3 McLaren Customer Racing teams contested the biggest GT3 race in the world, with 4 720S GT3s
forming part of a bumper 66 car grid for the 74th edition of this Belgian endurance classic.
Customer Racing team JOTA would finish as the highest placed McLaren Customer Racing contender,
with the all-factory line up of Rob Bell , Oliver Wilkinson and Marvin Kirchhöfer piloting their 720S GT3
to an 8th place overall finish after an impressive run from 27th on the grid. A strong opening stint from
Kirchhöfer saw him take the start and overtake several competitors to put the team onto the cusp of
the top 10 before darkness fell. He and team-mates Bell and Wilkinson would continue to rise up the
order through the night and into Sunday morning, with the team manoeuvring themselves into podium
contention with a handful of hours remaining. A late puncture would prove to be the deciding factor in
the final result, however the team were still able to finish on the lead lap proving the potential of the
car and team.
Inception Racing bounced back from a difficult qualifying session, with Dane Frederik Schandorff
passing 9 cars on the opening lap of the race and quickly setting after the top 3 positions in the Gold
Cup class. A strong stint from Spa 24 Hour debutant Sebastian Priaulx took the team into the top 5 in
their category before handing over to Brendan Iribe. The American was unfortunate to go one lap
down after being forced to stop at the pit exit during a safety car period but Iribe continued undeterred
with a consistent stint seeing the team circulate in a good position. A technical issue arose during the
night-time running, but a quick reaction from the team to repair the damage caused minimised the
time loss and the team found themselves in the thick of the podium fight as the sun rose on Sunday
morning. A 35 second penalty for track limits infringements gave Ollie Millroy a herculean task of
overhauling a near 30 second gap to third in class with just 20 minutes of the race remaining, with a
valiant effort from the Briton seeing him close to within 5 seconds of a class podium for the Inception
Racing team. The final result of 4th place in class sees the team slip to second in the GT World
Challenge Europe Gold Cup standings, but with only 9 points separating them from the top of the
table with 2 races left to run.
Car Number: #38
Class: Pro
Team: JOTA
Drivers: Rob Bell (GBR) Oliver Wilkinson (GBR) Marvin Kirchhöfer (DEU)
Qualifying: P28 Overall / P22 PIC
Race: P8 Overall / P8 PIC
Car Number: #7
Class: Gold Cup
Team: Inception Racing
Drivers: Ollie Millroy (GBR) / Brendan Iribe (USA) / Frederik Schandorff
(DNK) / Sebastian Priaulx (GBR)
Qualifying: P42 Overall / P7 PIC
Race: P27 Overall / P4 PIC