The United Autosports crew successfully avoided much of the drama – but just missed out on the podium in Italy, with the #21 LMP2 Pro/Am taking P4 at the checkered flag. In the LMP2 class, the #23 ORECA 07 finished P6 after also running in podium contention, followed by the #22 ORECA 07 in P11.
In the ultra-competitive LMP2 Pro/Am class, Daniel Schneider started the race in P4, dropping one place at the start to P5, maintaining his position against 83 AF Corse driver Perrodo who was chasing throughout his stint - before handing over to Andy Meyrick, who emerged after the pit stop cycle in P2. Andy’s stints were littered with safety cars, virtual safety cars and ultimately a red flag lasting around 25 minutes. Oliver Jarvis took over at the resumption of the race in P3, Jarvis held his ground but was overtaken in the final pit stop, dropping the #21 to P4 and losing sight of the podium just minutes before the end of the race.
The #23 LMP2 crew started with Bijoy Garg in P14 - due to an unfortunate qualifying session which saw Paul Di Resta’s lap times deleted due to track limits - before the first Safety Car of the race was deployed just 15 minutes in. Garg gained two positions after the Safety Car, handing over to Fabio Scherer with just over an hour of the race elapsed. Scherer charged forward during his stints, impressively taking the #23 into the top five - handing the car over to Di Resta who crossed the line P6.
In the #22 ORECA 07, Filip Ugran had a tough start, running wide into T15 which caused him to drop from P8 to P11. Marino Sato took over, but spent much of his stint under Safety Car which limited opportunities to recover. The final push was in the capable hands of Ben Hanley, but the British driver had to serve a drive through penalty caused by the #22 overtaking under Safety Car earlier in the race – ultimately finishing P11.
The next round of the European Le Mans Series will be the season finale - the 4 Hours of Portimao - in Portugal on the 20th October 2024. First, however, the LMP2 team are heading to Road Atlanta for the final round of WeatherTech IMSA SportsCar Championship. Stay up to date on social @unitedautosports.
#21 ELMS United Autosports car
#21 LMP2 Pro/Am
QUALI P4 | RACE P4 | CHAMP P6
Daniel Schneider: “P4 is a good place to finish - but considering that we started in P4 and had clean stints with good pace, not finishing on the podium was a little bit frustrating. The team did a great job during the pit stops and the car was quick, so we deserved a better result. Now the focus is on the last round in Portugal, where we’ve always had a competitive car.”
Andy Meyrick: “Obviously a very up and down race … very eventful. During my stint there were lots of safety cars and some quite tense battles. At one point we were looking strong. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result that I think we could’ve or should’ve achieved. It was super tight, so we look forward to Portimao and hopefully we’ll get a win to wrap up the 2024 season.”
Oliver Jarvis: “A very frustrating end to a difficult race. With the multiple incidents and safety cars, it was a hard race for everyone to manage. Track position is key at this circuit … it’s a very difficult track to overtake. We were on for a podium in the final 30 minutes, before we were overtaken in the final pitstop. It’s a hard pill to swallow that the podium was so close within reach but I’m looking forward to the last round in Portimao and to push for that last podium of the season.”
#22 ELMS United Autosports car
#22 LMP2
QUALI P8 | RACE P11 | CHAMP P9
Filip Ugran: “Unfortunately again, the results are not on our side. We take it, and we move forwards. Hopefully, in Portimao we will finish on a high.”
Marino Sato: “Not the best weekend. To be honest I didn’t really get to do much in the race. When I got into the car, I had a few laps and then there was a safety car. After the restart I may have got one overtake … but after that it was restart, safety car, restart, safety car. I was feeling relatively strong compared to the other cars at every restart but I’m not quite sure where we were in the green laps. Ultimately, another long day but Portimao is somewhere that we were strong last year so we will be looking for the opportunity to bounce back.”
Ben Hanley: “Incredibly frustrating result. We started in P8 after a tough qualifying. The race was a bit hectic with multiple safety cars and a red flag but we were working our way through the field. A drive through penalty for overtaking under the safety car sabotaged our push to the front and we ended up in P11. We will try again for the last race in Portimao and hopefully end the season on a high.”
#23 ELMS United Autosports car
#23 LMP2
QUALI P14 | RACE P6 | CHAMP P12
Bijoy Garg: “Not too bad in the end. We ended up P6 from the back of the grid so I’m decently happy with that. I feel like we maximised what we had in the race – so P6 was a positive result. Looking forward to Portimao and ending the season on a high.”
Fabio Scherer: “I think from P14 to P6 is quite good … maybe our best race of the season. It’s a shame about qualifying – but it was well executed race with good strategy. We did well getting through the field, so I’m pretty happy with that. Personally, I think I did a great job going from P12 to handing the car over in P5. Thanks to the team. I hope we can achieve at least one podium this year in Portimao.”
Paul Di Resta: “I think we showed what we had in terms of pace. There were some cars that were very quick, and we were certainly in the race with them. I think we optimised as much as we could on strategy - it’s been hard given where we started but some good pitstops and good calls from the team brought us into it. Hopefully we get a bit more luck in Portimao as it’s been tricky, especially yesterday in qualifying with red flags and things. We’ll look onward to the final round.”
MANAGEMENT
Max Gregory, MD: “Not the weekend we wanted here in Mugello, we lacked a little bit of pace in the race to the eventual winners, so we have some work to do to understand that. However, there are some positives to take from it – the number 21 of Daniel, Andy and Olly had a great run, narrowly missing out on the podium.
Bijoy, Fabio and Paul went from last to P6 and I believe maximised what they had available to them this weekend. The 22 was hit with a penalty with 20 minutes to go - and in a race where everyone is so bunched up due to the sheer amount of safety cars, it had a huge affect on the race result.
The team did a great job in the pits in terms of strategy and pit stops – it was certainly not an easy race to navigate, so well done to them. We are now looking forward to the final race at Portimao, a track we enjoy as a team. In the meantime we will be working hard and hope to round out the year with some good results with all three cars.”
