Autoimmune disease charity joins the partner roster for the debut McLaren Trophy America season
McLaren Trophy America is proud to welcome Race for RP as an official championship partner as the series expands into the United States for the 2025 season. The partnership, which aims to raise awareness and funds for Relapsing Polychondritis, a rare and degenerative autoimmune disease, ensures that all competing cars will feature Race for RP branding starting at the season opener in Sonoma, California. In addition, the organization will enjoy additional presence in the paddock and promotional activations—including a charity auction to support vital research.
“We are very pleased to welcome Race for RP to the McLaren Trophy America paddock” said Ian James, Director of Motorsport from McLaren Automotive. “Neil is no stranger to us,” continues James, referencing Neil Langberg, Race for RP co-founder and board member. “Having been a member of the McLaren family for a long time now, it is exciting to have Race for RP as a championship partners and to raise further awareness for the incredible work they do.”
Langberg, affectionately known as “Neilio” in the paddock, recently announced a partnership with Forte Racing in North America to compete in McLaren Trophy America and has competed in both the Pure McLaren series and McLaren Trophy Europe previously.
Race for RP is a motorsports-driven initiative dedicated to raising awareness and accelerating research for Relapsing Polychondritis (RP) and other autoimmune diseases. Contrary to a typical driver/race team model, Race for RP ambassadors and drivers do not receive sponsorship funds from the organization to drive but instead volunteer their platforms to help raise awareness for the initiative.
“Race for RP is excited to partner with McLaren and the Trophy America Series as their chosen charity,” said Nancy Linn, Chair of Race for RP and the Relapsing Polychondritis Foundation. “Our mission to raise awareness and accelerate research for relapsing polychondritis (RP) and other autoimmune diseases, both within and beyond the racing community, makes this collaboration an ideal fit to expand our impact. These diseases are not incurable, they are just underfunded, and thanks to the generous support of race teams and drivers who have offered their platforms, we’ve connected with a loyal and compassionate group. By joining forces with McLaren for the inaugural McLaren Trophy America season, we have a unique opportunity to further amplify our message of hope for those affected by RP and other autoimmune diseases.”
In 2018, the organization that Race for RP supports, The Relapsing Polychondritis (RP) Foundation, expanded its focus to include RP and related autoimmune disease research and began purposefully leveraging the power of motorsports partnerships to catalyze research. Since then, their efforts have netted impressive results. “The Race for RP’s motorsports awareness campaign continues to support the RP Foundation’s mission to advance RP education and transformative research,” said David Bammert, President of the RP Foundation and Race for RP. “Whether it’s establishing the groundbreaking Penn RP Center to provide patients with access to specialized, multidisciplinary care teams, or providing seed funding for the PURPOSE Biobank at Allegheny Health Network to drive research and enhance the understanding of RP, Race for RP’s initiatives have been pivotal in raising awareness, fostering education, accelerating research, and building on the remarkable progress we’ve made.”
The 2025 McLaren Trophy America season kicks off at Sonoma Raceway, California, over March 28–30, marking the first of five race weekends. Each event will feature two 50-minute races, forming part of the SRO-run GT World Challenge America package. With expected crowds in the tens of thousands and full live streaming on YouTube, this partnership offers an incredible platform to amplify awareness for Race for RP’s important mission.
About Race for RP:
Race for RP is a motorsports initiative aimed at driving awareness and accelerating research for Relapsing Polychondritis (RP) and other autoimmune diseases. Through volunteer collaboration with drivers, teams, and sponsors, Race for RP fuels education, accelerates research, and raises awareness of Relapsing Polychondritis and other related autoimmune diseases. For more information, visit www.raceforrp.org or follow @raceforrp on social media.
About McLaren Trophy:
Launched in July 2022, the McLaren Trophy is a professional championship designed to challenge ambitious GT drivers, appealing to aspiring professional GT drivers, as well as Bronze ranked amateur drivers.
The Artura Trophy Evo race car is based on the McLaren Artura GT4 and is powered by the same V6 twin-turbo engine but tuned to provide 585PS. It also has a high downforce package with a bigger rear wing and additional front-end aerodynamics and is capable of lap times close to GT3 race cars. Featuring all-new McLaren Carbon Fibre Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), which provides a rigid carbon fibre chassis derived from the road car, Artura Trophy cars can be converted to GT4 specification, allowing teams and drivers to compete in both categories with the same chassis.
For 2025, McLaren Trophy will launch in the USA as a major support series of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. Similarly to its European brethren, it will feature 10 rounds spread over five events taking place across the length and breadth of the United States.
McLaren Trophy, America 2025 calendar:
- March 28–30 Rounds 1 & 2 Sonoma California
- April 25–27 Rounds 3 & 4 Circuit of the Americas Texas
- July 18–20 Rounds 5 & 6 Virginia Raceway Virginia
- August 15–17 Rounds 7 & 8 Road America Wisconsin
- October 17–19 Rounds 9 & 10 Indianapolis Speedway Indiana
The McLaren Trophy is presented in partnership with leading brands including Race for RP, Pirelli and Richard Mille.
About McLaren Automotive:
McLaren Automotive is a creator of luxury, high-performance supercars. Every vehicle is hand-assembled at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey, England. Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group. The company’s product portfolio of GT, supercar, Motorsport and Ultimate models are retailed through over 100 retailers in over 40 markets around the world. McLaren is a pioneer that continuously pushes the boundaries. In 1981, it introduced lightweight and strong carbon fibre chassis into Formula 1 with the McLaren MP4/1. Then in 1993 it designed and built the McLaren F1 road car – the company has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis since. As part of the Ultimate Series, McLaren was the first to deliver a hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1™. In 2016, it announced a new hybrid hyper-GT and confirmed in 2018 that the next Ultimate car would be the Speedtail.
2019 saw McLaren launch the 600LT Spider, the new GT and the track-only McLaren Senna GTR. It also unveiled the 620R and McLaren Elva before launching the 765LT the following year. Most recently, the company unveiled its all-new high-performance hybrid supercar, the McLaren Artura. The Artura is the first McLaren to benefit from the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). The MCLA is designed, developed and manufactured at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the Sheffield region of England using world-first processes and will spearhead the brand’s electrified future.
McLaren Automotive also chooses to partner with like-minded, world-leading companies and organisations who push the boundaries in their respective fields. These include AkzoNobel, Ashurst, Bowers & Wilkins, Dell Technologies, Gulf, InfiniteWorld, Pirelli, Richard Mille, Plan International and Tumi.
About McLaren Group:
The McLaren Group is a global leader in luxury automotive and elite motorsports with a focus on its Automotive supercar and Racing businesses. Founded in 1963 by racer, engineer and entrepreneur Bruce McLaren, the Group is formed of McLaren Automotive, which hand-builds lightweight supercars; and a majority stake in McLaren Racing which competes in the Formula 1 World Championship and INDYCAR in the US. The Group is globally headquartered at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. With a reputation for innovation and technological excellence, McLaren is one of the UK’s largest independent companies.
