After starting out as a bit of fun, UnitedAutosport is now one of the world’s top endurance teams. Having conquered LMP2 it has big ambitions to try and take on the top guns in the Hypercar ranks ⬇️
It started as a bit of fun in GT3, but now United Autosports is one of the world’s top endurance teams. Having conquered Le Mans in LMP2 and won European, Asian and the World Endurance Championship in LMP2 it has big ambitions to take on the top guns in the Hypercar ranks“I’d like to say it was mapped out and planned, but it wasn’t. We only intended to get a race trailer and GT3 Audi, and have some fun.
“There are so many very strong teams and really good people in motorsport,” says Dean. “It’s a tough place to stand out. Race wins are so important for the survival of your business. If you’re winning, you’re popular and the phone’s ringing. You need the best drivers and best budgets to win, but how do you get those if you’re not already winning? The other parts of the business allow you to do a better job and financially give you a lot more stability.
“That was the trigger and realisation that race teams are one thing, but you can complement the business with a motorsport-related product. Suddenly, if you’re having a bad race result you’ve still got some income and stability from other streams of motorsport.” The 2019-20 World Endurance ‘superseason’ was perhaps United’s biggest highlight so far. Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta won LMP2 in four of the eight rounds to take the title in a campaign topped by class victory at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours.
GT3 king WRT stole the show in 2021, while single-seater powerhouse Prema arrived last year. This season the Signatech team is back for one campaign before returning to the top class with Alpine. Dean believes such opposition is a positive, even if it means scoring eight consecutive LMP2 wins across the ELMS and WEC, as United did in 2019-20, is less likely.
“We have several race teams, they are our flagships and we’re all still racers. A lot of who we employ are here to make the cars go faster and win races, so when they are knocking on your office door saying, ‘If we invest in this – another day of testing, another day on a seven-post rig, buy the latest simulation software…’, it’s very hard to say no. You’ve got to find a way of funding it.
"It’s an exciting time to be in sportscars and Le Mans is only going to get bigger. We’re trying to make ourselves factory programme-ready"“The priority is a factory programme, but if you can’t do it that way then you’ve got to look at every option. It’s not something we’re pursuing seriously at the moment – the privateer approach. We’re watching with interest.”
“There’s been exciting racing in LMP2, you’ve got to hope that the racing is going to be close in the top class. It’s an exciting time to be in sportscars and Le Mans is only going to get bigger. We’re trying to make ourselves factory programme-ready.”Helping to find the next British stars
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