Richard Dean and Zak Brown’s ultra-successful team has arrived in France fully prepared for a hugely important week. Fifteen years on from when the Anglo-American organisation first entered competition, it maintains its successful presence at Le Mans with a four-pronged campaign across three of the four classes and believes it is in with a chance of silverware with each of its cars.
Last year’s 24 Hours brought the UK-based operation back into the Le Mans winners’ circle. Victory in challenging conditions for the team’s #22 Oreca-07 Gibson driven by is former IMSA champion Oliver Jarvis, and American youngsters Bijoy Garg and Nolan Siegel was its second in the category, having previously taken the LMP2 spoils in 2020.
Jarvis returns from the winning crew 12 months ago but drives in the sister Pro/Am-entered car this time around. Instead, the team is relying on three drivers with plenty of previous LMP2 experience to lead the ‘Pro’ effort: Pietro Fittipaldi, David Heinemeier Hansson and Renger van der Zande.
Although new to United’s ways of working, the crew is expected to fight at the sharp end of the category. Fittipaldi has experience sharing an ORECA with Heinemeier-Hansson – a former class winner – twice before at Le Mans with Inter Europol and JOTA, while van der Zande brings top-level factory experience from IMSA and a pair of Rolex 24 wins to the party.
“My perfect programme is full-season IMSA and Le Mans, so when Richard Dean called me and wanted me to be a part of it, I couldn’t say no,” says van der Zande, who travelled to France fresh from winning on the streets of Detroit with Acura Meyer Shank Racing. “I’ve seen United over the years, and they’ve always done a good job.
“It’s a challenge for us being new to this team, but we tested at Spa and we worked together well there. Ultimately, I feel if you want to have a shot at the win, United is the right place to be.”
The Pro/Am #23 car, meanwhile, is built around defending winner Jarvis, who, along with Ben Hanley, will be coaching Brazilian Le Mans debutant Daniel Schneider through the event.
An FIA Bronze, Schneider has raced at the Circuit de la Sarthe before, but only in the Road to Le Mans support races in an LMP3 Ligier. Tackling the headline race in an LMP2 car will be a totally different challenge, likely the toughest of his racing career to date.
“It’s a dream come true after years racing as an amateur, a real privilege and the pinnacle of my career,” he says. “I’m excited to have two winners alongside me so we can aim for more than just being there. Road to Le Mans is a very chaotic series but extremely helpful. At least I know the circuit; I won’t be nervous in the same way. I look forward to having a proper race to enjoy there.”
Schneider’s lack of experience in the main event hasn’t deterred Jarvis from believing the #23 trio can aim high though. If they stay on the lead lap through the first half of the race, the experienced former IMSA champion feels there’s no reason they can’t go on to fight for outright LMP2 glory in what always proves to be a tightly contested fight of attrition.
“Le Mans is all about staying out of trouble and surviving,” he says. “It’s split in two classes, but I don’t understand why we can’t fight for the overall class win. We’ve got a line-up and team capable of winning it.
“The first priority is to win Pro/Am, but the way the rules have changed in recent years, I think Pro/Am cars have a chance to win outright. We just hope it’s us.”
As in 2024, United Autosport’s Le Mans campaign also extends to the LMGT3 class, running a pair of McLaren LMGT3 Evos.
But whereas 12 months ago the McLaren presence was an introduction to the category as a privateer, this year United Autosports has the accolade of official racing partner for McLaren in its Le Mans comeback, on the 30th anniversary of the Woking brand’s historic overall win with the F1 GTR in 1995.
“What happened in 1995, when it comes to my day job trying to sell McLaren F1s, it’s something we always talk about,” reflects James Cottingham, who drives the Meningitis Research Foundation-liveried #59 GT3 Evo with Sebastien Baud and Gregoire Saucy. “There’s a huge amount of focus on that win and what it means, and there are a lot of people rooting for us for that reason. It’s a nice thing to go to Le Mans with.”
It’s been a tough start to the 2025 WEC season for United. After building positive momentum through the second half of its maiden campaign in the championship’s GT3 class, it looked primed to continue form in a front row lock-out at the season opener in Qatar.
Transferring from a successful season with BMW, Darren Leung and Sean Gelael gelled to set pole for the #95. Despite the pace, the race didn’t quite go to plan, the car falling away, ending up seventh. The sister #59 fared better, settling for second after losing the lead late in the closing stages. Since then, it’s been uphill, momentum somehow stalled, and only one point finish across the two cars to show for the WEC season to date.
United hasn’t been the only team to struggle for consistency, though. The #33 TF Sport Corvette, for instance (which beat United’s McLarens to victory in Lusail), leads the standings off the back of that win, plus a seventh and 13th-place finish. The unpredictability of the season and struggle for a reliable baseline for most of the LMGT3 field has kept the #95 United crew in the hunt: sixth in the championship, just 17 points off the top spot despite finishing outside the top 10 in the two European races.
Le Mans brings double points, and no success handicap ballast to worry about, presenting a good opportunity to turn things around.
“I think you’ve got to have some bad luck during the season, and we’ve had all of it,” Cottingham explains. “We’ve got it out of the way, and we’re confident in the team, car, and line-up we have for the race. We showed at Spa how fast we can be over multiple stints. Fortunately, the championship is still up in the air and close, so we can still emerge in a very strong position.”
United Autosports could well be making headlines off-track, too. McLaren has scheduled a press conference on the eve of the 24 Hours, which will reveal more about its forthcoming Hypercar programme.
And United, unsurprisingly, is believed to be the standout favourite to become the service provider for the brand when it joins Hypercar in 2027, with its clear ties to McLaren through co-owner Brown and its LMGT3 effort.
Based in Wakefield in the North of the UK, United Autosports’ presence as an agile, growing business, with further programmes in the USA with IMSA and historic racing, seems ready and poised to add a top-class LMDh program to its portfolio.
