As United Autosports starts to ramp up preparations for its Hypercar debut in 2027, another McLaren outfit is also getting ready for its next big challenge.
That’s because, with United focused on developing McLaren’s LMDh contender, the Anglo-American team is temporarily stepping back from FIA WEC competition, with Garage 59 taking its place as the papaya brand’s representative in the LMGT3 category.
The British outfit was founded in 2016, and won the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup drivers’ title in its maiden season with a McLaren 650S GT3 for Shane van Gisbergen, Rob Bell and Côme Ledogar.
Garage 59 has been a mainstay of SRO’s leading European championship ever since, with further class titles added in 2020 during a three-year spell with Aston Martin, and then again in 2023 following a return to the McLaren stable.
In the meantime, the team has expanded into series such as the Asian Le Mans Series and International GT Open, as well as making its 24 Hours of Le Mans debut under the ‘Inception Racing’ banner in 2022 with a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
This year, Garage 59’s McLaren GT3 Evos have proven to be the cars to beat over a single lap in GT World Challenge Europe, with a mighty 10 class pole positions out of a possible 15 in the Endurance Cup, headlined by overall pole at the 24 Hours of Spa for Marvin Kirchhöfer.
In the races, the team has broken McLaren’s nine-year victory droughts in both Endurance and Sprint Cup competition, recorded the marque’s best-ever finish at the 24 Hours of Spa, and fought for the Sprint Cup drivers’ title until the final race of the season.
Garage 59 will be back in GT World Challenge Europe next year, utilising its fleet which is set to grow to seven McLarens, but for now the focus is on adjusting to the LMGT3 formula and ramping up for its maiden campaign on the global stage.
“Compared to what we’re used to, it’s obviously another level, so there’s a fair bit for us to learn,” Managing Director Andrew Kirkaldy tells DSC.
“It’s another race series, and it’s got a bit to learn, bit to do, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Kirkaldy is under no illusion of the step up that the FIA WEC will require from his team, especially on the financial front.
Whilst GT World Challenge Europe budgets tend to sit at the lower end of seven-figures per entry, a two-car FIA WEC effort is around the 10-million Euro mark.
“It is a big step, and it was a big concern for us at the time when it was presented to us,” he confesses.
“It’s a much bigger step financially, but also the expectation from drivers and people getting involved in it is that much higher too. Le Mans obviously commands a reasonable budget as well.
“It’s a big step, but it’s something that I think we’re ready for, and we’ll get stuck in, and I’m sure we’ll be on the grid in Qatar.”
Outside of the finances, another of the hurdles facing Garage 59 is the timing of its FIA WEC entry, with the team also moving into a new, larger facility over the off-season.
“We’ve got a new, much bigger unit in Northampton now, which we just got the key to,” Kirkaldy says.
“We’ve got a lot going on. Essentially, the other side of the business is quite a bit bigger now, looking after some fairly nice racing cars. And they’re not just racing cars; road cars, collector cars, etc.
“So we’ve had to bite the bullet and get a much bigger unit and try and do that all at the same time as getting ready for WEC and GT World Challenge. It’s maybe not the best of timing, but it’s timing that it’s kind of been forced on us a little bit.”
Kirkaldy was amongst Garage 59’s party at this year’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the FIA WEC, as it prepares for next season. This group also included plenty of operation personnel, enabling Garage 59’s staff to get hands-on experience of the fine details of the LMGT3 category by working with United Autosports.
“It’s been really good,” says the Scotsman.
“I can’t thank them enough for the way they’ve handled that, it’s been great. It’s been very open. We’ve got engineers here, mechanics here, and I think without that, it would be extremely difficult.”
Also present in Bahrain was team co-owner, and 2020 GT World Challenge Europe Pro-Am drivers’ champion, Alexander West, who piloted the McLaren in the FIA WEC Rookie Test.
West has taken a step back from full-time racing in recent years, but according to Kirkaldy the 60-year-old might be eyeing up a return to the driving seat.
“He seems to be enjoying it,” Kirkaldy declared. “I think that’s the main thing.”
“He’s not been racing properly for a while now. He did Gulf [12 Hours] last year, he’s done a couple of races with us this year, but he just wants to get back into the swing of it. I think he’s missing it.”
Garage 59 is yet to announce any of its drivers for 2026, raising the possibility that West could join LMGT3s Bronze-ranked competitors next year. So, how does Kirkaldy rate the likelihood of his co-owner taking on the FIA WEC?
“I think there’s a good chance he will be.”
Garage 59 will make its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at next year’s Qatar 182KM, the opening round of the 2026 FIA WEC, on 26th to 28th March 2026.
