This year McLaren Automotive has freshened up its factory driver roster, adding some new faces to the list to work alongside brand stalwart Rob Bell.
One of the new boys is Joe Osborne, who joins the factory stable after a successful season racing in British GT with Tolman Motorsport and David Pattison. This year, as part of his deal, he’ll continue working with Tolman, which is bringing a trio of GT4 cars to the national series, and helping develop the upcoming 720S GT3, which is set to debut next year.
So just how did Osborne get onto Mclaren’s radar, and how does he feel about life going forward as a works driver? DSC found out by sitting down with Osborne, whose hard work in what continues to be a highly competitive environment in GT racing these days, has finally paid off.
Let’s begin by talking about your relationship with McLaren, how it began. Many people may not know that this deal wasn’t out of nowhere, and that you’ve actually been working with McLaren Automotive for a number of years…
“It’s been a really nice, organic relationship between McLaren and I. It started four years ago, I got a lucky break, they had eight driver coaches, one had to drop out for a gig in Taiwan, I had work on, cancelled that because I wanted to get a foot in the door at McLaren.
“Back then Tim Mullen was in charge, he was chief instructor, we got on well and it blossomed from there. Now, in the Pure McLaren events, where guests and customers get to drive on tracks, roads, ice, it’s getting big, it’s grown so much that there’s nearly five or six days a week work there with it. It really is testament to McLaren Automotive as an organisation, that it’s successful as a brand with its products. The road cars are unreal, the rate of growth is staggering.
“The work I do with McLaren varies, from Pure driver coaching, to running events for McLaren, corporate guests, and Partners. It’s great that they trust me and the events run smoothly.
“And in this time, I’ve turned from a big child into an adult, I’ve grown up with McLaren.”
Once you got settled into that role, did you ever see potential for a factory deal? Was there an expectation that when the time was right, you’d be first in line for a drive?
“The brutal truth is that we’re all self-employed, so you have to push hard. And at the end of 2016 I was at a crossroads. I was really happy where things were going, I’d had four years of getting paid to drive with Ams. But the manufacturer thing is always in the background, I really wanted to get there, and do it on my terms.
I didn’t want to get caught up in that rat race environment, I wanted to enjoy my motorsport
“Other works drivers I’ve worked with are worked so hard, it’s not all roses and loads of money. I didn’t want to get caught up in that rat race environment, I wanted to enjoy my motorsport. And McLaren was the obvious choice for me, I was in the running for a semi-factory deal as a Silver driver a few years ago, which didn’t work out, and was fine. I learnt a lot from that.
“Things are changing at McLaren quickly, with the racing side, and growing massively. That fits with me, I had an option to do British GT with a GT3 car, or do GT4 with McLaren last year, and I openly hedged my bets and chose GT4. That was the start to getting a factory deal, but I didn’t think it was going to happen, hand on heart
“Luckily I had a great team, a great car and a great teammate, and was able to show McLaren what I could do in one of their cars. When Dan Walmsley, head of motorsport at McLaren Automotive, came to me with the offer to be a factory driver, the negotiations lasted about 30 seconds.
“I’ve bought into the whole thing; I want to help this all grow.”
Tell me more about your deal, you’ve got British GT confirmed with Tolman, but what does the rest of your year look like?
“Racing looks a little lean this year in all honesty, as the only pure McLaren Automotive product is the GT4 car. For me it’ll probably be just British GT, though there may be other options.
“But I expect a majority of my time will be taken up with 720S GT3 development. That’s going to be great, with the other factory guys. It’s something I’ve done similarly with Aston Martin before. We didn’t develop it as a race car, but we did work on it like it was a race car.
“I really enjoyed that, spending 20 days solidly at the same track, pounding round looking for small marginal gains.”
McLaren’s factory roster includes yourself, Rob Bell, Ben Barnicoat and Paul Holton. How well do you know the other three?
“Having Rob Bell as our senior lead driver on it is brilliant, I’ve known him for years, he’s got a level head and is a real spearhead. Ben Barnicoat as well is someone I’ve known him for a few years, but not well. Even from the time we’ve spent time together though, we get on like a house on fire. He’s a great lad, and very quick.
These days in GT3 there’s no point in making a new car a second quicker for Pros, if its 2 seconds slower for Ams
“And then there’s Paul Holton, I haven’t met him yet, but he comes with a huge amount of experience and I’m sure will do well racing in the States.
“So it will be an interesting year getting to know them. Then 2019 will be another big year, I don’t know what I’m doing, I know we’ll have a GT3 car to put out to market though. I hope we can go out in a competitive championship and show all the other GT3 guys what we’ve created.”
When the 720S GT3 does finally hit the track and begin racing, you’ll have your DNA in that car. That’s got to be a special feeling right?
“Yeah, it really will, and that hasn’t totally sunk in. With this sort of project you’ve got the seeds, you just have to let it grow to what it is. You just need to make sure it’s the right seed at the right time.
“We need to think about the car can be good for amateurs, that’s the big focus. These days in GT3 there’s no point in making a new car a second quicker for Pros, if its 2 seconds slower for Ams.
“The new car needs to be as impressive as the 570S GT4 is. Luckily, there’s so many hugely talented people involved, so I have no doubt it will be a winner.”
