Exciting news for IMSA fans today as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) and McLaren Motorsport have announced a multi-year collaboration in which RLL will be racing the McLaren GT3 EVO in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD PRO class. RLL’s driver lineup for their new GTD PRO entry is not yet known, but they will be testing at Daytona later this month.

This is big news for both RLL and McLaren, as RLL’s BMW partnership ended in July after a 17 year long collaboration. RLL most recently ran BMW’s factory GTP program in IMSA which they debuted in 2023. They’ve had their fair share of struggles during this time, only finding the top step of the podium twice. Their first win was at the 2024 Battle on the Bricks in Indianapolis and most recently in 2025 at Road America. Both victories were one-two finishes for the team.

RLL Racing’s #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP entry at the Daytona 24 taken by me.

BMW has enlisted Team WRT to take over operation of their GTP entries in IMSA. This seems like the obvious choice, as Team WRT runs the BMW Hypercar program in the World Endurance Championship. The Belgian based team have even begun establishing a base of operations in Charlotte, North Carolina as a hub for their North American operations. 

“As someone who has always valued the rich history of motorsport, partnering with a brand as iconic as McLaren is truly exciting. The Rahal legacy began with my father Mike’s passion for sports car racing, and to now launch this new chapter with such a storied partner is something we take tremendous pride in.” – Bobby Rahal Co Owner of RLL

In the case of McLaren, they were absent on the IMSA grid this year in both GTD and GTD PRO. The McLaren GT3 EVO was last piloted by Pfaff Motorsports and Inception Racing but both outfits changed manufacturers for the 2025 season. McLaren is slated to debut their Factory Hypercar program in the WEC in 2027, which will be run by United Autosports. McLaren have not committed to running a GTP program in IMSA quite yet, but it hasn’t been ruled out by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. Perhaps if the RLL partnership shows promise, there is an opportunity for them to run the McLarens in the GTP category should they ever be entered in the championship.