With a podium finish already recorded at the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, Australian racing team 59Racing now takes on an arguably even bigger challenge, fielding the McLaren 720S GT3 as an all Pro entry in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS with McLaren-affiliated drivers Ben Barnicoat and Martin Kodrić joined by ex Strakka Racing driver Lewis Williamson.
The team will take on the full four-date GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup which gets underway with the 3 Hours of Imola in Italy later this month, 25-26 July. From here, the championship takes on the 6 Hours of Nürburgring in Germany in September ahead of the headline event of the year and round 2 of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the Total 24 Hours of Spa in October. The season is completed comes with the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard in France in November.
The team is also planning to compete in other events as permitted by the availability of key personnel, in particular from Australia.
Lewis Williamson is a former winner of the coveted McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award and is no stranger to success in both single-seater and GT racing. This season will mark the fourth challenge on the championship, having taken the Pro-Am title in 2018. He returns to the cockpit of a McLaren for the first time since 2017.
Ben Barnicoat and Martin Kodrić return to race with 59Racing after both tasting success at the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge at Bathurst back in February. Ben, a Factory Driver for McLaren, campaigned as part of the 59Racing all-pro line-up which claimed 2nd place overall earlier this year. He makes a return to the Endurance Cup championship after the last campaigning during the 2017 season.
Martin’s drive to Bathurst 12 Hour Silver class victory and a top-8 finish stood out as the Croatian made his Mount Panorama debut. The McLaren Professional Driver finished in 3rd place at the wheel of the 720S GT3 in the 2019 International GT Open championship following strong results in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in previous seasons. The 2017 season saw him finish 2nd in the Pro-Am standings followed by 3rd place in the Silver class during 2018 when he was also crowned Blancpain GT Series Asia champion.
59Racing will campaign the McLaren 720S GT3 for a second season after debuting the latest model from McLaren in the Australian GT championship during 2019. The team took victory on its debut outing during the season-opener going on to take a further race win and eight podium finishes, before heading to the Bathurst 12 Hour with a two-car entry at the start of the 2020 season.
