McLaren to Discontinue GT4 Program By 2028

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO

McLaren Automotive will discontinue its customer program in GT4 by the end of 2028 according to its new motorsport boss Giorgio Sanna, who said the focus on its GT activities will be on GT3 and the growth of its single-make McLaren Trophy.

Longtime Lamborghini motorsport boss Sanna, who became McLaren Automotive’s new head of motorsport last November, revealed the change of direction to invited media, including Sportscar365, during last weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Sanna explained the British manufacturer wants to funnel its customers through the McLaren Trophy series in America, Europe and a future championship in Asia-Pacific, instead.

“The Trophy is the right base for customer racing,” said Sanna. “It’s where in the next two years we’ll be more focused in terms of product and strategy.

“It’s mainly because we have to grow and consolidate what will be the next generation of customer teams moving from the Trophy to GT3 in two or three years’ time.

“The Trophy is crucial from the strategy point of view.

“For this reason we will continue to support the GT4 customer teams but in three years’ time we will be focused only on Trophy and GT3 and not anymore in GT4 in the future.”

Sanna pointed out that the McLaren Artura Trophy EVO, which serves as the series’ car, is actually an evolution of the Artura GT4.

“On the mechanical side, it has better performance, better drivability and doesn’t have BoP,” he said. “The Trophy is our present and future.”

Sanna said they plan to announce a new driver development program exclusively for those competing in McLaren Trophy to help bridge the gap.

“It will be a McLaren Trophy Academy for young talent that we will select and support to the McLaren Trophy in America, Europe and in the future also Asia, to move into the GT3 programs with our support,” he explained.

“We will do it starting from the Trophy”

Sanna, whose previous employer did not offer a GT4 car, said the decision to wind-down its involvement in the platform is jointly due to budget and visibility.

“GT4 is a championship we like, we have a lot of customers, we will continue to support as much as we can their programs,” he said.

“But a GT4, looking into the medium to long term, is not the stage McLaren will be.

“It’s a matter of resources because it’s clear we don’t have unlimited resources. We have to keep focused on what we consider more important for the company and the brand, like the Trophy and GT3.

“Honestly speaking, looking into the future, we don’t believe GT4 is the right place for a brand like McLaren. It’s not the right stage. There are other brands that are our competitors (in the marketplace), and they’re not competing in GT4.”

Sanna said they will continue to sell Artura GT4 cars for the next three years, but will only provide parts support for existing customers beginning in 2029.

“Basically from then, the focus will only be on Trophy and GT3 and step by step, we will also talk with our existing teams to investigate opportunities to move from GT4 to the Trophy,” he said.

“Spare parts will always be available because the GT4 is basically similar to the Trophy so they share basically 90 percent of the components. So we’ll continue to provide parts.

“But in terms of effort and focus, step by step we will go in the direction to only be focused on the Trophy and GT3.”

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