CRS Racing

CRS Racing

Company type	Motorsport team
Industry	Motorsport
Founded	2007
Founder	Andrew Kirkaldy, Chris Niarchos
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Key people	Andrew Kirkaldy, Chris Niarchos
Products	Motorsport competition, customer vehicle construction and servicing (as McLaren GT)

CRS Racing is a UK-based motorsport team created by driver Andrew Kirkaldy and businessman Chris Niarchos. Launched in 2007, the outfit originated from Kirkaldy's earlier venture, Team AKA, which had competed in the British Formula Renault Championship since 2004. Chris Niarchos, founder of the Cobra Group, initially provided sponsorship before forming a partnership with Kirkaldy to broaden the team's scope beyond Formula Renault into competitions such as the European FIA GT Championship and British GT Championship.

In 2010, CRS Racing formed an alliance with McLaren Automotive to assist in developing their sports car program. This collaboration led to a rebranding as McLaren GT, focusing on constructing and servicing customer vehicles. Post-2012, CRS Racing dedicated its efforts exclusively to McLaren GT operations.

History

Andrew Kirkaldy's Team AKA made its first appearance in British Formula Renault in 2004, fielding driver James Jakes. Jakes finished tenth in the Drivers Championship and helped secure third place for the team in 2005. The squad’s inaugural Formula Renault win came through Swedish driver Alexander Storckenfeldt at Thruxton. Team AKA also entered Jakes in the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup. Following Jakes and Storckenfeldt's departure, the team signed Jeremy Metcalfe, Peter Rees, and Irish racer Patrick Hogan. Hogan recorded six victories but narrowly missed out on the championship title due to a tiebreaker; meanwhile, the team finished second behind Fortec Motorsport in the Teams Championship.

In 2007, Chris Niarchos began backing Team AKA during its fourth British Formula Renault season. Niarchos and Kirkaldy had previously been teammates at Scuderia Ecosse in the FIA GT Championship. The team was renamed AKA Cobra and added drivers Adam Christodoulou, Chris Holmes, and Nathan Caratti alongside Metcalfe. Christodoulou achieved fourth place overall while Metcalfe secured two wins; AKA Cobra again finished as runners-up to Fortec in the Teams Championship.

Following 2007, Niarchos and Kirkaldy expanded their vision to include entries in both FIA GT and British GT Championships, ending their association with Scuderia Ecosse. The team adopted the name CR Scuderia to highlight their Ferrari involvement and recruited several reigning champions across different series. Rob Bell co-drove with Kirkaldy in FIA GT while Niarchos led a separate entry. The British GT roster featured Luke Hines, Jeremy Metcalfe, James Sutton, Michael Meadows, Michael Cullen, and Paddy Shovlin. Christodoulou returned to contest Formula Renault alongside Scott Jenkins, Sten Pentus, and Ryuji Yamamoto.

The 2008 campaign proved highly successful with wins spanning all three categories. Kirkaldy and Bell dominated both races at the Bucharest City Challenge and secured sixth place overall in FIA GT. The trio of Ferraris earned victories in British GT; Hines and Metcalfe finished second in the Drivers Championship as CRS Racing claimed the Teams Championship title. Christodoulou captured the British Formula Renault Drivers Championship with seven race wins.

Current activities

Ahead of the 2009 season, CR Scuderia was rebranded as CRS Racing, maintaining much of its existing team framework. Kirkaldy and Bell continued competing in FIA GT while Niarchos teamed up full-time with Tim Mullen in a second Ferrari entry. The team also retained its Formula Renault presence with new drivers Harry Tincknell, Matias Laine, Joshua Scott, and Lewis Williamson joining the lineup.

As reigning British GT Team Champions, CRS Racing transferred their additional Ferraris to the FIA GT3 European Championship for 2009, fielding drivers Chris Goodwin, Klaas Hummell, Phil Quaife, and Robert Hissom. CRS has played a key role in developing the GT3 specification of the McLaren MP4-12C. This model made its racing debut at a British GT Championship event held at Spa-Francorchamps in July 2011, securing pole position and achieving a best finish of fourth place with drivers Chris Goodwin and Andrew Kirkaldy. In that same month’s Spa 24 Hours, three MP4-12C cars participated, with one completing the endurance race.

GP3

Year	Vehicle	Competitors	Events	Victories	Pole positions	Fastest laps	Points scored	D.C.	T.C.
2010	Dallara GP3/10-Renault	Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Patrick Reiterer	4	0	0	0	0	33rd	7th
		Template:Country data ESPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Roberto Merhi	12	0	0	0	26	6th
		Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Oliver Oakes	16	0	0	0	0	28th
		Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Vittorio Ghirelli	16	0	0	0	0	34th
2011	Dallara GP3/10-Renault	Template:Country data PHITemplate:Namespace detect showall Marlon Stöckinger	16	0	0	0	0	29th	10th
		Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Nick Yelloly	16	0	0	0	7	21st
		Template:Country data SUITemplate:Namespace detect showall Zoël Amberg	16	0	0	0	0	28th
2012	Dallara GP3/10-Renault	Template:Country data HUNTemplate:Namespace detect showall Tamás Pál Kiss	16	0	0	0	38	12th	8th
		Template:Country data BELTemplate:Namespace detect showall John Wartique	10	0	0	0	0	25th
		Ethan Ringel	16	0	0	0	0	29th
		Template:Country data BRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Fabio Gamberini	2	0	0	0	1	20th
		Template:Country data ARGTemplate:Namespace detect showall Facu Regalia	4	0	0	0	0	27th

D.C. = Drivers' Championship ranking, T.C. = Teams' Championship ranking.