Tolman Motorsport launched its 2019 British GT campaign during the championship’s official Media Day at Donington Park on Tuesday (5 March).
The Warkwickshire-based outfit announced that it will advance McLaren’s Driver Development Programme with a pair of 570S GT4s for James Dorlin, Josh Smith, Jordan Collard and Lewis Proctor on Thursday (28 February), but today broke cover in the Donington Park pit lane.
The McLaren Customer Racing Team utilised the day’s three British GT test sessions to shake down its McLarens and complete a full programme of system checks while its refreshed quartet of drivers bedded in to their new surroundings.
For Dorlin, Smith and Collard, Media Day was their first opportunity to sample the Tolman Motorsport-prepared McLarens, although Proctor simply had to dust off his shoulders after a long off-season.
All four benefited from coaching and data analysis from McLaren factory drivers in preparation for a series of test days, to be held in the weeks leading up to the 2019 British GT curtain-raiser at Oulton Park in Cheshire (20-22 April).
Collard added: “It has been a really positive and useful day when it comes to learning how to drive the McLaren 570S GT4 and the way we’ve prepared in the Driver Development Programme definitely put us in good shape. Our pace was good, but we weren’t pushing hard and it was primarily about getting to grips with the car. We have more testing to come and I think we will be strong come the first round of the season at Oulton Park.”
Tolman Motorsport Team Principal, Christopher Tolman, said: “It has been a very good day. We shook both cars down, each driver got a lot of meaningful running, therefore it was a hugely successful first day for the team. We weren’t chasing lap time today, it was just about assessing the cars and bedding in the drivers, who all drove flawlessly and stayed out of trouble. We have three more test days, including one at Oulton Park, so we should be well dialled-in once the season starts in earnest.”
