Inception Set for Switch to Ferrari Beginning at Indy

Photo: Optimum Motorsport

Inception Racing is set for a switch from McLaren to Ferrari machinery beginning with next month’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Multiple sources have indicated to Sportscar365 that the British squad, which has campaigned a McLaren 720S GT3 for the last three seasons in the WeatherTech Championship, will transition to a Ferrari 296 GT3 for the final two races of the season.

It comes amid a run of GTD class podium finishes for Frederik Schandorff and Bronze-rated Brendan Iribe at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

Team manager Bas Leinders declined comment when reached by Sportscar365 at Virginia International Raceway, site of Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.

While the reason for the switch is unclear, WeatherTech Championship rules permit teams up to one change of model per season.

The Optimum Motorsport-run operation, which run McLarens in multiple GT3 championships globally, are not complete strangers to the Italian manufacturer, having campaigned a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the 2021 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Iribe, at the wheel of a McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, meanwhile, scored pole for this year’s French endurance classic, in an entry that was secured by winning last year’s IMSA Bob Akin Bronze Cup championship.

He currently sits second in this year’s Bronze Cup standings entering Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute GT-only race at VIR.

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