McLaren Adds Seven More Drivers to GT3 Junior Ranks
Photo: Drew Gibson
McLaren Motorsport has confirmed the return of multiple UK domestic championship-winning driver Adam Smalley as a GT3 Junior driver for this year.
Smalley will be joined by new additions Alessio Deledda, Baptiste Moulin, Lorens Lecertua, Riccardo Cazzaniga, Alejandro Geppert and McKenzy Cresswell.
They will be joined by four more drivers who complete the new Talent Pathway initiative with Elite Motorsport.
Smalleu was a race winner in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS last year, sharing the Garage 59 Gold Cup entry with fellow GT3 Junior driver Louis Prette and factory driver Dean MacDonald, where they claimed victory in the season finale at Barcelona.
This follows his British GT Silver Cup championship success in 2024.
Belgian racer Lecertua is the first of our six new members. The 19-year-old has already been a Silver Cup class winner in GTWC Europe and will be looking to emulate that success as he moves to McLaren customer team CSA this year.
He will be joined in the number 555 entry by Moulin, also from Belgium. The 2022 Italian GT champion has been a consistent presence in GT World Challenge Europe since 2020, forming a strong pairing with Lecertua.
Italian Deledda will also form part of the CSA stable but will be running a dual campaign in Italian GT3 Endurance and McLaren Trophy Europe.
Deledda has a wealth of racing experience, having raced in DTM, as well as finishing championship runner up in GT Open in 2024.
29-year-old Cazzaniga is set to compete in the Italian GT3 Sprint series with new customer team Raptor Racing. He was vice-champion in 2024 and contested a season of GT World Challenge Endurance Cup last season, the latest in nearly ten years of racing GT cars.
Demonstrating the pathway from McLaren Trophy to GT racing, 2025 McLaren Trophy Europe champion Geppert graduates to GT3 Junior status, becoming the second series champion to do so after Tommy Pintos.
Meanwhile, former single-seater racer and European GT4 Series race winner Cresswell completes the lineup. After a strong finish to his 2025 campaign, he returns aiming to challenge for the title.
Cresswell will also spearhead the Talent Pathway drivers competing with Elite Motorsport this season, alongside his European GT4 teammate Charlie Hart.
Promising young talents Fred Green, Yani Stevenheydens and Jacob Ashcroft complete the group benefiting from the initiative.
Through the Elite McLaren Talent Pathway, drivers will receive guidance and support from sporting director Rob Bell, with selected individuals invited to the McLaren Technology Centre for further assessment and potential progression to the factory driver program.
“This year is set to become one of the biggest yet for McLaren Motorsport,” said Head of Motorsport for McLaren Automotive Giorgio Sanna.
“With new teams joining and more cars running in different championships, our factory driver program is also expanding to meet the requirements of our customer racing teams.
“We have remapped our strategy for driver development during the off season to ensure we have a strong pipeline of potential future McLaren factory drivers through GT3 Junior, McLaren Trophy Academy the Talent Pathway categories.
“We’re very excited to see how these young athletes progress over the course of the season.”
Source: Sports Car 365