When Bruce McLaren first created his team in 1963, the philosophy back in these glorious years was to go racing every weekend, jumping from a Le Mans prototype to an F1 car while successfully doing Can-Am races or the Indy 500 on the side. Then, Ron Dennis came along in the early ’80s to save the team from bankruptcy and turn it into an F1 force until both parties parted ways in deleterious circumstances in 2017. 35 years during which Dennis’ strict guidance had established McLaren as one of the most prestigious names in Formula 1. The pinnacle series of motorsport had for long become the brand’s prime business at the exception of some Endurance incursions pushed by McLaren Cars (now Automotive), McLaren Racing’s sister company, notably rewarded with a win at the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours for the F1 GTR car.

If the name of McLaren has re-appeared over the years in GT series through their customer program, the official racing team is now also looking at new horizons beyond the sole F1. A slight change of course triggered by the arrival of American Businessman Zak Brown in Ron Dennis’ seat and powered by Fernando Alonso’s growing hunger to crown himself with the so-called “Triple Crown”. As a result, McLaren has been expanding its motor racing involvements for the last two seasons by tackling not-only F1 but also GT racing, Indy 500 and now… karting!

From now on, the name of McLaren is visible on karting tracks thanks to a new partnership with the British brand brought to life by Rainer Dörr, Founder of Dörr Motorsport which runs 570S GT4 in the German ADAC GT Series using a mixture-livery of the famous McLaren papaya-orange and blue, and Thomas Braumüller, the man behind the TB Racing Team which won last year’s FIA Karting European OK Championship with Hannes Janker running chassis provided by Kart Republic.

208,Sasse Hugo(DEU),Tb racing team(KART-REPUBLIC/Iame/Bridgestone), Lonato, 17 February 2019. Winter Cup, © 2019, Alexandros Vernardis / The RaceBox.

How did you come up with the idea of this new partnership?

The idea was born at the beginning of 2018. Rainer Dörr and I thought of a new idea to bring talented kart drivers into car racing. Luckily, we found in McLaren an excellent partner who believes in the project.

What did trigger the interest of Dörr Motorsport to partner up TB Racing Team for this project?

The two sons of Rainer Dörr, Ben and Phil, have been driving in my racing team since 2017 and we have always had a very good and joyful relationship. As we have the same interests to train and promote young drivers, this partnership became the next natural step.

How is the McLaren brand involved?

TB, as a karting team, and Dörr, as a sportscar team, offer a perfect platform to inspire the young drivers to maybe access GT series one day. McLaren, which pays great attention to their expansion in the GT World, was immediately very interested in our project. This is also a new experience for them to be involved in karting.

Do you expect other specific synergies to grow between TB, Dörr and Mclaren in the future?

First and foremost, the partnership with McLaren will be very interesting for our sponsored drivers as they will receive various training courses at the Woking Center of McLaren to help them build their further career.

252,Dorr Ben(DEU),Tb racing team(KART-REPUBLIC/IAME/BRIDG), Lonato, 24 February 2019. WSK Super Master Series, © 2019, Alexandros Vernardis / The RaceBox.

What is your program for 2019? And for what objectives?

In 2019 we will again participate in the FIA Karting European and World Championships. As a German team, we can’t miss the DKM Kart Championship and the ADAC Kart Masters. As preparation, we are doing some runs in the WSK series as well. Our goal is to continue to improve and eventually bring one or two titles back home.

After the FIA Karting World Championship in Sweden, Hannes Janker had said he would step down from competition for a while. What will be his role in the team?

His retirement only lasted one Winter (laughs)! Actually, Hannes will race less this season compared to 2018. But he will appear at the CIK-FIA races and coach our young drivers. He will take part in one or more tests at the wheel of a GT4 McLaren.

What are your expectations with Hugo Sasse and Ben Dörr?

I think that, with Hugo and Ben, we have two very talented boys. Hugo was second in the 2017 DJKM and second in the 2018 DKM. Now it’s time to get even more consistent and take the next step to the title. Last season, Ben won the ADAC Kart Masters, the German Rotax MAX Challenge and was third at the DJKM. This year, he will be one of the youngest to compete in the OK class.

Alongside Hugo Sasse, Ben Dörr and Hannes Janker, the papaya-orange colors of this new operation will also be defended by Phil Dörr at the wheel of a McLaren 570S GT4, competing with the Dörr Motorsport Team in the very first edition of the ADAC GT4 Series starting on April 26th-28th on the Oschersleben circuit, in Germany.

Text: Guillaume Alvarez

Photos: Alex Vernardis / The RaceBox