Lynn “Very Keen” to Expand Presence in GT Racing

Alex Lynn is “very keen” to expand his racing duties to include more GT outings alongside his FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar program with Cadillac, viewing his upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona appearance with AWA as the first step towards a “really complimentary program” in both disciplines.

The 30-year-old will join the Canadian squad as the fourth driver aboard the No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opener, teaming up with Orey Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern.

It will mark Lynn’s first race appearance behind the wheel of a GT car since his GTE-Pro class victory in the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, which came when the Brit was still part of Aston Martin’s factory driver roster.

Since then, he has exclusively competed in prototypes, both in LMP2 as well as in top-class competition in WEC and the WeatherTech Championship with Cadillac.

Lynn told Sportscar365 that he considers his AWA drive the first step towards an ambition to increase his number of GT racing appearance alongside his current duties as a factory Hypercar driver.

“I think it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, to do both GT and prototype,” Lynn said.

“I’d say since I stopped Formula E, because before it was either Formula E and GT, and then Formula E and prototypes.

“Now I want to do prototype and GT, because my dreams of winning all the big races require me to win them in GT cars as well, like Spa and Nürburgring.

“So, for me, it was something I was very keen to do anyway. Right now, it’s a perfect combination with racing the Cadillac, the World Endurance Championship, and getting the opportunity to race the Corvette whenever I can. If I could do that, then I’d be a really happy racing driver.”

If his ambitions are realized, Lynn would become part of an existing pool of drivers that have simultaneously competed in the new breed of top-class prototype cars and GT machinery, including the likes of Nick Yelloly, Kevin Estre, Antonio Fuoco and even his current Cadillac WEC teammate Earl Bamber.

“It’s very easy for anyone to see a driver like, ‘Well, he’s a prototype guy or he’s a GT guy,” Lynn said.

“Actually now I think the similarities are really converging between these new Hypercars/GTPs and top-level GT cars. They’re really lending themselves to each other. So, I think, actually, it could be a really complimentary program.”

Lynn revealed that he has already spent time behind the wheel of the new car, driving it during a test at Daytona International Speedway that took place a week after the sanctioned IMSA test in December.

“I have to say, hats off to Pratt Miller,” he said. “I think they’ve built a fantastic race car.

“That’s another thing about racing drivers, when you can feel the potential of it, you want to race it and you want the chance to compete with it.

“I actually felt at home on lap one. It felt like I was back driving a GT car again. I think that’s when you get into the sweet spot of a driver’s career, where it’s like their experience and age-slash-speed level is at their peak in both.

“I’d like to think I’m pretty close to it now. I’ve got good experience and I’m still young in the sport [and] I feel like I could dovetail in both.

“So honestly, within lap one, I was felt comfortable driving a GT car again, which was really nice.”

While Lynn last raced GTE machinery with Aston Martin in 2020, his last appearance in a GT3 car dates back even further to a campaign with R-Motorsport in what is now named the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup in 2019.

He also competed in the 2017 Nürburgring 24, sharing a BMW M6 GT3 with two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider and two fellow future LMDh drivers, Augusto Farfus and Antonio Felix da Costa.

“I actually missed two races because I then did Formula E for Jaguar,” Lynn said recalling his GTWC Europe program with R-Motorsport.

“But I did the 24 Hours of Spa, Barcelona and Paul Ricard. And we had a successful time, actually. We were on the podium in Barcelona and then fourth, I think, in Ricard.

“But to be really honest, the Corvette GT3 is a very different car to any other GT3 I’ve driven.

“I have to say the Corvette is a really nice GT3 car, I think, for what my experience had been before. Certainly, within a few laps, I was like, ‘OK, this is nice. This is really good.”