The Garage 59 factory McLaren team has announced they will run two McLaren 570S GT4s in the British GT Championship for last year’s rapid rookies Sandy Mitchell and Ciaran Haggerty as well as Dean Macdonald and Akhil Rabindra.
Haggerty and Mitchell were the break-out stars of last year’s championship in the GT4 class and if the car was as reliable at the start of the season as it was by the finale, they could easily have claimed the title.
So needless to say, with a post-season of development under their belts Mitchell is confident of what 2017 can bring the team.
He said: “Ciaran and I work well together both in and out of the car, and we’ll be doing everything we can this season to make a serious challenge for the British GT4 Championship. It’s going to be great having two McLaren GT4 cars working together in the same team. We’ll be able to maximise the time we spend on-track during testing to ensure we deliver the best performances we can.”
The second McLaren is showcasing two new talents as 16-year-old Scottish karting star Dean MacDonald partners with BRDC British F3 regular Akhil Rabindra in a car that adds a good second prong to the Garage 59 attack.
Garage 59’s quartet of drivers has given team principal Bas Leinders cause for optimism this season.
“We are delighted to have Sandy and Ciaran back for 2017 and looking to hit the ground running and build upon the successes they had last year,” he said. “The experience of the car, the circuits and the championship will help them support the development and transition in to GT racing of their new team-mates – as we saw with them supported by Factory Driver Rob Bell last season.
“It’s also an exciting chapter for the team with Black Bull coming onboard as title sponsor and seeing Advance Construction return to support Ciaran and Dean. With the experience running with the McLaren 570S GT4 last year, we are in a strong position going into the new season, and hope to be challenging for podiums and race wins again in 2017.”
