

He also reaffirmed United’s intention to make a bid for two of the 15 grid slots to be reserved for P2 competitors at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year. “It is very different and we are not underestimating the challenge.”ĭean confirmed that United has yet to sign any drivers for its IMSA programme. “We have won races in the WEC, ELMS and Asian series every time we have entered cars, but it would be totally wrong to assume that we are going to do the same in IMSA,” he said.

TDS LMP2 car gets three-minute penalty for Le Mans FP1 Aston Martin crash.Could Le Mans 24 Hours safety car rule changes prompt an LMP2 upset?.United is not underestimating the challenge that will be presented by racing in IMSA, according to Dean. “We are still working on it and pushing hard, but there has got to be a door that’s unlocked if it is going to happen.” “Absolutely, we still want to race in Hypercar the ambition hasn’t changed,” he said. There will be no room for P2 as the Hypercar field grid expands to 20 or more cars and the new LMGT3 class takes over from GTE Am.ĭean insisted that United still has ambitions to graduate to the premier class of the WEC at some point in the future. “It is as a direct result of the success of Hypercar, which for the sport as a whole can only be a good thing," he said. Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Imagesĭean described the disappearance of P2 from the WEC as “a shame”, but said he understood the decision made by series organisers the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
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#22 United Autosports Oreca LMP2 07: James McGuire, Guy Smith, Duncan Tappy “This has given us the necessary kick up the backside to go and do it.” “It’s easy for us to say that we have always wanted to do a full season in IMSA right now, but it’s true,” he told Autosport. He revealed that competing in IMSA full-time was a long-held ambition for United after taking in a total of eight races in the North American series since 2018. Team boss Richard Dean explained that the “redirection of our entire WEC team” to IMSA was for the “foreseeable future”.

United, which is co-owned by McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown, will make its first full-season IMSA assault with a pair of ORECA-Gibson 07s while continuing to compete in both the European and Asian Le Mans Series next year.
