Teo Martin Motorsports and McLaren 650S Claim 2015 GT Open Title
Teo Martin Motorsports, McLaren GT customer team, secured the International GT Open Championship title after a dominant weekend in Barcelona, which also saw the first victory for the McLaren GT Young Driver Programme.
A hard-fought double podium finish for factory driver Alvaro Parente and teammate Miguel Ramos in car #2 secured the championship, while Young Driver Andrew Watson took overall victory in the weekend’s opening sprint race alongside Fernando Monje in car #59. A third 650S GT3, entered by customer team Peter Kox Racing also secured fastest lap of the race to reinforce the dominant display.
CONGRATULATIONS TO TEO MARTIN AND THE ENTIRE TEAM AT TEO MARTIN MOTORSPORTS ON SECURING A WIN, TWO PODIUMS AND THE OVERALL INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN TITLE IN ONE WEEKEND. THIS SEASON IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE I CAN RECALL IN GT3 RACING… AND FOR THE 650S GT3 TO BE CLAIMING PODIUMS AND VICTORIES IN ALL CHAMPIONSHIPS, AND NOW SECURING A TITLE IN ITS DEBUT SEASON, REALLY HIGHLIGHTS JUST HOW COMPETITIVE A PROPOSITION IT IS.
-Andrew Kirkaldy, Managing Director, McLaren GT
Still only in its debut competitive season, the results in Barcelona underline the success from the outset for the latest model from McLAren GT. The 650S GT3 is based on the road-going 650S Coupe, and was launched at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last summer. Having made a strong debut at the Gulf 12 Hours in December 2014, finishing on the podium, these latest results mark the 20th victory, with an additional 23 podium finishes.
The result also highlighted the achievement of the inaugural Young Driver Programme from McLaren GT, with Andrew Watson taking overall race victory in the weekend’s first event. This success is the culmination of a season-long programme which has seen Watson – and fellow young driver Ross Wylie – integrated in to the McLaren GT operations, supported by factory drivers and experienced engineering and technical teams, and placed with customer teams to provide an in-situ support programme to develop and establish a solid foundation within GT racing.
