Skip to content

Aug 4, 2019 / reports

ROAD AMERICA RESULT BELIES 720S GT3 PACE

The extensive amount of testing Compass Racing has been doing on the team's McLaren 720S GT3 is beginning to pay dividends as IMSA moves into the final few rounds of the WeatherTech Sprint Championship.

The decision to run in IMSA’s GTD class was undertaken knowing that the series would start the car at a modest Balance of Performance and gradually provide increases to that as data was collected at each round. With races at Mid-Ohio, Detroit, Mosport and Lime Rock complete, the BoP on the McLaren has become comparable to the other cars in the class.Road America was expected to be a good track for the 720S and this proved true. Both Matt Plumb and Paul Holton posted top times during practice and Plumb qualified the car in a strong third position. He never ran outside the top five during his stint, and the crew performed the first pit stop in class-leading time. Unfortunately there was a fuelling issue during the second stop, which meant a third stop would be needed for a splash of fuel unless there was a yellow flag period. This, sadly, never came. Despite Holton placing the car in the fifth spot within sight of the leaders, No. 76 stopped for that splash just three laps from the end of the race. GTD is such a competitive class that even after two-hours-and-forty-minutes this dropped the Richard Mille-sponsored entry to twelfth position. “We’re really pleased with the pace of our McLaren, and look forward to further performances at the front end of the pack,” remarked Managing Director Jill Beck. “Matt and Paul both drove brilliantly today and we really feel like we have a package capable of winning."