Arrow Mclaren SP IndyCar drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist will join United Autosports co-owners Zak Brown and Richard Dean to race a McLaren 570S GT4 at the 2022 Gulf 12 Hours on 6-8 January.
United Autosports will return to the event for the first time since 2019 with one of their three GT4 McLarens, running as #23, the team having secured success in the GT4 European Series earlier this year with Bailey Voisin and Charlie Fagg as part of a two-car effort helping United to both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships
Rosenqvist has previous GT racing experience having driven for AKKA Racing in the Blancpain GT Series. He finished second in the 24 Hours of Spa that same year and competed in the Super GT Series in 2018.
For O’Ward, this will be his first taste of a GT car after two previous seasons with Arrow McLaren SP, which saw him finish third in this year’s NTT IndyCar Series.
United Autosports last fielded an entry in the Gulf 12 Hours in 2019 with Shaun Lynn, Jim McGuire and Richard Meins where they finished second in their Ligier JS P320. They have raced in the Gulf 12 Hours a total of five times, three times in LMP3 and twice in GT3 cars, 2022 will be their first GT4 effort.
Zak Brown: “I’m excited to race with not only Richard, but Pato and Felix as well. They have both performed brilliantly for Arrow McLaren SP in the IndyCar series and are great to work with. I’m looking forward to passing along my GT racing tips!
Richard Dean: “It will be a pleasure to welcome Pato and Felix to the team for the Gulf 12 Hours. I’m sure they will both get up to speed quickly in our McLaren 570S GT4 car and will be putting Zak and I in our place. The Gulf 12 Hours is such a great event, Abu Dhabi is one of my favourite places and it will also be a bonus to get some sun to start 2022 off.”
Pato O’Ward: “I have never driven a GT car before, and Abu Dhabi is a cool place so I’m looking forward to the experience. Hopefully, Felix and I can help the boss get some nice hardware to bring home.”
Felix Rosenqvist: “It’s always fun to do a race in the off-season, to get some laps done and get the rust away a little bit. It will be a lot of traffic and a lot of things to take care of in that race for sure, but it will be fun racing in a McLaren over there. Hopefully, we’re not slower than Zak because then we have a new problem.”
