Gamble Joins McLaren’s Factory Driver Roster

McLaren Motorsport has confirmed its factory driver roster for the 2023 season and its pool of young talent in its Junior Pro Driver and Academy programmes.

The newest name for the factory driver stable is Tom Gamble. The 21-year-old has established a competitive career in sportscar and GT racing with United Autosports, and in 2020 was crowned LMP3 champion in the European Le Mans Series. Prior to this he won the 2018 Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award and has competed in Asian Le Mans Series, Le Mans Cup, British GT, GT World Challenge, IMSA Sportscar Championship LMP3 and GTD classes.

He joins Marvin Kirchhöfer, who has been retained by McLaren for 2023 after impressing with Garage 59 and JOTA last season, and McLaren mainstay Rob Bell. Bell continues his longstanding relationship with the brand. The Blancpain title-winning driver has been hands-on in developing the Artura GT4 and Artura Trophy race cars.

In addition to the three McLaren factory drivers, a new McLaren Junior Pro Driver category has been established for 2023. Two promising young drivers have joined the programme with a view to becoming established GT competitors under the tutelage of the works drivers.

Part of this new initiative will be Benjamin Goethe. The 19-year-old holds dual German and Danish nationalities and has raced in GT categories since 2019. Runner-up in the 2021 24H GT Series – GT3 Pro class, he was GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup – Silver champion in 2022, also placing third in the GT World Challenge Sprint Cup Silver class. In addition, Benjamin has competed in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, ADAC GT Masters and Le Mans Cup GT class.

Nicolai Kjærgaard also joins the programme after a successful season racing a Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 in GT World Challenge Europe that yielded pole positions and podium finishes. The 23-year-old Dane, a runner-up in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, made his GT racing debut in 2020.

British driver Aston Millar will become a McLaren Academy Driver. The 18-year-old placed third in last year’s Ginetta GT Supercup in the UK, having graduated as the reigning Ginetta Junior champion and will continue his GT racing development with McLaren.

“I’m delighted to welcome Tom, Benjamin, Nicolai and Aston to the McLaren family,” says Ian Morgan, Director of Motorsport, McLaren Automotive. “Tom has proven to be a formidable sportscar and GT racer and will fit in well with Rob and Marvin in our factory driver line-up. Marvin has settled in well with a strong 2022 season and I’m pleased that we were able to retain him again for 2023.

“Rob’s tenacity and experience has been invaluable in developing the new Artura GT4 and Artura Trophy race cars, which we have recognised by asking him to take on a more senior position within our Factory Driver team this year. Benjamin, Nicolai and Aston are exciting future prospects and we are really looking forward to seeing how they progress through 2023.”

Rob Bell image courtesy of McLaren

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