McLaren 650S GT3

The McLaren 650S GT3 has already shown itself to be a formidable racing machine. In November it took home the championship for the GT Open series and it has now built on that success with a second championship.

This time the championship was for the GT crown of the Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS). The race featured a battle for the class win between Audi, BMW and McLaren customer teams. The Number 3 Clearwater racing McLaren didn’t need to take the victory at Sepang, but a podium finish would make sure they could take the GT class championship.

The McLaren 650S GT3 had a shot at victory in the 3 hour endurance race in the final hour. Unfortunately, for the team a tire puncture ended those hopes. They still managed a podium finish which gave them the GT class points championship.

Absolute Racing’s Audi R8 LMS got its first victory of the ALMS season in the final race. The Number 91 Team AAI BMW Z4 GT3 came in second place for the class.

Andrew Kirkaldy, Managing Director, McLaren GT: “Congratulations to the entire Clearwater Racing team on another podium finish and taking the title in Sepang. The Asian Le Mans Series has proved to be hugely competitive this season, and has attracted talent from around the world, and the grid for the final race made for some great racing through all categories. The team was unlucky with the puncture near the end, but thankfully it didn’t ruin the weekend, and the championship win is a well deserved outcome for the efforts of the team and the drivers over the past few months”

Rob Bell, Factory Driver, McLaren GT: “We all knew going in to the final race that the race would be a challenge, and the grid was the biggest and most competitive it had been all season, but everyone focused on what they had to do. The team did a fantastic job over the weekend, as they have all year, and I would like to thank and congratulate everyone at Clearwater Racing, especially my teammates Mok Weng Sun and Keita Sawa for the great drives, and putting me in such a strong position for the final stint. We were unlucky with the tyre late on, and there was some concern that all the hard work over the season would be lost, but the pitcrew did a great job and we did enough to secure the final podium position. A final thank you must go to the team from McLaren GT – both on the pitwall and back in Woking. The 650S GT3 has been bulletproof in terms of reliability in some of the most challenging conditions over the season, and it has been the car to beat at every round.”