McLaren Trophy, America 2025 US calendar confirmed with prominent US circuits chosen for inaugural season

• New McLaren Trophy America championship to debut with 10 rounds, including races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas
• Championship will support GT World Challenge America powered by AWS
• Will feature bespoke Artura Trophy race car prepared by independent race teams and current 570S Trophy cars
• Inclusive program provides competitive racing for amateur GT and aspiring professional drivers

DALLAS, July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- McLaren Automotive has confirmed the calendar for the inaugural 2025 McLaren Trophy America championship that will make its debut next Spring. The new championship will, like its European counterpart, have ten rounds at five venues.

Established in Europe for the 2023 season, McLaren Trophy is designed to challenge serious race drivers in 50-minute races with pitstops for driver changes. Designed for the 577BHP V6 twin-turbo, carbon-fibre chassis Artura Trophy race car, the championship is also open to drivers of the older 570S Trophy.

The new McLaren Trophy America championship will get underway in late March 2025 at the Sonoma Raceway in Northern California, with all rounds supporting GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. From here the championship heads to the iconic Circuit of the Americas, which has hosted the US Grand Prix for over a decade.

The midpoint of the new championship will be at Virginia International Raceway in July, ahead of an August round at the challenging Road America circuit. The inaugural McLaren Trophy America season will finish in style at the Indianapolis road circuit in October.

The series features bespoke McLaren Artura Trophy race cars that share much of the same race-bred engineering technology as the highly acclaimed McLaren Artura road car, including the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) which provides a rigid and lightweight chassis for supreme racetrack performance and remarkable impact resistance.

Power comes from the same twin-turbo V6 engine as the road car, tuned for an output of 577BHP, and creating a sensationally fast car in a straight line, further complemented by the fact that the 120-degree angle engine sits low in the chassis to make it equally spectacular in its cornering abilities. A bespoke aerodynamic package including a high downforce rear wing enhance the whole experience and enable the Artura Trophy to deliver lap times that compare favorably with GT3 class cars ? whilst delivering maximum driver engagement.

Cars will be run by independent teams with existing 570S Trophy cars also being eligible for the series. These cars will compete for class wins and championships just like Artura Trophy and will be fully supported by McLaren Motorsport with replacement parts and back up available at every round.

One of the first teams to sign up was McLaren Americas Retailer of the Year ? McLaren Toronto ? who will partner with Motorsports in Action to field a two-car team in the championship in 2025.

All McLaren Trophy races will be live streamed on the McLaren Automotive YouTube channel, with more than 250,000 fans regularly viewing the races.

"Having established McLaren Trophy, Europe as a competitive and social environment for Bronze and Silver drivers we are delighted to confirm our 2025 calendar as we introduce the new McLaren Trophy, America championship. We will be visiting many of the continent's best circuits, and I'm thrilled that we have rounds at Indianapolis and the Circuit of the Americas in our inaugural season."
Mick McDonagh, Director of MSO and Motorsport, McLaren Automotive.

Notes to editors:
A selection of high resolution images accompanying this release is available to download from the McLaren Automotive media site ? cars.mclaren.press

About McLaren Trophy:
Launched in July 2022, McLaren Trophy is a pro-am championship designed to challenge ambitious GT drivers by placing the emphasis on the amateur (Bronze) driver. McLaren Trophy will feature two classes in its inaugural season:

The Artura Trophy is based on the McLaren Artura GT4 race car and is powered by the same V6 twin-turbo engine but tuned to provide 577BHP. It also has a high downforce package with a bigger rear wing and additional front-end aerodynamics and is capable of lap times close to GT3 race cars. Featuring all-new McLaren Carbon Fibre Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), which provides a rigid carbon fibre chassis derived from the road car, Artura Trophy cars can be converted to GT4 specification, allowing teams and drivers to compete in both categories with the same chassis.

