Given the fact that Johnson is also making his WeatherTech Championship debut and Esterson has only a single start to his name in last year’s Motul Petit Le Mans, Vips admitted all three are looking to GT3 regular MacDonald for guidance.

“Dean is really the guy that all of us go to and ask questions,” he said. “He is a good guy to learn from, because of his experience in endurance racing as well as in GT3.

“He has been very helpful already. It’s good to have someone in the team to lean on.”

Given the inexperience of the lineup and the fact RLL is embarking on its first season with McLaren machinery after the end of its relationship with BMW, Vips was reluctant to set any firm goals for the Rolex 24 beyond making it to the finish.

“I don’t really have any expectations,” said Vips. “I just want to do a good job from my side, and that’s it.

“It’s a new team, only one McLaren in the field, so from my personal standpoint, it’s hard to set any clear goals,” said Vips.

“It’s a long race, a lot of things will go wrong for a lot of people. And with the rules as they are, being able to unlap yourself, as long as you don’t have a big issue, if you are a couple of laps down most likely you can still be there at the end.

“The key is just to get to the end, but in terms of expectations, I don’t really have any.

“Maybe you can call us underdogs, but hopefully we can prove some people wrong.”

Vips described his plans in the WeatherTech Championship beyond Daytona as “up in the air” with Esterson and Johnson already named as full-timers for RLL.

However, the 25-year-old remains under contract to RLL in IndyCar as the team’s reserve driver, having made three race starts for the team across the 2023 and ’24 seasons.

“We haven’t had a long discussion about my role this season, but I am under contract this year,” Vips clarified.

“It’s something I want to get back into, but realistically I need some kind of chance this year to have a shot at a full-time seat in the future.

“I will still be around, so we’ll see what happens. It’s obviously unlikely, but time will tell.”