Inception to Give McLaren 720S GT3 Evo Race Debut at Sebring

Photo: John Dagys

Inception Racing will give the new McLaren 720S GT3 Evo its competition debut in this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with the British squad’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship contender having been upgraded to the latest generation.

The Brendan Iribe, Frederik Schandorff and Ollie Millroy-driven car started the season at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in previous specification, recording a third place finish in the GTD class alongside McLaren factory driver Marvin Kirchhofer.

Team manager Bas Leinders explained to Sportscar365 that the upgrade kit had only become available from McLaren on March 1, thus leading to an in-season debut for the new package.

“There’s a little more front aero because it’s two flaps instead of one,” Leinders explained of the changes to Evo specification. “The main thing is that the front bumper fittings are quick release.

“Before if we needed to change the front bumper it was 20 minutes where now we can do it relatively quickly, depending on how much damage there is.

“The rear wing now has a quick adjuster, so we can now quickly adjust the rear wing. It’s the same [design] it’s just you can adjust it quicker during sessions. Before it took quite a lot of time.

“The dampers are new but it’s similar spec. There’s also some pickup points in the front suspension that are slightly different, which won’t change much on Michelins but it will be better on Pirellis.

“With the Pirelli, there’s a lot of front understeer because of the construction of the tire.

“The McLaren, in the last two or three years, were at the maximum of what they could exploit with the front axle. We don’t have this problem in IMSA.”

Leinders said the whole process to upgrade the car took an “easy two days” at its U.S.-based workshop.

“We [also] did one at the track at Paul Ricard before the [GTWC Europe] test last week,” he explained. “The kit came out late and our car was already at Paul Ricard so we did it there.

“We didn’t even need a workshop to do it.

“Ultimate lap time, [it’s] maybe not quicker, but it should be easier to fight with others in a twisty track.”

With no previous track time on Michelins, Leinders said they are heading a bit into the unknown this weekend but still has high hopes.

“There’s still some new things we need to learn about the car,” he said. “The only test we have done was the test at Paul Ricard on Pirellis.

“So we haven’t run it on Michelins. Tomorrow will be the first time this will run on Michelins.

“There will be some process. Maybe with some luck it will be dialed in straight away, you never know, because the [McLaren] engineers have been thinking about it.

“It might take one or two sessions or maybe a race. We just hope to have some points at the end of the race, being in the top-five would be nice.

“Everyone wants to win but if we can be around the top-five, that would be a good result for us this weekend.”

With the 720S GT3 Evo, it now means there is a fourth new or updated GT3 car competing in the WeatherTech Championship this year, joining the all-new Porsche 911 GT3 R and Ferrari 296 GT3 as well as the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

It comes despite the McLaren not having run last December’s IMSA Balance of Performance test at Daytona International Speedway, which was mandatory for all new-for-2023 machinery.

This is understood to have been due to the availability of the Evo kit at the time.

When reached by Sportscar365 on the matter, the sanctioning body provided the following statement: “IMSA works individually with each manufacturer on their introductory plans of new models into IMSA’s championships.”

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