Today, United Autosports USA made its “Battle on the Bricks” debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The six-hour race delivered highs and lows in true IMSA fashion, with the LMP2 duo going from race leaders and podium contenders, to P7 (#22) and P9 (#2) at the checkered flag.
United Autosports at the Battle on the Bricks
Following a hot, dry week in Indianapolis, the rain closed in on race day and the 56-strong, four-class grid set off in slippery conditions on slick tyres. Ben Keating took the start for the #2 ORECA 07 from P3 on the grid which, within 15 minutes, he upgraded to the race lead.
From there, the #2 crew settled into the top three, navigating downpours, restarts and regular on-track incidents. At the halfway mark, Chilean driver Nico Pino lead the race, handing over to Ben Hanley for the final stretch - a podium clearly in sight.
With just more than one hour on the clock, however, an issue – caused by an unlikely sensor failure – sent the #2 behind the wall, losing 27 laps in the process. Thanks to the determination of the crew, they identified and fixed the problem - and Hanley rejoined the race, taking P9 in class and securing more championship points. But, of course, that doesn’t ease the disappointment for the Road America race-winners.
Meanwhile, the sister #22 ORECA 07 started P5 on the grid with Daniel Goldburg - who has officially signed for the 2025 IMSA season (read more). After a tricky opening on slick tyres, Goldburg settled down on wets, successfully navigating a chaotic Safety Car restart which saw most other LMP2s go spinning. Le Mans winner Bijoy Garg continued the positive momentum, running in the top three through the second and third hours.
The major turning point for the #22 came during the first of Paul Di Resta’s four stints, when a pitlane dive briefly dropped the crew one lap down before a strategic call saw them regain the lap and, with the help of a Safety Car restart, take the lead of the race with 40 minutes to go.
Contact with a battling LMP2 sent Di Resta into the pits for a new nose and tyres and - while the other car served a penalty - the lead was already lost, and Di Resta came home in P7.
The finale of the 2024 WeatherTech IMSA SportsCar Championship is the 10-hour-long Petit Le Mans on Saturday 12th October 2024. In the meantime, stay up to date with the team on social @unitedautosports.
Ben Keating, Nico Pino and Ben Hanley - United Autosports
#2 ORECA 07
QUALI P3 | RACE P9 | CHAMP P5
Ben Keating: “We actually had a pretty good race today with the exception of the result. I was proud of the job that all 3 drivers did. I was proud of the incredible teamwork in the pits on our stops. However, running in those conditions is difficult on the electronics. I am still not quite sure what happened other than we went many laps down having to come into the garage multiple times to work on it. I had a small glimmer of hope for a podium in the championship. But after today, I think that is gone. Nobody made mistakes today. We did the best we could do. It just wasn’t meant to be. On to Petit Le Mans.”
Nico Pino: “Not an ideal race result. We had the pace to be on the podium. We made the right calls. I had a lot of fun on track in the rain. Nothing much else to say really. We had a good set-up, good strategy and good calls. It just wasn’t meant to be this time.”
Ben Hanley: “Tricky really. After the changing weather conditions and stuff, I think we were running P3. Stayed there for my whole stint in a train of LMP2 cars and then we encountered an issue with a sensor, which caused us to go back to the garage for repairs, effectively putting us out of the running. A real shame.”
Daniel Goldburg, Bijou Garg and Paul Di Resta - United Autosports
#2 ORECA 07
QUALI P5 | RACE P7 | CHAMP P7
Daniel Goldburg: “Ups and downs. We had a competitive car. We've had a competitive car all year. Just didn't go our way. I did a lot of time under yellow in the rain, I was hoping it would go green before my time was up. I felt I could have made up some ground in those conditions. Unfortunately, my time was up before the long yellow ended.”
Bijoy Garg: “Not the day we wanted to have. We had good pace and we put ourselves in a very good position … but some unfortunate events that were out of our control ended any chances of a good finish. Looking forward to Petit Le Mans … I won there last year. We’ve got one more race this season, so let’s make it special.”
Paul Di Resta: “That was a very hard way to end the day. We started in P5, navigated tricky conditions, took the lead of the race … but contact in the final hour undid all our hard work.”
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Max Gregory: “A tough weekend to take after showing good promise throughout the week in Indianapolis. Both cars should have been on the podium today.
But … we were unlucky. It wasn’t to be so we will debrief, learn from it and then shift our focus to one of our favourite races of the year – Petit Le Mans – where we will aim to finish the season on a high.
I’d like to say thank you to our crew for their hard work in the relentless heat all week and then all the rain today! Their pit work was faultless throughout the race. The result isn’t representative of that.”