Today, the United Autosports USA duo suffered a heartbreaking end to the team’s debut season in the WeatherTech IMSA SportsCar Championship. The #2 ORECA 07 of Ben Keating, Ben Hanley and Nico Pino officially retired just before the halfway mark of the 10-hour race due to heavy damage – followed by the #22 ORECA 07 of Daniel Goldburg, Bijoy Garg and Paul Di Resta, which retired in the seventh hour.
“What started out as a very promising weekend ultimately ended in disappointment,” says Max Gregory, United Autosports Managing Director. “We were on pole, both cars had excellent pace but, in the end, it culminated in retirement. But you win as a team and you lose as a team, so collectively we need to look at what happened, analyse it, learn from the mistakes and make sure they don’t happen again.”
The #2 crew had strong momentum from the start of the weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, taking P2 in Practice #1 and topping the timesheets in the night session (Practice #3). Ben Keating secured his second pole position of the season on Friday afternoon with a flying lap time of 1:12.739 - setting three laps good enough for pole position in the process. Come race day, the Texan driver comfortably maintained P1 through the first hour, extending a 14 second lead over the chasing field.
Shortly after the one-hour mark, Keating was involved in a collision which sent him into the wall, bringing the #2 into the garage for 80 minutes. The determined crew repaired the ORECA 07 and Keating rejoined the race, with a 58-lap gap to the overall leader but full focus on seeing the checkered flag. Unfortunately, a second collision at the turn of the fourth hour rendered the #2 beyond repair. A heartbreaking end for the Road America winners who have demonstrated ultra-competitive pace all season.
For the #22 crew, Daniel Goldburg had a clean start from P5, gaining a position to P4 and closing in on the top three. He handed over to Bijoy Garg for one stint, who ran P3 into the second hour. Goldburg then rejoined the race to complete his drive time, maintaining his position in the top five – however, Garg came off at pit entrance and crashed into the tyre wall which dropped the #22 to P9 in class after being recovered and having a new nose fitted in the pits.
Paul Di Resta commenced his stint, however damage to the front corner as a result of the incident sealed the fate of the sister ORECA 07 on a day to forget. The #22 officially retired during the seventh hour of the 10-hour finale.
Today has been worlds away from how we wanted to sign off our first IMSA season. But as we look back, there is a lot to be proud of.
“We’ve come away with a race win, podiums, two pole positions, six front row starts out of seven races, and the best qualifying record of any team,” says Gregory, “all in our first full season of IMSA competition. We’ve enjoyed the highs and we’ll manage the lows together. Thanks to the drivers and crew, we are looking forward to our next season of Stateside racing.”
IMSA 2025, we’ll see you there.