McLaren Automotive closed out its inaugural season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a front row lockout in Bahrain and once again demonstrating race-winning pace.
The final round of the 2024 WEC season at the Bahrain International Circuit yielded a dominant performance for the United Autosport McLaren GT3 EVO cars. The #95 car of Josh Caygill set a time of 1:02.201 in the Hyperpole qualifying session to secure McLaren’s second pole position of the season. The sister #59 car of James Cottingham lapped just 0.002 seconds behind, making history as the first manufacturer to lock out the front row grid slots in the LMGT3 class.
The two black and papaya GT3 EVOs led the field for the first forty minutes of the eight-hour race running nose to tail before James made a successful move for the lead in the #95 car.
The field then shuffled around as the pit stop strategies played out around several Full Course Yellows and a Safety Car period in the second half of the race, setting up a thrilling final hour of racing. Seven cars battled for the lead, including the #59 car, before the last pit stops were made.
Gregoire Saucy took over #59 with fresh tyres and set about catching his rivals. Despite gaining a place as he closed on the leaders, he had to settle for a fighting sixth at the flag. Teammate Marino Sato meanwhile put in a superb drive from nearly a lap down to gain five places and finish eighth to round out a strong first year in the championship for McLaren.
Having demonstrated the speed and reliability of the McLaren GT3 EVO in the most gruelling endurance challenge in motorsport, the United Autosport cars finished in the top ten in both Drivers’ and Teams’ standings.
“At the end of our first full LMGT3 season in the WEC as racing partners of McLaren, we should be very proud. I’d argue that we are one of, if not the team that has made the most progress from the season opener in Qatar to the finale in Bahrain, with high points along the way including the podium finish in Sao Paulo and pole position in Bahrain, proving our ultimate pace with the 1-2 finish in Hyperpole.
“I cannot thank the team enough. We are lucky to have so many passionate and talented people dedicating hour upon hour of time, effort and skill into driving this project forward – and I will never take that for granted. I also want to recognise the efforts of our drivers who have played a key role in the development of the programme both on and off track. They’ve been working hard behind the scenes, which, once again, demonstrates the very real belief in this project and our potential on the world stage. I for one am excited to see what the future holds.”
Richard Dean, CEO, United Autosports
“Once again we’ve demonstrated the speed of our car and made a bit of WEC history along the way. My thanks to every single member of the United Autosports team for all their hard work this season, and to our internal team for helping to bring this project to fruition in such a short timeframe. Together we’ve more than proved we can be competitive on this grid.
“We’ve had a really positive first year in the championship, taking two pole positions and a podium finish but the job isn’t done, and we will continue to work towards achieving the goal we all have of winning.”
Mick McDonagh, Director – McLaren Special Operations (MSO) & Motorsport, McLaren Automotive