Blackdog Reunites With McLaren for GT4 Campaign

Blackdog Racing is renewing its relationship with McLaren Automotive ahead of this year’s Pirelli GT4 America season, which will see the team field a McLaren Artura GT4 for returning drivers Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples.

The pairing, which drove a Nissan Z NISMO GT4 last year, will debut the No. 33 Blackdog Performance Cars McLaren at Sonoma Raceway in the Pro-Am class. This will be the first time that Cooper and Gaples will share a McLaren although the team and drivers have a past history with the brand.

The Blackdog squad fielded McLaren 570 GT4s in the Pirelli GT4 Sprint championship in 2019 and 2020. Cooper recorded 15 victories with 11 in 2020 alone plus the Sprint Drivers’ championship. He was part of the winning Artura GT4 effort in the first round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona.

Gaples found success as well with the McLaren during the 2019 and 2020 seasons with 12 podiums including five runner-up finishes.

“The McLaren is obviously a brand that we have some previous history with,” said Gaples.”I’m looking forward to learning more about it from my teammate Michael with his experience in the car already this year.

“We felt like we needed to make a change to stay competitive in a very tough Pro-Am class of Pirelli GT4 America.

“The team learned a ton last year about the competitive level of the series and what it takes to be successful. I’m confident we can put those lessons to good use.”

Blackdog is one of the stalwarts of North American GT4 racing. The team has recorded 43 GT4/GTS wins – the most in series history – along with five drivers and teams championships plus four manufacturers titles.

“It’s always a great year racing with Blackdog Racing and Tony,” said Cooper. “We’ve captured a lot of race wins and multiple championships as a team.

“Not only am I excited to go racing with the continuity Blackdog brings to the race track, but we’re very excited to be reuniting with McLaren.

“It’s a manufacturer that we had a plethora of success with in the previous-gen GT4 but now in the latest GT4 Artura.

“I’ve already driven the car, and the new McLaren gives me largely improved but familiar feelings to its successful predecessor.”