United Autosports are preparing themselves for the third round of the 2022 European Le Mans Series which sees the championship return to the infamous Temple of Speed, Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Sitting second in the championship, after the winning success of Andrew Bentley and Kay van Berlo at their faultless race in Imola last month, the #3 AERO Ligier JS P320 will be looking to carry this momentum forward into this round, with the return of bronze driver Jim McGuire completing the original line-up.
Finn Gehrsitz, Bailey Voisin and Josh Caygill, in the #2 LMP3 suffered an unfortunate technical failure resulting in an early retirement in Imola. The young trio are currently fourth in the championship and with a strong performance at Monza, the circuit that Bailey Voisin made his GT4 debut with the team, winning both races, they can certainly be a force to reckon with at the top end of the competition.
Monza has been a place of success for the United Autosports LMP2 entries: a second-place finish for Phil Hanson and Tom Gamble last year, and a championship sealing circuit in 2020 when the team clinched the LMP2 European Le Mans Series Championship at the penultimate round, a feat never achieved before by a team. Currently fourth, just one point behind the third place contenders, Phil, Tom and Duncan Tappy will be looking to have another successful weekend for the team.
Phil Hanson:
“Coming off a podium in Imola I’m happy Monza is the next ELMS venue. United and I have had consistent top points scoring results in Monza across previous seasons which warrants high expectations for this year. It’s time to get back inside the fight for the championship.”
Tom Gamble:
“I’m really excited for Monza, it’s one of my favourite circuits and a circuit I’ve had great results at in the past! We had a strong result there last year with a second place finish so the aim will be to go one step higher.”
Duncan Tappy:
“After our strong showing at Imola, I can’t wait to head back to Monza and see what we can do there. It will be my first time there in an LMP2 car so I’ll be trying to learn as much as possible during the tests to be as best prepped as I can be. We are now back in the title hunt so as always, it’s 100% attack!”
Josh Caygill:
“Really looking forward to getting back out in the car at Monza and to make up for the disappointment of our technical retirement at Imola. We will keep pushing as always and try our best to be at the sharp end again.”
Finn Gehrsitz:
“After our previous frustrating race at Imola, where we couldn’t even finish the race, I am now highly motivated for a good result at Monza. I have been preparing hard for this round, enjoying some time in the AVL simulator, which I found really effective. I drove at Monza last year and it is one of my favourite races, I am confident in my knowledge of the circuit and hope for a really good result with the team.”
Bailey Voisin:
“I’m really excited to be heading back to the Temple of Speed this weekend. Not only do I love the track but the last time I was there, the team and I enjoyed great success at the opening round of the GT4 European Series in 2021. I really hope that we can hit the ground running and come away with a strong result.”
Jim McGuire:
“Really really looking forward to getting back into the car at Monza. I missed Imola but the boys had such a great result so I can’t wait to be back with them and carry on that trend of success we have started. I am also really happy to be back with United Autosports, coming off the back of Le Mans I’m excited to get racing again at one of my favourite circuits.”
Andrew Bentley:
“After the high of winning at Imola, we’ll be trying to keep that momentum going and we’ll be pushing hard to get another good result, this time with Jim back in the car.
Monza is another iconic track and we’ve had good pace here in the past, so if we can basically replicate what we did last time out, that would be great!”
Kay van Berlo:
“Super excited to return to Monza. It’s been four years since I last raced there, and it’s also the scene of my first European Le Mans Series LMP3 win. After a very good weekend at Imola we are going to try and keep that momentum going and I’m very happy about having Jim back for this round. He has shown some really good pace at the first round and at the test we did, so I’m pretty confident we can put a good result together and get some more points on the board.”
Max Gregory
“Monza has been a circuit that we’ve had some great success at, especially over the last two years. We’re currently in three very strong championship positions across both LMP2 and LMP3 so I think we have a really good chance to carry on that success this weekend.”
Source. United Autosports
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