Leung ‘Not Missing a Beat’ Jumping Between McLaren, BMW

Photo: United Autosports

Darren Leung says a combined program that will see him pilot both McLaren and BMW GT3 machinery in different championships will allow him to improve as a driver, insisting he ‘feels like he’s not missing a beat’ switching between the two cars.

The Bronze-rated driver made the move to United Autosports and its McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for his second season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, teaming up with Sean Gelael and Marino Sato.

Leung made his WEC debut with Team WRT and BMW last year, notably taking a class win in the 6 Hours of Imola and finishing on the podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

However, while the 37-year-old has moved away from BMW in WEC, his affiliation with the Munich brand is set to continue through his own Paradine Competition operation in GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

“I’ve actually expanded my BMW operations in World Challenge, so we’re actually going to be running two cars this year,” Leung told Sportscar365. “I’m going to be running a Silver car as well.”

The move to McLaren marks something of a departure for Leung, who, with the exception of an outing with Ferrari and Sky-Tempesta Racing in last year’s FIA Motorsport Games, has only raced BMW machinery in GT3 competition.

When asked if he feels jumping between the two brands will allow him to be a better driver, Leung replied: “I feel like it has, yeah.”

“At the end of last year I drove the Ferrari, the Lamborghini [Huracan GT3 EVO2] and the McLaren. Each time I was quite pleased really. It kind of went better than I expected.

“What it generally does is it forces you to really think about your driving from a fundamental level because you have to make real fundamental differences.

“And so I think every time you put your mind through that cycle, I feel like it improves your understanding a little bit more.

“So it’s quite nice from that respect. I don’t feel like I’m missing a beat, jumping between the McLaren and the BMW.

“I was in Dubai obviously, doing some testing for GT World Challenge on the Pirelli tires and then we switched to Michelins and got ready for the race.

“I drove eleven hours in the race and then got back in the McLaren the week after. A few laps here and there [and] I felt like I was where I needed to be.”

Leung also went into further detail when it comes to differences in driving between the two cars, revealing that the McLaren is a closer fit to his driving style than the BMW he took to championship success in GTWC Europe and the British GT Championship.

“They are very, very different cars,” Leung said. “The weight distribution is obviously a big thing.

“Generally speaking, the chassis [on the McLaren], with it being smaller and stiffer, you feel that. Also the wheel rates are generally much stiffer as well.

“With the BMW, the place where it really struggles the most is in the corners, especially with mechanical grip.

“So we generally have to run that car quite soft, which then changes your driving style quite a lot. You end up having to V corners off more because obviously you’ve got superior straight line speed because you’re down the corner in speed.

“The McLaren is kind of the inverse of all of that, really. Generally you can attack the McLaren a lot more on the brakes.

“You roll a lot more minimum speeds. So you’re attacking the entries more, which generally suits my driving style a bit more, I think.

“The way you need to drive the BMW is like opposite to how I naturally like to drive. I normally like to attack the entry quite hard and kind of have the car on the nose in that phase.

“Whereas with the BMW you’ve got to really build the lateral up in that car and you’ve got to be very precise with your apex points and stuff.”