#21 car celebrating a podium in Le Castellet
Yesterday afternoon, the #21 Pro/Am crew of Daniel Schneider, Oliver Jarvis and Andy Meyrick secured their first podium of the season in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet - the second round of the European Le Mans Series - crossing the line in third place at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Schneider qualified in P5, putting the #21 ORECA 07 in the middle of the action for the race start. The Brazilian driver completed a solid first stint, defending from behind and handing over to Meyrick in P6. After a clean stint, Meyrick came into the pits under Virtual Safety Car for the final driver change to Olly Jarvis who crossed the line in third place, securing the #21 crew’s first podium of the season.
In the LMP2 Pro class, the #22 ORECA 07 of Ben Hanley, Marino Sato and Filip Ugran also started P5, after a tight qualifying session where the top five cars were within four tenths of a second.
Ugran took the first stint, moving up to P3 in the first 15 minutes and gaining another position shortly after – putting the #22 up front in P2. An unforeseen tyre change saw the #22 car drop back to P6, with Sato working hard to hold position.
When Hanley took over, the Brit soared through the ranks with eyes locked on the podium, reclaiming P2 in the runnings before a tyre failure with minutes to go dropped the #22 back to P5. With crucial points in the bag, however, the #22 now sits P2 in the championship.
An unrepresentative qualifying session saw car #23 start towards the back of the pack on Sunday, lining up in P14. Bijoy Garg took the first stint, followed by 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class winner Fabio Scherer, handing over to Paul di Resta for the final stages – ultimately crossing the line in P12.
Round three of the European Le Mans Series is the 4 Hours of Imola on Sunday 7th July 2024. Stay up to date with the team in the meantime on social @unitedautosports
#21 car on the grid
CAR #21 (Pro/Am)
QUALI P5 | RACE P3 | CHAMP P5
Daniel Schneider: “I am extremely happy with P3. We were running in P2 at some points but we had a tyre failure - which wasn’t uncommon for this circuit – but we managed to finish the stint. My stint was overly conservative, I drove the car carefully in order to not damage the tyres. Maybe I can improve on my tyre management, but I am super happy with P3. Compared to Barcelona, it’s a step up.”
Andy Meyrick: “The race was pretty uneventful in terms of battles. Daniel did a mega job at the start with a very good first stint. For me, I was just managing the pace. I’m happy with the job that I’ve done and happy with the job the team has done. The pitstops were absolutely fantastic and the car was mega. Top job by Oliver at the end to get us to the podium - absolutely delighted with the result this weekend.”
Oliver Jarvis: “I guess we’ve got to be happy with 3rd place, it was just one of those crazy races where right up until the end you weren’t sure what was going to happen. Unfortunately for us, we were running as high as P2 four laps from the end, but we had a tyre failure on the left front. Taking a lot of positives away from this weekend - all three of us showed good pace and the team did a fantastic job, so hopefully we can build from this and fight for wins moving forward.”
#22 car on the grid
CAR #22
QUALI P5 | RACE P5 | CHAMP P2
Ben Hanley: “We were in a good position until the tyre failure at the end. That cost us 2nd place and we ended up 5th. I don’t think it was through any fault of our own, having been extra cautious with the tyres due to the rough wearing track. The team did a good job - the car was good and pit stops were good. Now, we are looking ahead to the next race.”
Marino Sato: “We knew before coming to Le Castellet that Paul Ricard wasn’t the strongest track on our calendar. At some points it looked better than how we ended up. We still got good points and have more chances with four more rounds this season. There are better tracks to come for us, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Filip Ugran: “I’m very happy with how the car felt and with my pace, especially in the opening stint taking the car to P2. Although our race was compromised due to multiple tyre failures that we were forced to change – which cost us a lot of time - I’m very happy with how my teammates drove and extracted everything possible from the car. Big thank you to the team for their hard work, I’m looking forward to the next round.”
#23 at autograph session
CAR #23
QUALI P14 | RACE P12 | CHAMP P11
Bijoy Garg: “It was a very difficult race. Our qualifying session put us on the backfoot and you’re fairly limited on what you can do for the first two stints. I was just trying to manage as best as I could. Tyre failures in the race did not help us at all. I would like to know where we could have been without those. We have to take the positives from the weekend and move forward for the next round.”
Paul di Resta: “Today was tough. We didn’t start where we wanted to and we didn’t finish where we wanted to either. This track is known for being difficult on tyres but it’s been even more prevalent this weekend. We’ll look ahead to the rest of the season.”
Fabio Scherer: “Difficult race weekend for us, it’s hard to say much about the race. For sure the tyre failures destroyed our race, I’m really disappointed with that - I think the race wasn’t bad and I delivered, I’m happy with that. But it’s a hard pill to swallow to have so few points after the first two rounds. But it’s not over yet, there is hard work to do. Let’s use the break we have now, look to Imola and go full attack there.”
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Max Gregory: “Congratulations to Daniel, Andy, Olly and the #21 crew – second place should have been ours, but it is fantastic to see them on the podium. It was a tough ending for the #22 who were running strong in second place with minutes to go – however crucial points from fifth place mean that we are second in the championship … which is just one step away from where we want to be. For the #23, it just wasn’t their weekend. Paul Ricard is known for being hard on tyres, but this week it has been even more unforgiving.”