Gregor Jeets started the McLaren racing series with a podium finish and a victory

In Italy, at the legendary Monza circuit, the first round of the McLaren Trophy Europe was held over the weekend, consisting of two races. Estonian racing driver Gregor Jeets is competing in the series for the full season, and together with his Italian teammate Riccardo Ianniello, they started successfully, finishing third in the first race and winning the second.

It is a racing series where identical McLaren Artura Trophy Evo cars are driven. Jeets drives with his teammate for the Italian team Target Racing, and the weekend consists of two 45-minute races where drivers are also swapped.

In the qualifying for the first race of the opening round at the Monza circuit, Gregor Jeets was at the wheel, resulting in a sixth-place finish. In the first race, Jeets was largely able to maintain and even improve his position. When he came into the pits for the driver change, he was in fifth place. Teammate Ianniello also continued with good pace and rose to third place in the latter part of the race; second place wasn’t far off, but the race ended before that.

Gregor Jeets: “I couldn’t get a good result in qualifying due to red flags and traffic; fortunately, I managed to get one proper lap. In the race, the start was difficult and I lost a couple of places. After that, I tried to drive steadily, keeping the long game in mind, and managed to gain positions back. Riccardo drove a solid stint in the second half, and starting the season with a third place is good.”

In the morning qualifying driven on Sunday, Ianniello set the best time, securing pole position. At the start, the Italian racing driver dropped two places but managed to take one of them back. When the Target Racing car returned to the track after the pit stop with Gregor Jeets at the wheel, they were in first place. A moment after Jeets entered the track, a competitor drove into the wall, and the safety car came out. The driver was fine, but since removing the car and repairing the track barrier would have taken too much time, and enough laps had been completed, it was decided to end the race there. For Gregor Jeets and Riccardo Ianniello, this meant a victory in the second race.

Gregor Jeets: “On Sunday, Riccardo had a good qualifying, and after the swap, we were leading with a decent margin. But two crashes and dealing with the aftermath took too long, so the race was declared over, and we were the winners. First weekend, two podiums, a third and a first place, and the team won in the team standings. We are satisfied.”

The McLaren Trophy Europe season continues from June 24-27 in Belgium, at the Spa circuit.

McLaren Trophy Europe 2026 Season Calendar
May 29-31: Monza, Italy
June 24-27: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
July 17-19: Misano, Italy
October 02-04: Barcelona, Spain
October 16-18: Portimao, Portugal