McLaren is a name practically synonymous with racing, concurrently running efforts in Formula One, IndyCar, Formula E, and various GT3 and GT4 series. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has hinted that he wants to expand the manufacturer’s efforts to include a top-flight FIA WEC Hypercar run with the aim of winning Le Mans again. According to reports from Motorsport, Brown’s announcement may come as soon as this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans event in June, where McLaren is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its only win at that race. The Le Mans Hypercar class, and by extension IMSA GTP, are incredibly popular among manufacturers right now with entrants from Acura, Cadillac, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Peugeot, Toyota, Alpine, and Lamborghini, with Genesis and Ford expected to join the grid in 2026 and ’27 respectively. This is where the cool kids are, and McLaren wants to join them. The Papaya race squad already runs a pair of 720S GT3 Evos in the LMGT3 class of the FIA WEC and IMSA, with United Autosports (a Zak Brown-co-owned team), but the jump from GT3 to prototypes is a pretty big one.
At last week’s opening round of the FIA WEC in Qatar, Brown made it known that sports car racing is very important to the McLaren brand. Despite a clash with the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix, Brown will be at Le Mans in person alongside his GT3 team effort, and participating in McLaren’s Le Mans victory anniversary. “That’s a priority for us,” said Brown. “We will have a nice display there in the Le Mans museum, and hopefully we will have some exciting stuff to talk about. It is pretty clear that we would like to do it; we would love to be going for the overall win at Le Mans,” he continued. “I don’t think the timing has ever been better.” Brown was also attendant at Le Mans in 2024 where he said McLaren’s entry into the top class was more “when than if.”
Can McLaren swing it?
With McLaren resurgent in Formula One after a few tough years, winning the 2024 World Constructors’ Championship, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward fighting for victories, if not championships, in IndyCar, it seems things seem to be going their way. An effort in sports cars would certainly be another way for McLaren to prove its racing chops. Motorsport reports that the decision may already be made, with a joint effort between McLaren Automotive and Dallara Automobili run to the LMDh ruleset seeming to be the path forward. Dallara will build the chassis for the effort, while the engine will be based on the road going Artura twin-turbo V6.
As a fan of all things motorsport, I could not be more excited than I am right now seeing nearly every automaker on the planet joining in at Le Mans. The opening round of the FIA WEC last week saw an incredible 18-car field in the Hypercar class, and a full 21 cars entered for Le Mans, a level of competition that hasn’t been seen in decades.
