Greystone GT join International GT Open Pro class with Kell and MacDonald

Greystone GT are excited to announce an expanded line-up for the remainder of the International GT Open season with the introduction of a third McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.

British duo James Kell and factory McLaren driver Dean MacDonald will drive the #33 McLaren in the Pro class; the first time the Silverstone-based team has fielded a car in GT Open’s premier category.

James, from Morpeth, has made a strong impression on GT racing since his category debut in 2020, claiming wins in the British GT Championship’s GT4 class on his way to third in the following year’s standings and, last year, a class podium at the Dubai 24 Hours.

Runner-up in British GT’s GT3 Silver-Am category in 2022 and third in ’23, he has stepped up to full-time international competition this year and won the Silver Cup class at the world’s biggest GT3-only race, the 24 Hours of Spa, in July.

Dean, from Kelty, near Edinburgh, was another to make a big impression in British GT as he finished third in the GT4 standings in just his second season of racing in 2019.

A race winner in the ultra-competitive GT4 European Series, Dean moved up to GT3 competition in 2022 and won the GT World Challenge Europe Pro-Am title; adding a Gold Cup victory at last year’s 24 Hours of Spa.

The duo will drive the Greystone GT McLaren together for the first time next week at the Red Bull Ring, Austria, ahead of their GT Open debut at the same track on September 13-15.

They will complete the season with events at Barcelona and Monza alongside the full-season Pro-Am cars driven by Stewart and Lewis Proctor and by Andrey Borodin and Oli Webb.

James Kell said: “I’ve known Mark [McLoughlin, Team Principal] and Tim [Mullen, Sporting Manager] for a while and raced against them in different series, but having had a glimpse of how they do things at Greystone GT, it was a no-brainer for me when this opportunity came up. The overriding ambition has been to show what we and Greystone GT can do with a Pro car in GT Open and I think we can do well. I’ve never driven with Dean but he’s a fast factory driver and I think we’ll work well together. The aim is to win before the end of the year and I don’t think that’s unrealistic either.”

Dean MacDonald said: “I’m excited to have this deal in place for the end part of the season and totally agree with James that we should be aiming as high as possible and ultimately for the top step of the podium. I’ve worked with Greystone GT a couple of times over the past year and have seen first-hand how well they run their team and how good their technical and management people are. We’ve been trying to put something together for a while, so to have this GT Open programme confirmed with James is brilliant. I can’t wait to get racing.”

Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “We’re delighted to welcome James and Dean – two quality drivers with a lot of experience of the GT3 McLaren – to Greystone GT. We have been planning a Pro car entry into GT Open for some time and this announcement is the result of 12 months of work from the team to prepare. We should be competitive from the start and having an all-Pro lineup in the #33 car will help support and drive performance for our existing team drivers who have been doing a great job all year. It’s set to be an exciting end to the season.”