McLaren customer team Garage 59 has confirmed the driver line-ups for its three World Challenge Europe-bound McLaren GT3 EVOs as Prologue testing gets underway in Paul Ricard.
The team is set to compete in both the Pro and Bronze Cup categories this year, with its #159 full-season top class entry headlining its programme.
Lining up in the Pro Class for the full Endurance season are McLaren Junior Benjamin Goethe, McLaren factory driver Tom Gamble and Garage 59 returnee Dean MacDonald. For the Sprint Cup races, Goethe and Gamble will share driving duties.
“I’m extremely happy to be back with Garage 59 again and drive with Tom and Benji,” MacDonald said. “GT World Challenge will be extremely competitive again this year I’m sure but we are all ready to go and hopefully challenge for strong results.”
Garage 59’s other two McLarens will compete in the Bronze Cup ranks. Focusing on the Endurance Cup, the #158 features team regular and McLaren Junior Nicolai Kjærgaard, who is joined by the reigning British GT Silver-Am Champion, Mark Sansom, and established GT racer Lewis Proctor.
Kjærgaard added: “I’m very much looking forward to the new season in the #158 McLaren. The Endurance championship is super-competitive and the Pro-Am configuration of Bronze Cup is an exciting new challenge for me.”
Returning to the team for 2024 are two-time Pro-Am Drivers’ Champion Miguel Ramos and Louis Prette in the #188 Bronze Cup McLaren. They will make a hard-to-beat pairing in the Sprint Cup races and for the Endurance rounds they will be joined by the ultra-fast Adam Smalley, fresh from taking the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup GB title.
“I think we have a really strong line-up in the #188 McLaren,” Smalley said. “Endurance racing is a new challenge for me and I’m excited to learn from everyone on the team. I’m really looking forward to racing at Monza, Spa and Jeddah for the first time and to get out on track at Ricard for the first time today.
“I’m ready to put the work in and I can’t wait to see what the season has in store.”
All three Garage 59 McLarens are present at Le Castellet this week for testing, and are running in bare carbon.
Image courtesy of Garage 59
