McLaren Automotive will expand its McLaren Trophy formula to the Asia-Pacific region in the future, according to its head of motorsport, Giorgio Sanna.
The one-make McLaren Trophy, which currently utilises the McLaren Artura Trophy Evo, first raced in Europe in 2023, with an American series added last year.
“We are targeting to create and develop a global platform for the Trophy,” the Italian told select reporters at Daytona last month, including DSC.
“It means to have the series in America, the series in Europe and in the future, the series also in Asia-Pacific. That’s fundamental to the global platform.”
The addition of an Asia-Pacific series would bring the McLaren Trophy in line with the one-make offering from Sanna’s former employer, Lamborghini, which currently runs three continental series for its Huracán Super Trofeo.
Work on an Asia-Pacific championship is still in its infancy, but Sanna has admitted that building on its partnership with SRO is a possible option. The Stéphane Ratel-led organisation currently promotes the European and American series, which primarily support GT World Challenge events.
“Of course, SRO is very strategic for us,” he explained. “We know them perfectly, but we are also evaluating different scenarios. I believe that by July, step by step, we will announce a lot of news regarding the Trophy that will be very, very exciting.”
This news could involve an overhaul of the calendar, with an increased emphasis on high-profile support race slots. Previously, McLaren Trophy Europe has featured at the 24 Hours of Spa, something it will do so once again in 2026, whilst McLaren Trophy America will be part of the package at this year’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
“We are working on the schedule of the series for the next few years, with important events,” Sanna said. “As you know, this year we have the Grand Prix of Miami with Formula One as a side event, but we have already planned very important side events for the future, also in Europe.”
In both Europe and America, McLaren Trophy grids averaged in the mid-teens in 2025. For Sanna, the goal is to double this figure and achieve regular fields around the 30-car mark.
“Already this year, we will see quite a big step in terms of cars on the grid, and this will happen thanks to the long-term strategy that we are sharing with existing customer teams and with new customer teams that are joining McLaren,” he said.
“The target in the medium term is to have at least around 30 cars on the grid in each Trophy series, and I think it will be possible in a couple of years, because we are already growing quite fast.”
The first of these new teams has already been announced, with six-time Lamborghini Super Trofeo champion Target Racing confirming last month that it will join McLaren Trophy Europe in 2026 with two cars.
This targeted rapid expansion of the Trophy grid is one of the reasons why McLaren is planning to wind down its GT4 programme, as an increased allocation of resources for McLaren Trophy will be required for sustainable growth.
McLaren is also planning to add a ‘McLaren Trophy Academy’ to its current GT driver structure. The Academy would offer support to selected drivers competing in the Trophy, to help them grow and eventually progress into GT3 racing.
McLaren Trophy Europe has already turned out to be a strong proving ground for up-and-coming GT racers, with 2025 champion Jayden Kelly recently joining inaugural champion Tommy Pintos as a McLaren GT3 Junior Driver.
“We will also announce a new programme for the young drivers being part of the McLaren Trophy,” the Italian said. “So it will be a McLaren Trophy Academy for young talents that we will select and support in the McLaren Trophy in America and Europe, also in Asia in the future, to grow into moving to the GT3 programmes with our support.”
It isn’t just drivers, however, that McLaren hopes to help transition from the Trophy to its GT3 operation in the near future, with the aim that the Trophy will also provide the starting point for its next generation of GT3 teams.
“The Trophy is the right base for customer racing,” Sanna explained. “In the next two years, we will be more focused in terms of product and strategy, mainly because we have to grow to consolidate what will be the next generation of customer teams moving from the Trophy to GT3 in two to three years’ time, so the Trophy is crucial from the strategy point of view.”
Image courtesy of Brian Cleary/SRO
