Esterson: GT3 is “Place to Be” for First Sports Car Season

Photo: Fifteen Digital/RLL Team McLaren

Max Esterson believes GT3 is the “place to be” for a driver looking to make a career in motorsports, as the sim racer-turned open-wheel driver embarks on his first full season in sports car racing.

The 23-year-old New York native, who only started racing in 2020, spent four years in Europe, climbing as high as Formula 2, before making his sports car racing debut at last year’s Motul Petit Le Mans in JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Porsche 963.

While putting on an impressive performance at the wheel of the GTP class entry, Esterson said he instead looked for an opportunity in the world of GT3 racing.

“I could have driven with JDC for this year, which would have been a lot of fun but it just didn’t make sense where Porsche is right now,” he told Sportscar365.

“I thought GT3 seems to be the place to be if you’re trying to make a career because it’s everywhere.

“There seems to be a race every weekend, basically, around the world, using GT3s.

“There’s a lot of pieces to it. It seemed to make sense.

“The McLaren was actually the first car I ever tested last August. I tested the McLaren, BMW and Mercedes in Barcelona.”

Esterson inked a deal with Team RLL, which made the transition from being BMW’s longtime factory squad in North America, to running a solo McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in the GTD Pro class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this year.

Paired up with fellow sports car rookie, 17-year-old Nikita Johnson, the duo were joined by Juri Vips and McLaren factory driver Dean MacDonald for January’s season0-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“In Daytona we were really playing catch up, making massive changes,” he said. “At Sebring, we at least started in a good window and were able to more fine tune.

“Obviously RLL is quite a high level team running from two [GTP] cars to one GT3. For sure there’s a lot of good skill within the team.

“I was really impressed at Daytona how we did. Obviously the Roar was a disaster.

“We had big problems and couldn’t really find a fix, it seemed like, and then we came back in the race weekend and it was like night and day.

“That was great. That seemed to lead to the test a few weeks ago where we started in a good place.

“I’m impressed how they’ve been able to figure it out quite quickly.”

Esterson said he’s taking the GTD Pro season as a learning year as he comes to grips with GT3 racing for the first time, while also learning the majority of the tracks for the first time in real life.

“At Daytona we were many laps down but at least we were able to run competitively,” he said.

“I had one stint where I ended up at the back of all the GT cars, so that was good practice. I think I must have passed ten-plus cars.

“It was good that we at least got to keep going.

“Having Dean for the first two races was really good. He’s driven this car for five years now. It’s been helpful to have him. I don’t feel like I’m far off from him.

“He’s definitely a good benchmark.”

When asked if his open-wheel career is now behind him, despite joining RLL, which is famously known for its NTT IndyCar Series program, Esterson said he wouldn’t rule out a possible return in the the future.

“I wouldn’t close it off 100 percent because you never know,” he said. “But right now I’m focused on this, whether it’s GT3 or Hypercar.”

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