Optimum Motorsport launches first-ever full-season GT World Challenge Europe Assault
Optimum Motorsport launches first-ever full-season GT World Challenge Europe Assault - with two-car campaign in Endurance Cup alongside their Sprint Cup debut.
Optimum Motorsport will return to contest GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the seventh consecutive season, marking a significant new chapter in the team’s history with a full-season GT World Challenge Europe entry for the first time in the team’s 20-year career. In addition to their Endurance Cup commitments, the McLaren Customer Racing team’s Silver Cup squad will also contest GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup - the team’s first foray into the shorter, two-driver race format - offering both the team and drivers a chance to clinch the overall GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup title.
The Yorkshire-based team will field a pair of McLaren GT3 EVOs in the ultra-competitive European multi-class championship, which consists of five Sprint Cup rounds and five Endurance Cup rounds - including the headline event: the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in late June, which will see two additional drivers added to Optimum’s sterling six-strong full-season squad.
Competing across both the Gold Cup and Silver Cup categories, Optimum Motorsport will unite proven race winners and champions, with emerging talent in a formidable six-driver line-up.
Contesting the Gold Cup class, the #4 crew will be spearheaded by gold-rated Adam Smalley, who has secured championships at every run on his career ladder - including karting, Ginetta Juniors, Ginetta GT4 Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup. He secured his first GT3 title back in 2024, claiming Silver-Am honours in the domestic British GT championship aboard a GT3 McLaren. In 2025, following a strong showing at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, he and his teammates secured overall pole position from 60 cars, at the final round of GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in Barcelona - successfully converting it into an overall victory.
“I’m delighted to be racing with Optimum this season in GT World Challenge Endurance Cup. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I’m really excited to be sharing the car with Freddie and Harry. We’ve got a great atmosphere within the team, and I’m confident we can push each other to deliver some strong results throughout the year”- Adam Smalley, #4 Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT3 EVO
Smalley will be joined by silver-graded Harry George, who secured four British GT class wins aboard Optimum’s McLaren Artura GT4 last season and clinched the British GT GT4 Silver championship.
Completing the #4 line-up will be Freddie Tomlinson, son of Lawrence Tomlinson, a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Chairman of nearby Leeds-based motorsport powerhouse, Ginetta Cars. Back in 2007, Ginetta’s various racing programmes enabled newly-founded Optimum Motorsport to lay its roots, before going on to achieve success across the globe. Experienced and ambitious in equal measure, Tomlinson Junior steps up to a full season of GT3 racing in Europe with Optimum Motorsport and McLaren Customer Racing, having honed his skills in Ginetta’s junior-spec racer and GT4 machinery within the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Last season, he campaigned the marque’s latest GT2 and LMP3 models throughout Europe.
Meanwhile, hoping to secure Silver Cup honours, will be the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Guilherme Oliviera, Mikey Porter, and Dante Rappange - an exciting blend of youth and established GT experience.
Former karting champion, Guilherme Oliviera, joins Optimum Motorsport, having since enjoyed a successful career in single-seaters, prototypes and GT competition on a global level, most notably being crowned the 2022 European Le Mans Series Vice-Champion. 2026 will be the second consecutive year of GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the young Portuguese ace, having contested the full-season with a McLaren GT3 EVO in 2025.
Newly-promoted McLaren GT3 Junior Driver, Mikey Porter, is somewhat of a regular at the Wakefield-based team. In 2026, Porter will return to the Optimum Motorsport fold for a renewed attack on Europe’s premier GT3 series, having contested the 2025 season with Optimum - albeit in the Gold Cup class. In preparation for the season ahead, Porter has already completed two gruelling endurance races this year: Dubai 24 Hours and Abu Dhabi 6 Hours.
In addition to their Endurance Cup campaign, Guilherme Oliviera and McLaren junior Mikey Porter, will, together, contest GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup with their #5 McLaren GT3 EVO, giving them an encouraging shot at the overall GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup title - for full-season entries.
“I’m really excited to build and grow in what will be my second year of GT World Challenge Europe with Optimum Motorsport. We are looking to build on our results as a team and think we have all the right people on-board to do so! Bring it on!” - Mikey Porter, Optimum Motorsport #5 McLaren GT3 EVO
Dutchman Dante Rappange completes the #5 Endurance Cup line-up; beginning his career in karts, the 23-year-old has since racked up competition miles throughout Europe. Rappange is a former GT4 European Series Vice-Champion, who has since campaigned GT3 machinery in both GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup. Rappange also teamed up with fellow Optimum talent, Harry George, as part of Optimum’s #77 squad for the 2026 Dubai 24 Hour back in January.
“I’m extremely proud of the team and what we have achieved over the last decade. We’ve gone from strength to strength, and this year will be our seventh season in GT World Challenge Europe, where the level of competition is world-class. Entering Sprint Cup for the first time, and fielding two cars in Endurance Cup - each with incredibly strong driver line-ups, marks yet another new chapter for Optimum Motorsport, following our Macau GT Cup debut at the end of 2025, and then our first time out at Bathurst 12 Hour last month” Shaun Goff - Optimum Motorsport Team Principal
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season kicks off at Paul Ricard, France, where the Official Prologue takes place just a few days ahead of the season-opener, held between the 11-12th April 2026 and featuring a 6-hour into-the-night race.
