McLaren in 2023 joined the ranks of automakers with a one-make race series, when it launched the inaugural season of the McLaren Trophy in Europe.
Similar to the pioneering Ferrari Challenge, the series is open to private teams comprised of both up-and-coming racing drivers and amateurs, and is fully supported by McLaren when it comes to logistics, replacement parts, and other forms of track-side support.
McLaren in March announced that the series would expand to the U.S. in 2025, and on Monday the company released the calendar for the inaugural U.S. season.
There will be five rounds containing two races each, supporting the calendar of the GT World Challenge America. Each race will span 50 minutes and include mandatory pit stops for driver changes, and the McLaren Automotive YouTube channel will live stream them all.
McLaren Trophy one-make race series
The five rounds will be held at Sonoma Raceway (March 28-30), Circuit of the Americas (April 25-27), Virginia International Raceway (July 18-20), Road America (Aug. 15-17), and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Oct. 3-5). Formula 1 fans will note Circuit of the Americas is the current home to the United States Grand Prix.
A Trophy race car based on the McLaren Artura supercar will be the focus of the McLaren Trophy in the U.S., though teams still competing with the former 570S Trophy in the European series will be able to compete in the U.S. series with the older car. There will be separate classes for each car.
The Trophy versions of the supercars are close in specification to their road-going siblings but feature modifications to the aerodynamics, powertrain, and safety systems. McLaren said the cars offer performance that comes close to matching GT3 race cars. In the case of the Artura Trophy, the road car's plug-in hybrid system has been removed, meaning there's only a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6, tuned in this case to deliver 577 hp, versus the 596 hp the engine makes in the road car.
