Cooper: “Familiarity” Key to Blackdog’s McLaren Return

Photo: Blackdog Racing

Michael Cooper believes Blackdog Racing’s “familiarity” with the McLaren package will pay dividends in its debut weekend with the Artura GT4 at Sonoma Raceway.

Cooper and team owner/driver Tony Gaples will team up for their second consecutive season of Pirelli GT4 America competition, after previously running a Nissan Z NISMO GT4 during last year’s campaign.

It marks a return to the British manufacturer after the Chicago area-based team last fielded McLaren 570S GT4s in GT4 America Sprint competition in 2020, highlighted by a Pro class title for Cooper.

“I’m looking forward to the start of the Pirelli GT4 America season for a number of reasons,” said Cooper. “I get to race with Tony and Blackdog Racing crew again, which is always fun.

“I was excited to hear about the results of the team’s first test with the McLaren Artura GT4. It reinforces my previous experience with the car.

“Sonoma is a challenging place, but it is a place we know well. That familiarity will serve us well when we hit the ground and get ready for our first two races of the season.”

The team tested the car for the first time two weeks ago at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill. with positive results.

“The first test with the McLaren at Autobahn was very positive and encouraging,” said Gaples.

“I was really impressed with how much of a pleasure the car is to drive. Some of it was familiar to the previous McLarens that Michael and I ran a few years ago, but it’s definitely refined in many ways.

“That gives us a lot of confidence going into our first event.”

Cooper and Gaples enter the highly competitive Pro-Am class, where a field of 13 cars are expected for this weekend’s opening rounds, out of a 30-car total field that’s spread across all three classes of GT4 competition.

Blackdog has more GT4 championships (five) and race wins (43) than any entrant in SRO America/World Challenge GT4 competition.

“We came away from the first test with the McLaren pretty happy,” said team manager Ray Sorenson. “The car was good right off the truck and seemed pretty responsive to any changes we wanted to make.

“The crew learned a lot and we’re anxious to learn more to get it where we need in order to contend this weekend.”

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