GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing are set to finally return to racing in 2016 with a McLaren 650S GT3 in the GT category of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge.
It will mark the team’s first competitive outing since the huge accident at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona that saw Memo Gidley suffer major injuries after the team’s Daytona Prototype collided with a near stationary ferrari at high speed.
A prospective entry into the GTS class of World Challenge last season with a Hyundai Genesis Coupe eventually came to naught but this time the car, and driver Jon Fogarty are ready for action.
“The GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Team is fired up about the GT Class at Pirelli World Challenge and this McLaren GT looks like a terrific car for us to bring to the Series,” said team owner, Bob Stallings. “I have had significant discussions with two other manufacturers over the last three months and concluded McLaren GT was the best fit for our team. The car is well sorted and McLaren GT provides important technical support to all of its teams. I think Jon is going to have a blast driving this machine.”
It will be Fogarty’s ninth full season piloting a Red Dragon. “I am very pleased to be back full time in 2016 with GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing, a team that is close to my heart and one that I have shared tremendous success with,” said Fogarty.
“I have had the good fortune to drive all previous iterations of the Red Dragon, and the 2016 McLaren 650S GT3 is a great platform to attack the Pirelli World Challenge GT championship with. McLaren GT is truly a motorsports driven company, one linked closely to Formula One, so the DNA of the 650S GT3 is adapted well to the race track. Racing is also in the blood of GAINSCO and the entire team, so this car is a perfect match for the Bob Stallings Racing operation.” He added, “I am really looking forward to getting in the seat and racing hard for Bob Stallings Racing and the entire GAINSCO family. The 2016 Pirelli World Challenge championship is certain to be a great challenge but one that we are well equipped to tackle.”
The Dallas-based team took delivery of the McLaren GT last week and will shakedown the new car with Fogarty behind the wheel in mid-December.
