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GT World Challenge Europe

Garage 59 Targeting Pro Class Return With McLaren

2016 Endurance Cup champion squad eyeing return to top category next year…

Photo: Patrick Hecq/SRO

Garage 59 is eyeing a return to the Pro class of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup next year, according to team principal Andrew Kirkaldy.

The 2016 Endurance Cup title-winning squad is planning to continue in the SRO Motorsports Group series for a second consecutive year with McLaren after switching from Aston Martin at the end of 2021.

Garage 59 initially moved from McLaren to Aston Martin in 2019 and maintained its presence in the headlining Pro category using the Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

It focused on Silver Cup and Pro-Am entries in 2020 but made a one-off return to Pro when it finished third in last year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa with the guesting factory driver lineup of Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen and Ross Gunn.

After three years with Aston, Garage 59 started running McLaren 720S GT3s this year and won the Sprint Cup Pro-Am title with Miguel Ramos and Dean MacDonald.

Its two-car setup with one Pro-Am and one Silver Cup entry completed the full 10-round GTWC Europe campaign.

“We’re trying to run at least one Pro car if we can,” Kirkaldy told Sportscar365 when asked about Garage 59’s plans for next season.

“We’d like to run three cars in GT World Challenge Endurance if possible. We’re a reasonable way towards that at the moment, but it’s quite early days.

“We’ve got Asian Le Mans where we’re going to run two cars in that. We’ve got one confirmed car, and quite a few people talking about doing the second one. We’ll have to see how it all shapes up really.”

Kirkaldy added that Garage 59 plans to run two McLarens in Sprint Cup and three in Endurance, with the additional third car in the latter series being the targeted Pro entry.

He explained that Garage 59 is working out how to fund a Pro car that would likely include increased factory support from McLaren Automotive. JOTA and JP Motorsport carried the overall hopes of the McLaren 720s GT3 in the top class this year.

“If we get the budget together for a full-on Pro car, I can’t see us doing the whole thing,” Kirkaldy said.

“That’s where we are at the moment. There are a few things that we’re working on to make it happen.

“One of the things that motivates us to do it is that we want to try and win the championship on an overall basis. It’s just a case of trying to find a way of making it happen.

“It’s looking OK, but nothing is done until it’s done. We’re more than 50 percent [of the way]. But there’s a way to go yet.”

Other Competitions Under Consideration

Kirkaldy added that Garage 59 is also looking to contest some NLS races in 2023, as well as return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans where it teamed up with AF Corse and Inception Racing for a GTE-Am entry this year.

“Alex [West, Garage 59 co-owner] is keen to do some [NLS],” Kirkaldy noted.

“He really loves that. Last year was a bit difficult because the car isn’t really homologated for it. They’re working on that, and if that goes through we’ll do some VLN races.

“[The car] has never been there. But Alex loves the place, so we want to do some.

“And obviously we’re hoping for Le Mans if we find a route to do it again.

“There’s a chance we could end up there, whether that’s with AF or if we get an entry with ourselves… we hope to be there.”

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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