Record 24-Car McLaren Trophy Entry for Miami Debut

Photo: Dan Bathie/McLaren

A record 24-car entry is set for this weekend’s third and fourth rounds of the McLaren Trophy America season, supporting the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix for the first time.

The considerable boost in entries, compared to the 16 McLaren Artura Trophy EVOs that took part in last month’s season opener at Sonoma Raceway, is in the Am class, although there have been notable changes and additions in the Pro ranks as well.

Orlando Motorsports Services has added a Pro class entry for Robby Stockard and American driver Matt Bell, while Jon Miller is set to sub for Paul Holton in the No. 8 Forte Racing entry this weekend, with Holton on IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge duty at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Holton and co-driver Kaia Teo are currently tied for the points lead with teammates Patrick Liddy and Tanner Harvey, on 27 points apiece.

Alongside the expanded four-car Pro class, there will be nine Pro-Am entries, including the return of Motorsports In Action’s Jesse Lazare and Alexandra Hainer.

Greystone GT has added a second entry for Ron Trenka and Jon Lancaster, while Aero-B returns with 2004 McLaren Trophy Europe Am class champion Erik Behrens and Joe Osborne.

There are also several notable driver changes in the class, which sees reigning McLaren Trophy Europe Pro champion Michael O’Brien replace the departed John Capestro-Dubets in the No. 7 GMG Racing entry and Spencer Schmidt move to RWE’s No. 47 entry alongside Alex Pollard, who drove solo in Sonoma.

Edmon Mond joins Tommy Pintos in the No. 11 RWE McLaren, meanwhile.

Michael Steeves will team up with Keegan Massey in RAFA Racing Team’s Am class entry, while Tony Davis will make his series debut in an additional OMS entry, alongside two new cars from ANSA Motorsports for CR Sincock and Ned MacPherson, respectively, and Bill French at the wheel of a second MIA McLaren.

The splitting of Pintos and Schmidt, who enter the weekend as co-points leaders in Pro-Am, adds a new dynamic, while Cooper Broll, driving solo this year, will be looking to extend his points lead in the Am class.

In a change for this event only, the races will be 40 minutes in length, compared to its traditional 45-minute format, due to time restrictions around the F1 event.

As a result, the maximum stint length and drive time, in the case of two-driver lineups, for all classes has been reduced from 30 to 24 minutes.

Track action at the Miami International Autodrome kicks off on Thursday evening with a 30-minute practice session, followed by a second practice on Friday.

Qualifying is set for Saturday afternoon, ahead of a 6 p.m. EST start for Race 1. The second race of the weekend is set for Sunday at 8:30 a.m. EST. Both races will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World and McLaren Automotive’s YouTube channels.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John