“I’d like to say it was mapped out and planned, but it wasn’t. We only intended to get a race trailer and GT3 Audi, and have some fun. I sometimes wonder how we ended up here!”
Ex-Formula 3000 and endurance racer Richard Dean is pretty honest about the modest origins of the United Autosports squad he set up with current McLaren boss Zak Brown in 2009. It may only have been intended to allow them to race in GT3, but the team must now be regarded as one of the leading privateers in international motorsport.
The 2019-20 World Endurance LMP2 title and class success in the Le Mans 24 Hours top its list of achievements, and United currently sits atop the WEC LMP2 points table after a 1-2 in Portugal earlier this month, against heavyweights WRT and Prema as well as reigning class champion Jota.
United currently employs 60 full-time members of staff (which increases to almost 150 at major events) at its impressive 62,000sq ft Wakefield headquarters, where it has been based for nearly four years, and competes in multiple series. It has an Extreme E involvement with Andretti, plus Australian Supercars as a part-owner in the Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford squad, and regularly competes in the IMSA SportsCar series.
It’s also much more than just a race team – it restores and prepares historic machinery, including Brown’s personal collection, has its own carbon shop for repairs on LMP2 and LMP3 cars, an in-house wrapper, and is dabbling in classic road-car restorations.
“There are so many very strong teams and really good people in motorsport,” says Dean. “It’s a tough place to stand out. Race wins are so important for the survival of your business. If you’re winning, you’re popular and the phone’s ringing. You need the best drivers and best budgets to win, but how do you get those if you’re not already winning? The other parts of the business allow you to do a better job and financially give you a lot more stability.”
United was a consistent frontrunner in GT competition, particularly in Britain, and dabbled in the British Touring Car Championship, but Dean believes the catalyst for the team’s expansion was the arrival of LMP3 – and being at the right place at the right time.
“We decided to do LMP3 with Ligier, and Ligier was the car to have,” explains Dean, whose old unit was opposite Ginetta, so he had an early introduction to LMP3.
Source: Autosport