The recent announcement by IMSA of a split between the DPis and LMP2s into two separate classes for 2019 has had a number of repercussions. One is that the North American Endurance Championship is not going to see a return from United Autosports, which has raced at Daytona on several occasions in both DP and LMP2 machinery.
IMSA have already been informed that the team will not complete its planned 2018 NAEC campaign with its sole, US-based, Ligier JS P217, campaigned at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen together with Andretti.
That is not though, a portent of a withdrawal by the team from the US scene, far from it.
Team co-owner Richard Dean, whilst making it clear that the team were not in support of the class split, also made it clear that United are now actively pursuing a 2020 DPi programme:
“The class split does not work for us, we are not interested in contesting in a class that won’t be in contention for overall wins. If we could be in a DPI next year we would be, but only if the conditions are right and, at present we aren’t there, and it’s now too late to do that properly for next season, so our plans are looking at 2020.”
Pressed on the prospect of a potential 2019 deal to run a Nissan engined Ligier, Dean re-iterated that the commercial conditions were not yet in place to enable the programme. The rights to the Onroak (Ligier) Nissan package are held by Ligier (rather than current customer ESM), and the current exclusive deal with ESM is about to expire at the end of 2018 with the team having no plans to renew it.
It is not yet clear whether the existing Nissan package is the targeted DPi solution, or whether the decision to sit out 2019 might signal a potential new programme. Dean’s partner in United Autosports, Zak Brown, also the Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing, has made it clear in recent months that he has not given up on the prospect of McLaren powered DPi and the delay in joining the IMSA Championship would allow the required time for design and development of a new and additional DPi package, something which has been targeted by Onroak for some time.
Well-placed industry sources have indicated Ligier, United Autosports and McLaren are involved in talks at present that are aimed at evaluating a potential 2020 package that would sit alongside the team’s current and planned programmes in the European Le Mans Series and other ACO-sanctioned events.
United currently has three Ligier JS P217 chassis, two contesting the 2018 ELMS and the third currently based in the US with Andretti to contest the NAEC.
