McLaren have backed young Brits to tackle the grueling 24 Hour endurance race at Spa this weekend (July 28-30) as they look to the future for both car and driver.
McLaren announced they would be running a trio of the new MP4-12C as they continue to develop the new GT3 for 2012 customers and have selected three young Brits to make up the bulk of their line-up.
Competing in the Pro-Am class in a VonRyan Racing run MP4-12C are Aberdeen's Glynn Geddie, Lichfield's Adam Christodoulou and Kent's Phil Quaife.
British GT star Geddie is only 21, Star Mazda champion Christodoulou is 22 and Kent Le Mans Series racer Quaife is 25. They will be joined in the car by New Zealander Roger Wills.
British GT star Geddie, who is mentored by CRS Team Principal and McLaren executive Andrew Kirkaldy, is delighted to be part of the McLaren development team.
He said: “I feel honoured to be part of something as special as this with such an innovative car brand as McLaren.
“This is the first model to be converted from a McLaren road car to compete in a 24 hour race since the McLaren F1 GTR at Le Mans back in 1995.
“I’ll be among some esteemed company for the race and I’ll be paying full attention to make sure I learn as much as possible to aid my future development.
“It’s going to be quite a thrill to get behind the wheel of the MP4-12C GT3 and I’m thoroughly looking forward to seeing what it can do at Spa-Francorchamps.”
Quaife who also races for CRS Racing in the Le Mans Series has experience of endurance races at the Nurburgring and in Dubai and competed in the Total 24 Hours of Spa back in 2009.
The Kent driver is excited about the race and feels proud to have been selected by McLaren for the prestigious event.
He added: “I’m delighted to have been selected by McLaren GT to play a part in developing the 12C GT3.
“McLaren GT is able to draw on its McLaren Racing experience in Formula 1 and blend that with CRS Racing's GT car expertise. The 12C GT3 was reliable at the British GT outing earlier this month and I can't wait to test it at Spa.
“This is a unique opportunity for me to drive a McLaren race car and I intend to enjoy every moment.”
McLaren will also run two cars in the Pro-Cup category with Andrew Kirkaldy, Alvaro Parente and Oliver Turvey in one and Chris Goodwin, Rob Bell and Tim Mullen in the other.