Adderbury’s James Kell has been named as a 2026 McLaren GT3 Junior Driver
James began his career with McLaren in 2021 and has represented the Woking brand every year since, scoring multiple class race wins throughout Europe.
Over the past two years, James has mainly concentrated on the GT World Challenge Europe. 2024 saw wins in the Silver category at the Spa 24 Hours, as well as winning overall in International GT Open at Monza with fellow McLaren driver Dean McDonald.
The pairing continued in International GT Open last year, scoring wins at Portimão and the Red Bull Ring. James also contested the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Gold Cup finishing third in the championship with CSA Racing.
He achieved three podiums (Paul Ricard, Spa 24Hrs, Nürburgring) including a win at Paul Ricard. James, who was effectively only denied the Gold Cup title after a DNF at Monza, will announce his 2026 programme in the coming weeks.
James commented:
“I’ve always been a fan of McLaren since a young age, so to be associated with the factory and have their backing for 2026 is a dream come true!
“My aim now is to build on the highlights of the past two years. I have successfully raced a McLaren every year in some form since 2021 with a variety of teams including RJN, Race Lab, Greystone and more recently CSA.
“I’ve competed in various championships throughout Europe for the Woking brand, enjoying many podium placings and class wins after strong performances in both GT4 then GT3. I scored my first overall race win in GT3 with Greystone GT at the 2024 Monza 500 in the International GT Open, which was pretty special. I’d suggested to the team to go for ‘wets’ instead of the ‘slicks’ that most of our rivals were using at the start of the race. I went from P8 to P1 in three corners and built up a 36 second lead.
“Third place in the Spa 24 Hours last year (2025, left) was nice, as was a class win and sixth overall at Paul Ricard considering it was the first year CSA had run the McLaren.”
For further information, please contact:
Martyn Pass Public Relations Ltd. Tel: 07801 859502
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