Bas Leinders reinforces McLaren GT staff

McLaren announced a great addition to its GT division this Wednesday (27), as they appointed Bas Leinders as their Sporting Manager, who is expected to bring his experience to the pit wall as well to the various customer teams using the McLaren 650S GT3.

The British manufacturer comes from a productive 2015 season in various fronts, as they achieved victories in the Blancpain Endurance Series and British GT with its factory-backed Von Ryan Racing squad as well some triumphs in the Pirelli World Challenge championship with the K-PAX Racing team allied with Flying Lizard Motorsports and in GT Asia with the FFF Racing Team by ACM. The new 650S also conquered its first title some days ago, as Clearwater Racing prevailed over a highly competitive GT class in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Leinders is a well known person in the sportscar world due to his driving time and his off-track activities, most of them linked with the Marc VDS Racing Team since its start in the mid-2000s, taking part in almost every form of GT racing, being GT3s, GTEs and even GT1s. When Marc VDS switched to GT3 racing completely, Leinders started sharing functions as driver and team principal, to eventually concentrate his full time on the pitwall functions.

Leinders isn't a total newcomer to the McLaren territory, as he had a spell in the McLaren Junior Team in 1998 in the Formula 3000 series.

PHOTO: McLaren GT