The 570S Trophy is based around the McLaren 570S GT4 race car and is tuned to develop around 533BHP and run in a higher downforce configuration.

McLaren Trophy, Europe supports the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS with 10 rounds spread over five events taking place in Italy, Belgium, Germany and Spain, including the Blue-Riband Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa.

McLaren Trophy is presented in partnership with leading brands Pirelli and Richard Mille.

About McLaren Automotive:
McLaren Automotive is a producer of ultra high-performance, lightweight supercars. Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group.

Headquartered at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey, England, McLaren Automotive is driven by the challenge of creating the world's most exhilarating, engaging and benchmark setting vehicles. Leveraging the McLaren name's 60-year history of authentic, racing performance, it has delivered some of the most spectacular supercars ever made.

The company's product portfolio of GTS, supercar, Motorsport and Ultimate models are retailed in over 40 markets around the world. Its cars are assembled by hand at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC), based on the same campus as MTC in Woking.

McLaren is a pioneer that continuously pushes the boundaries. In 1981, it introduced lightweight and strong carbon fibre chassis technology into Formula 1 with the McLaren MP4/1.

Then in 1993 it designed and built the legendary McLaren F1 road car. Built around a carbon fibre chassis, it established McLaren's supercar DNA, realised for the 21^st century in 2011 with the introduction of the McLaren 12C ? McLaren Automotive's first production car.

McLaren was the first to deliver a hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1tm, in 2013. Launching the Ultimate Series of vehicles, P1tm was followed by the McLaren Senna in 2018 and its track-only GTR derivative followed a year later. 2019 also saw the introduction of the Speedtail hybrid hyper-GT. Its most recent Ultimate model, Elva, is the lightest McLaren road car ever.

McLaren's LT models represent the ultimate expression of track performance in series production supercars. The name stems from the 'Longtail' version of the F1 GTR, introduced in 1997, and was incorporated into McLaren Automotive nomenclature in 2015 with the arrival of the McLaren 650S-based 675LT coupe and Spider. In 2018, the LT legend continued with the McLaren 570S-based 600LT. The latest chapter in the LT story was written in 2020 and 2021, with the introduction of the 765LT coupe and Spider.

Also in 2021, the company unveiled its all-new high-performance hybrid supercar, the McLaren Artura. The Artura is the first McLaren to benefit from the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). The MCLA is designed, developed and manufactured at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the Sheffield region of England using world-first processes and will spearhead the brand's electrified future.

2022 saw McLaren announce the Solus GT, a single-seat, closed-cockpit track car which brought to life a futuristic concept that was originally created for virtual gaming.

In 2023, McLaren unveiled its lightest and most powerful series-production supercar, the 750S ? a thorough development of the award-winning 720S supercar. McLaren also introduced the new GTS, replacing the McLaren GT.

The McLaren Artura Spider was revealed in early 2024 as the brand's first high-performance hybrid convertible. Its introduction was part of a major model year uplift for the Artura nameplate, and meant McLaren's series-production line-up of GTS, new Artura and 750S had been introduced within 12 months of each other.

McLaren Automotive also chooses to partner with like-minded, world-leading companies and organisations who push the boundaries in their respective fields. These include Ashurst, Bowers & Wilkins, Dynisma, Gulf, Monroe, Pirelli, Plan International, Richard Mille and Tumi.

About McLaren Group:
The McLaren Group is a global leader in high-performance supercar production and elite motorsports.

Founded in 1963 by racer, engineer and entrepreneur Bruce McLaren, the Group is formed of McLaren Automotive, which hand-builds lightweight supercars and races them in global series, including the World Endurance Championship; and a majority stake in McLaren Racing which competes in the Formula 1 World Championship, INDYCAR series, Formula E, Extreme E and F1 Academy.

The Group is globally headquartered at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England.

With a reputation for innovation and technological excellence, McLaren is one of the UK's largest independent companies.

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SOURCE McLaren Automotive