McLAREN 650S GT3 TO START MOTUL SEPANG 12 HOURS FROM THE FRONT ROW

December 9, 2016 by McLaren

Factory Driver Alvaro Parente secured P2 on the grid for customer team K-PAX Racing ahead of this weekend's Motul Sepang 12 Hours, continuing his strong season with the US-based team. After progressing through the qualifying sessions to the Top 15 shootout, the Portuguese driver set a blistering laptime of 2m 02.764s driving its #9 McLaren 650S GT3 – just 0.130s off pole.

Parente's best lap in the session driving the 650S GT3 – which he has claimed six race wins this season, helping secure three 2016 Pirelli World Challenge titles – came following a strong run of form in the three practice sessions ahead of Qualifying at the event. The Portuguese driver was consistently among the fastest on track, ending two of the three free practice sessions at the top of the timesheets. During the final top 15 shootout, he was also the first driver to break the 2m 03s barrier during qualifying, beating last year's pole position time in the process.

The 2016 running of the Sepang 12 Hours is set to be K-PAX Racing's debut endurance event, and first trip to Asia as a team. Despite that though, it is rightly aiming for silverware at the event. The Californian team, which is partnered with endurance racing specialists Flying Lizard Motorsports, will see Parente share driving duties with fellow McLaren Factory Drivers Côme Ledogar and Shane van Gisbergen.

The race will run from midday to midnight local time in Malaysia (GMT +8hrs) on the full layout of the Hermann Tilke-designed Sepang International Circuit, which plays host to the Formula 1™ Malaysian Grand Prix, as well as many other high profile motorsport events each year.

Keep up to date with the K-PAX Racing and the 650S GT3 throughout the race weekend by following @McLaren_GT on Twitter, and join the conversation using #McLarenatSepang.

About McLaren Automotive:

McLaren Automotive is a British manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports cars, located at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey.

Following the global launch of McLaren Automotive in 2010, the groundbreaking 12C was launched in 2011, the 12C Spider in 2012, and the limited-run McLaren P1™ went into production in 2013. In keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, the company unveiled the 650S, in coupe and Spider form in 2014, and has announced the Sports Series among the models to be introduced in 2015. The brand continues to expand, and McLaren posted a profit during 2013 – only the third year of vehicle production. This was followed in 2014, by a third consecutive year of growth in sales with a record 1,649 vehicles delivered via a dedicated global network of retailers in every major automotive market.

McLaren Automotive Partners

To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative and highly acclaimed sports cars, McLaren Automotive has partnered with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise and technology including, AkzoNobel, ExxonMobil, Pirelli and SAP.

Designed for the track; Developed for the road

The connection between Formula 1 and road cars at McLaren is a natural process of experience, knowledge, principles and process transfer. Through the integration of 50 years of Formula 1™ racing expertise and knowledge, and over 20 years of heritage in producing landmark sports cars, McLaren Automotive designs, develops and builds a range of technologically advanced and groundbreaking high performance sports cars which are designed to be a no compromise drive on both road and track.

McLaren has pioneered the use of carbon fibre in vehicle production over the past 30 years, and since introducing a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with the 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis.

Photo credit: McLaren
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