Balfe Motorsport will continue to be one of the strongest forces in the International GT Open this season. The British squad, which impressed by taking runner-up honors last year, will be sporting again its McLaren 650S.

The novelty is in the driver line-up: with Phil Keen taken by other programmes, Shaun Balfe will have a new top team mate, Rob Bell. The 37-year-old Brit, a double LMS GT Champion and winner last year of the Asian LMS and the Blancpain Endurance, is certainly one of the top drivers in the GT scene. This will be his first full campaign in the GT Open, where he made appearances in 2015 (Teo Martín McLaren) and 2011 (Vittoria Competizioni Ferrari).

Shaun Balfe commented: “Being the first privateers in the 2016 International GT Open and achieving runners-up overall, was a great achievement for our team. We have been very welcomed in the series and feel proud to be a British privateer team flying the Mclaren brand whilst delivering some very heathy results amongst a competitive international field around some great venues. We are very excited about 2017 and hope to do as well despite a larger and even more competitive field. We are extremely happy to welcome Rob in the team. He is without any doubt one of the world’s top GT drivers and are thrilled to benefit from his skills and experience”.