Zak Brown Provides Series of Updates Ahead of Rolex 24 At Daytona
By Tony DiZinno
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a media roundtable in advance of the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown joined McLaren Hypercar Team Principal James Barclay and Brown’s co-owner of United Autosports, Richard Dean, to reiterate McLaren’s interest in joining the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Brown has consistently noted since the formal launch of the McLaren top-level prototype program, its desire to join IMSA and only affirmed that last week.
“Let’s get WEC (FIA World Endurance Championship) up and running first, and our desire to be in IMSA is very high,” Brown told reporters.
“It’s one step at a time; no different from others. We got Formula 1 in a good place before we got into IndyCar. Then we had to get Formula 1 and IndyCar in a good place before going into WEC. The desire to be here (in IMSA) is strong.”
DailySportsCar, a leading sports car outlet, has a deeper dive on McLaren’s ambitions, starting with WEC and hoping to expand their presence into IMSA. You can read Stephen Kilbey’s full report here, with Kilbey also part of the IMSA Endurance Hour podcast roundtable from the weekend.
IMSA host Marshall Pruett also spoke to Brown for a video posted to the IMSA YouTube channel.
Kilbey and Brown both noted that Brown brought two McLaren Formula 1 drivers – two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso and 2025 World Champion Lando Norris – to the Rolex 24 in 2018 as part of a United Autosports Ligier LMP2 spec car.
Then unheralded at the time, the teenaged Norris and fellow young driver Phil Hanson impressed alongside Alonso; Norris’ World Championship and Hanson’s overall win at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari 499P were crowning achievements.
Brown was at Daytona in multiple capacities, having long observed United’s presence in IMSA and seeking to grow McLaren’s. McLaren Automotive is back in the WeatherTech Championship in 2026 with a Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) entry, with RLL Team McLaren fielding the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO for a quartet of rookies.
United, meanwhile, sought a second straight Rolex 24 At Daytona victory in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class and had two challengers. The Nos. 2 and 22 ORECA LMP2 07s. Daniel Goldburg, Rasmus Lindh and Paul Di Resta returned for a repeat attempt joined by new fourth driver Gregoire Saucy in the No. 22 car, with a new-look lineup in the No. 2 featuring Phil Fayer, Ben Hanley, Hunter McElrea and Mikkel Jensen.
The RLL Team McLaren entry fought through a tire pressure monitoring sensor issue and finished 12th in GTD PRO, although impressed with a front row start in class. The two United cars finished fourth (No. 22 car) and 10th (No. 2 car) in LMP2.
Brown, who has several Rolex 24 starts of his own, also raced last week as part of the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) IMSA Classic event, driving the ex-Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) 1990 No. 61 Jaguar XJR-16.
He’d only just arrived at Daytona Thursday from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Awesome (atmosphere), but I only just got here yesterday from Davos!” Brown told IMSA.com’s Holly Cain before the third and final WeatherTech Championship practice on Friday.
“I ran straight to my race car and have been in my motorhome. I think it’s going to be good. I haven’t really seen anyone yet!”
McLaren Photo by IMSA/Lumen Digital Agency; United LMP2 Photo Courtesy of United Autosports; Jaguar Photo Courtesy of HSR Communications