Optimum Motorsport launches first-ever full-season GT World Challenge Europe Assault - with two-car campaign in Endurance Cup alongside their Sprint Cup debut.
Optimum Motorsport will return to contest GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the seventh consecutive season, marking a significant new chapter in the team’s history with a full-season GT World Challenge Europe entry for the first time in the team’s 20-year career. In addition to their Endurance Cup commitments, the McLaren Customer Racing team’s Silver Cup squad will also contest GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup - the team’s first foray into the shorter, two-driver race format - offering both the team and drivers a chance to clinch the overall GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup title.
The Yorkshire-based team will field a pair of McLaren GT3 EVOs in the ultra-competitive European multi-class championship, which consists of five Sprint Cup rounds and five Endurance Cup rounds - including the headline event: the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in late June, which will see two additional drivers added to Optimum’s sterling six-strong full-season squad.
Competing across both the Gold Cup and Silver Cup categories, Optimum Motorsport will unite proven race winners and champions, with emerging talent in a formidable six-driver line-up.
Contesting the Gold Cup class, the #4 crew will be spearheaded by gold-rated Adam Smalley, who has secured championships at every run on his career ladder - including karting, Ginetta Juniors, Ginetta GT4 Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup. He secured his first GT3 title back in 2024, claiming Silver-Am honours in the domestic British GT championship aboard a GT3 McLaren. In 2025, following a strong showing at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, he and his teammates secured overall pole position from 60 cars, at the final round of GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in Barcelona - successfully converting it into an overall victory.
“I’m delighted to be racing with Optimum this season in GT World Challenge Endurance Cup. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I’m really excited to be sharing the car with Freddie and Harry. We’ve got a great atmosphere within the team, and I’m confident we can push each other to deliver some strong results throughout the year”- Adam Smalley, #4 Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT3 EVO
Smalley will be joined by silver-graded Harry George, who secured four British GT class wins aboard Optimum’s McLaren Artura GT4 last season and clinched the British GT GT4 Silver championship.
Completing the #4 line-up will be Freddie Tomlinson, son of Lawrence Tomlinson, a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Chairman of nearby Leeds-based motorsport powerhouse, Ginetta Cars. Back in 2007, Ginetta’s various racing programmes enabled newly-founded Optimum Motorsport to lay its roots, before going on to achieve success across the globe. Experienced and ambitious in equal measure, Tomlinson Junior steps up to a full season of GT3 racing in Europe with Optimum Motorsport and McLaren Customer Racing, having honed his skills in Ginetta’s junior-spec racer and GT4 machinery within the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Last season, he campaigned the marque’s latest GT2 and LMP3 models throughout Europe.
Meanwhile, hoping to secure Silver Cup honours, will be the #5 Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Guilherme Oliviera, Mikey Porter, and Dante Rappange - an exciting blend of youth and established GT experience.
Former karting champion, Guilherme Oliviera, joins Optimum Motorsport, having since enjoyed a successful career in single-seaters, prototypes and GT competition on a global level, most notably being crowned the 2022 European Le Mans Series Vice-Champion. 2026 will be the second consecutive year of GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the young Portuguese ace, having contested the full-season with a McLaren GT3 EVO in 2025.
Newly-promoted McLaren GT3 Junior Driver, Mikey Porter, is somewhat of a regular at the Wakefield-based team. In 2026, Porter will return to the Optimum Motorsport fold for a renewed attack on Europe’s premier GT3 series, having contested the 2025 season with Optimum - albeit in the Gold Cup class. In preparation for the season ahead, Porter has already completed two gruelling endurance races this year: Dubai 24 Hours and Abu Dhabi 6 Hours.
In addition to their Endurance Cup campaign, Guilherme Oliviera and McLaren junior Mikey Porter, will, together, contest GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup with their #5 McLaren GT3 EVO, giving them an encouraging shot at the overall GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup title - for full-season entries.
“I’m really excited to build and grow in what will be my second year of GT World Challenge Europe with Optimum Motorsport. We are looking to build on our results as a team and think we have all the right people on-board to do so! Bring it on!” - Mikey Porter, Optimum Motorsport #5 McLaren GT3 EVO
Dutchman Dante Rappange completes the #5 Endurance Cup line-up; beginning his career in karts, the 23-year-old has since racked up competition miles throughout Europe. Rappange is a former GT4 European Series Vice-Champion, who has since campaigned GT3 machinery in both GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup. Rappange also teamed up with fellow Optimum talent, Harry George, as part of Optimum’s #77 squad for the 2026 Dubai 24 Hour back in January.
“I’m extremely proud of the team and what we have achieved over the last decade. We’ve gone from strength to strength, and this year will be our seventh season in GT World Challenge Europe, where the level of competition is world-class. Entering Sprint Cup for the first time, and fielding two cars in Endurance Cup - each with incredibly strong driver line-ups, marks yet another new chapter for Optimum Motorsport, following our Macau GT Cup debut at the end of 2025, and then our first time out at Bathurst 12 Hour last month” Shaun Goff - Optimum Motorsport Team Principal
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season kicks off at Paul Ricard, France, where the Official Prologue takes place just a few days ahead of the season-opener, held between the 11-12th April 2026 and featuring a 6-hour into-the-night race.
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