IMPRESSIVE DE BUT FOR MCLAREN’S 720SGT3

Ben Barnicoat is confident the new Mclaren 720S GT3 will shine in customer hands next year after a starring performance on its debut in the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi last weekend.

The Mclaren factory driver has been developing the successor to the 650S with fellow factory drivers Joe Osborne and Rob Bell, and was chosen to partner former Mclaren GT works drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Alvaro Parente in a works-entered car for the season-ending enduro.

The 720S was leading with two hours to go when a minor right-front damper problem resulted in a long pitstop for repairs that cost it four laps and demoted the crew to eighth, but Barnicoat said Mclaren had taken encouragement from its performance.

“It was frustrating that [the suspension problem] happened but to be able to perform as strongly as we did against Audis and Ferraris, which are well-renowned cars, was incredible and gives me a lot of confidence,” he told MN.

“We ran the car in full Fia-spec because the objective was to run it as customers will have it next year and get as much information as we could, which I think we did a very good job of.”

The outgoing 650S was renowned for being tricky to drive on the limit, so the new car has had significant suspension and geometry changes to make it more stable and easier for Am drivers to use. Barnicoat believes there is still “more on the table for us to be had” and added that development will be ongoing throughout next year when the first cars are delivered.

Meanwhile, the new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 had a troubled debut in Abu Dhabi after damage from an opening lap collision condemned the works-prepared car driven by Mark Farmer, Tom Canning, Ollie Wilkinson and Adrian Willmott to a lowly finish.

The Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon and Michael Broniszewski capitalised on Mclaren’s misfortune to take the team’s fourth straight win in the event.