DPO gears up for GT Championship

Nathan Morcom puts the DPO-Rondo-CSR McLaren through its paces at Queensland Raceway.
[Photo by Matthew Paul]

DPO will contest this year’s Australian GT Championship with a McLaren 650S driven by Nathan Morcom.

It’s a potent combination. The sleek rear-engined British coupe, one of three fielded this year by official Australian McLaren team TEKNO Motorsport, is the in-form car of the GT3 category after winning last month’s Bathurst 12 hour race.

And Nathan, DPO’s Operations Manager when he isn’t racing, is no stranger to supercars or daunting racetracks. He drove a Porsche 911 GT3-R in the 2014 German GT Masters Series, and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in last year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

In 2013 he set what was then the fastest officially recorded lap around the Mt Panorama circuit in qualifying for the Australian Formula 3 Championship round there.

DPO director Barry Morcom is looking forward to an exciting Australian GT Championship campaign with the McLaren, which also carries support from Rondo and CSR.

“We couldn’t have picked a better time for our first go in GTs here,” he said. “The category is booming with the latest cars from McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

“It’s great that our car is the Bathurst 12 Hour winner – and it was already painted in DPO Orange!”

Barry is happy with the results of testing before the opening round of the Australian GT Championship at the Adelaide Parklands circuit this weekend.

“Nathan tested the car for the first time at Queensland Raceway last week, and he went really well,” he said.“He had to get on the throttle early because of the turbo lag, but the handling and brakes were awesome.

“Nathan hasn’t raced on the Adelaide street circuit before, but that shouldn’t be a problem. He’s a quick learner, and without an amateur co-driver he has the car to himself.”

MCLAREN 650S GT3 SPECIFICATIONS

• Body: 2-seat, rear/mid-engined, rear-wheel drive coupe
• Chassis: carbon fibre
• Engine: 370kW (500bhp) twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V6
• Gearbox: 6-speed double-clutch with sequential shift by steering wheel paddles
• Final drive: Limited-slip differential with traction control
• Suspension: Adjustable double-wishbones, coil springs, Olin dampers, anti-roll bars
• Brakes: 380mm ventilated discs with 6-piston front/4-piston rear callipers and ABS
• Dimensions: Length 4534mm, Width 2040mm, Height 1200mm, Weight 1240kg
• Fuel tank: 130 litres
• Performance:0-100kmh in 3 seconds; 300+km/h top speed

ADELAIDE TIMETABLE*

THURSDAY, MARCH 31

1010-1030 practice (unofficial)

1500-1520 practice (unofficial)

1755-1815 qualifying

FRIDAY, MARCH 4

1225 Race 1 – 38min.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

0940 Race 2 – 38min.

SUNDAY, MARCH 6

0900 Race 3 – 38min.

* Australian Central Daylight Time (GMT +10.5 hours). Timetable subject to change by the organisers without notice.

ADELAIDE PARKLANDS CIRCUIT – 3.22km