United Autosports posted 10th (#32), 13th (#23), 16th (#22) and 25th (#2) in the 31-car entry for the opening round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup at Paul Ricard (16 Apr). United’s LMP3 quartet started the 110mins race aiming to improve on third place finishes achieved in both 2020 & ‘21 at the high-speed venue in Southern France.
With all of the timed compulsory driver change pit-stops completed and with 42mins remaining, United Autosports’ “Pro” drivers were placed 14th (#32), 15th (#23), 17th (#2) and 20th (#22) having taken over from their bronze co-drivers who had started the race around the 3.59-mile circuit, after qualifying for the race earlier that day.
The #32 Ligier JS P320, driven by Kay van Berlo in the second half of the race, impressively moved inside the top-10 with two-minutes remaining. The #23 of John Schauerman and Wayne Boyd spun out of an excellent sixth position early on at T1, resuming P26, with Wayne finishing the race and just missing out on P12 at the chequered flag. #22 came through well to take 16th whilst the #2 spun in the closing stages due to lack of grip on worn tyres.
#32 Daniel Schneider (BRA)/Kay Van Berlo (NED)
Qualified: 21st (DS) TIME. Race: 10th
Daniel:
“The week has been a rollercoaster but thankfully it ended with a solid stint in the race and I was very happy with the car. I was on the pace and made no mistakes. I’d struggled a little in practice and then qualifying but sometimes that happens.”
Kay:
“It was a very good race for us. Our goal was to get points and we managed that with P10. The car immediately felt good when I took over and actually improved throughout my stint. A couple of good overtakes, good lap times and a lot of fun.”
#23 John Schauerman (US)/Wayne Boyd (GB)
Qualified: 8th (JS). Race: 13th
John:
“Qualifying went very well for me – I felt really comfortable with the car throughout the week. I made a good start from P8, made up a place at Turn 1, then made it into sixth. But I made a mistake at T1, went in a little too hot, locked the brakes, spun which hurt us a lot.
Wayne:
“I was pretty happy with my stint and our pace was pretty strong, recovering well to claim 13th and we have many positives to take to Imola. John did a fantastic job in quali and was unfortunate to spin. We can both be proud of our recovery.”
#22 Andres Latorre (AUS)/Garnet Patterson (AUS)
Qualified: 28th (AL). Race: 16th
Andres:
“Our race pace was good but we need to work on qualifying plus I had traffic to contend with. The grid is so tight that if you suffer a problem, you start way down. The car was fine in the race – no issues at all – and my pace was good.”
Garnet:
“It was Andres’ and my first race with United and we’ve come out of it with a decent race result. It was tricky for him in qualifying. I was happy with my stint but was unsure how much to push early on – in hindsight I could have gone harder. From a team point of view, everything went smoothly.”
#2 Shaun Lynn (GB)/Max Lynn (GB)
Qualified: 25th (SL). Race: 25th
Shaun:
“It’s been a mixed weekend for us. My qualifying didn’t go to plan, I had a massive spin which ruined the tyres that we had to use for the race, subsequently having a knock on effect for Max. But I made up some places in the race, good tussles and really enjoyed it.”
Max:
“It’s been awesome fun overall for the past week, learning about the car and the track. Dad made up some positions in the race. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a new set of tyres which hindered my pace as the race went on. But great fun and I learned a lot.”
Zak Brown:
“The opening MLMC race was tricky. For three of our four cars, qualifying did not go according to plan which put us on the back foot. But the #32 managed a top-10 finish while the #23 just missed out, our race pace for all four cars was pretty good and all of the drivers enjoyed themselves. We will regroup and head to Imola.”
Richard Dean:
“That’s the first Le Mans Cup race finished for the season. Looking at all of the cars performances and drivers’ race pace we know that we have the capability to get more than one car finishing within the top 10 at future races. For John to qualify eighth is a brilliant achievement but unfortunate race incidents meant we were unable to truly showcase all of the drivers & team’s strong efforts.”
Source. United Autosports
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