McLaren Motorsport Expands Factory GT Driver Line-up to 16 for 2026 Season
McLaren Motorsport has confirmed a 16-driver factory roster for the 2026 GT racing season, including the promotion of Joseph Loake to full factory driver status.
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What Happened
The McLaren Motorsport Factory Driver roster for 2026 will expand to 16 drivers across two categories. German racer Marvin Kirchhöfer heads the lineup, with Dean MacDonald, Benjamin Goethe, Arthur Rougier, and Simon Gachet returning. Joseph Loake graduates from the Junior Pro category after a strong GT debut last year.
“I am really pleased that we have a strong group of drivers making up the Factory Driver programme. Marvin, Dean, Benji, Simon, Arthur and Joseph are all top GT drivers, and it is a credit to our factory roster that we have them onboard.”
- Ben Dörr (returning)
- Josh Rattican (fourth year)
- Tommy Pintos (2023 McLaren Trophy Europe champion)
- Jayden Kelly (2025 champion)
- Louis Prette (Garage 59 driver)
- Tom Fleming (Garage 59 driver)
Why this matters
The expanded lineup and streamlined development program from the McLaren Trophy Academy to factory driver highlight McLaren's commitment to nurturing GT racing talent across global series.
Terms in This Story
- Factory driver
- A professional racing driver officially employed or sponsored by a car manufacturer to represent its brand in motorsport events.
- GT3
- A category of grand touring race cars built to global technical regulations, used in top-level GT championships.
- GT4
- A lower-tier grand touring class with less powerful cars, often used as a stepping stone to GT3.
- McLaren Trophy
- A one-make racing series for McLaren cars, serving as a development platform for aspiring GT drivers.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.