World Endurance Championship class race winners Sean Gelael and Darren Leung move from BMW to McLaren for his or her second LMGT3 campaign together in 2025.
The duo, who won the Imola WEC round in April last yr aboard the WRT BMW M4 GT3 shared with Augusto Farfus, will race the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for United Autosports within the upcoming season.
Gelael and Leung might be the silver and bronze drivers respectively within the number 95 United McLaren lineup, alongside gold Marino Sato, whose return to the automotive was confirmed with the publication of the primary draft entry list for the 2025 WEC in November.
Former Formula 2 driver Gelael is leaving WRT after three seasons, the primary two of which he raced in LMP2 before the secondary prototype class was dropped from the complete WEC schedule.
“I'm very excited to drive a United Autosports car after competing for a long time [in P2 and then LMGT3]”- said the 28-year-old Indonesian.
“I'm looking forward to racing with Marino for the primary time and naturally working with Darren again after some great events together in 2024.
“I believe it is going to be a very good experience and an amazing opportunity to win the championship after ending second twice [in P2 with Jota in 2021 and WRT in 2022]”
Leung, a 37-year-old Briton, might be competing in his second WEC campaign in just his fifth season of racing.
The 2023 British GT Championship winner described United and McLaren's involvement within the WEC as “truly inspiring” and said he was “keen to contribute to the team's efforts on some of the most iconic circuits in the world.”
“As a proud Yorkshireman, racing with a Yorkshire team makes this an even more special opportunity for me,” added Leung, who trialled the McLaren on the official WEC rookie test in Bahrain in November.
United boss Richard Dean called Leung “the driver you want on your side.”
“His development in motorsport has been incredible over the last four seasons and we are extremely proud that he is now part of the United Autosports and McLaren Automotive teams,” he said. “Plus he's a Yorkshireman, which is always a plus!”
#59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: Alex Sedgwick, Grégoire Saucy
Photo: JEP / Motorsport Images
United are yet to disclose Gregoire Saucy's lineup, whose continuation with the team was confirmed following the publication of the WEC entry list, within the sister automotive number 59.
So far, WRT only has one driver confirmed in its LMGT3 lineup, who runs alongside the factory Hypercar class in a BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh.
Farfus will remain a full skilled within the No. 31 automotive, as confirmed on the time of publication of the series entry.
Maxime Martin was replaced within the #32 M4 in November, but later moved to Mercedes and can race within the WEC this yr in one in all the Iron Lynx AMG GT3 cars.
In WEC 2024, the Belgian worked with motorcycle racing legend Valentino Rossi, whose program for the upcoming season has not yet been confirmed.
The Italian desires to limit his racing activities and compete in just one championship – WEC or GT World Challenge Europe, by which he participated in the complete Endurance Cup schedule and two Sprint Cup rounds in 2024.
At last season's WEC finale in Bahrain in November, Rossi said he was leaning towards staying within the WEC on BMW's orders.
In this text
Gary Watkins
WEC
Sean Gelael
Darren Leung
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