Max Esterson enters the second GT3 race weekend of his career, with his most recent race at Daytona marking his debut with RLL Team McLaren.

The program came together quickly ahead of the team’s first test at Daytona in November, as it received its McLaren 720S GT3 EVO just 10 days before the prologue event. However, with one race completed and additional testing sessions in the books, Esterson and the team continue to see progress.

“Yeah, I think even though we had the issue at Daytona early on, it was good we got to run all the laps,” said Esterson. “After that sensor issue or software issue, we ran pretty much issue-free the whole race. I think we learned a lot there, and really I think it was a turning point from the Roar Before the 24 to the Rolex 24. We improved massively. We had a lot of issues in the November test and also the Roar. Then at the race weekend, we seemed to get to the bottom of that. Then we tested here at the start of February or mid-February. From the first session, we seemed to be in a decent window where the car was quite drivable, at least to be able to make small changes rather than huge swings of things.”

For Esterson, track time is crucial. Given his limited amount of experience with GT3 machinery, every event provides another opportunity to learn more about the car and continue the program’s growth.

Fortunately, having a veteran of the McLaren platform such as Dean McDonald early in the season has helped accelerate that process.

“It’s been good, especially to have Dean McDonald here the first two rounds,” Esterson said. “Because I think this is basically the only car he’s driven in his career. Maybe a bit of GT4, but he’s never driven another GT3 car. So he’s only been in this car for five years, basically. So obviously he knows it super well and, yeah, he’s super quick. So it’s a good benchmark, and I think it’s something good for Nikita (Johnson) and me to chase. We’re getting close, but yeah, he’s definitely super useful to have around.”

While everything is still fresh, Esterson is beginning to gravitate toward the IMSA style of racing.

“Yeah, just learning the nuances of it. It’s been hard for me not to overpush, I think, coming from a single-seater background. I think unless the conditions are really good, then you can’t really push 100 percent, or else the lap time just doesn’t come. So there are a lot of instances where if you back off a little bit, you actually seem to go quicker. So that’s been something I’ve learned. I’ve been enjoying the rhythm of multi-class racing.”

 

 

Image Courtesy to Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA

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