Optimum Treating Macau Debut as Learning Year

Optimum Motorsport says it is treating its first appearance in the FIA GT World Cup primarily as an opportunity to build experience, expressing ambitions of becoming a regular presence on the streets of Macau in the coming years.

The British team is fielding a solo McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for Macau debutant Benjamin Goethe this year featuring a Gulf livery reminiscent of the Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren F1 GTRs that raced in the FIA GT Championship in 1997.

Optimum will become the first team to contest the GT World Cup to field McLaren machinery in the end-of-season street event since 2015, and the first with the 720S.

As such, team manager Bas Leinders admitted that Optimum has “no big expectations” in terms of results for its debut on the Guia Circuit, but is hoping to gain experience in order to come back more competitive in future seasons.

“We were almost here last year, but we were just a little bit too late to finalize it,” Leinders, who raced twice in the Macau Grand Prix in 1997-98, told Sportscar365.

“So straight away from the beginning of the season, we were targeting being here in Macau. This year it was quite easy to get an entry — and being the only McLaren, even if it was oversubscribed, I think we probably would have got in.

“It’s our first time here, so it’s a new experience for us. I raced here in F3, and I love the track. It’s something special, even if the city has changed a bit since I raced here. It’s a prestigious race, a very difficult race.

“We don’t know the track, the 720S has never been here, so we don’t have any data. Benji doesn’t know the track either, so it’s a steep learning curve. We need to find the right set-up with the car and Benji needs to find the rhythm.

“We have no big expectations. We just want to finish all the sessions and gather the experience, and then come back next year to get the real result.”

Leinders added that the team is open to running with other manufacturers at Macau in the future, pointing out the team’s relationship with Ferrari in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, where it races under the Inception Racing banner.

Goethe ended the opening day of running at Macau with the 13th-fastest time in second practice, 2.5 seconds off the pace but improving on his personal best effort from the openings session by some two seconds.

Speaking prior to FP1, the 22-year-old GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS regular echoed Leinders’ view that this weekend is all about building experience.

“I’m super-excited,” Goethe told Sportscar365. “I’ve watched it on TV for the last few years and it’s a really cool race to watch. It’s a race I’ve always wanted to do.

“I’ve never done a track like this before. I raced at Jeddah [which hosted the final round of GTWC Europe Endurance Cup in 2024] but this is my first ‘real’ street track.

“It will be tough being my first year, especially against the guys who have been here many times. It’s not a track you can learn in just one lap.

“Of course I want to do well and get a good result, but I know it won’t be easy. I’ll do my best, try not to put it in the wall, and if we get a result, it’s an added bonus.”