United Autosports come home from the 1000 Miles of Sebring with a second place in LMP2 Class, but the first event of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship also has a rather unusual and bitter twist.
After 3 hours of racing, the Oreca #23 which had obtained the Pole Position was dominating the scene thanks to the Oliver Jarvis-Josh Pierson duo, but while the latter was preparing to complete the last 4 laps of his session and return to the pits for hand over the wheel to Tom Blomqvist, the 07-Gibson incredibly slowed down to a dead stop.
Blomqvist already had a helmet on his head ready to take over from poor Pierson, who tried everything to restart the car. Nothing to do, which made us think of an empty tank with empty petrol before returning to the pit lane, but as soon as the prototype returned to the hands of the Anglo-American team, here was the incredible discovery.
A camera installed by the organizers for onboard TV shooting broke down, causing the entire machine’s electrical system to haywire, which then shut down without being able to restart in any way.
#23 United Autosports Oreca 07 – Gibson: Joshua Pierson, Tom Blomqvist, Oliver Jarvis
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“These are the classic moments in which you understand how much you can love and hate racing at the same time – explained team principal Richard Dean – The positive thing was the excellent pace of both cars, I don’t think anyone could have undermined us in smooth running conditions with no problems. Olly and Josh’s #23 was proving that, by running away.”
“The pace was phenomenal and the drivers reported that the car was incredible. All of this came to naught in a very cruel way, making us lose the victory because of something we didn’t put in the car. We’ll have to analyze what happened carefully, they are things happens once in a million and we want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
#23 United Autosports Oreca 07 – Gibson: Joshua Pierson, Oliver Jarvis
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Pierson is equally bitter: “The race started very positively. Olly did a great job to get Pole, the car had good pace and we were quite confident. We knew we had a good car and a great team… it was just a matter of putting the pieces together, Olly had a great first stint, I tripled and had good pace throughout, but then with four laps to go the camera broke and ended the race. our race”.
“It’s really hard to put into words how it feels when it’s not your fault or the team’s. The fact that something beyond our control ended up bringing the car back to the garage is even more serious. But we have a full season ahead of us to us, so now it’s a question of picking up the pieces and seeing how we can make up ground in the championship.”
Jarvis echoes him: “Preparation for the race was fantastic: we worked on the car and this showed in Qualifying, where the team gave me a fantastic set-up and I managed to get Pole. From there, we had a good start of the race: the team made a very good strategy choice at the start, which put us in a very good position”.
“Josh did a great job with a triple stint, we were checking the race and he was coming towards the end of the session when the on-board camera switched off the car’s electrical system. It’s really hard to accept, because he’s out of control, so we are all very sorry. But we have to look at the positives, and that is the performance we have shown this weekend.”
Blomqvist was also disappointed, who didn’t even have time to get into the car: “I’m really sorry for the team: the whole crew of the #23 did an absolutely fantastic job. We were comfortably in the lead, we had an excellent strategy. Josh did an extraordinary job to extend our lead: it was about to end and I was about to enter”.
“That’s how it went… a real blow to the heart and it hurts. I’m sorry to everyone, to Josh and Olly, to all the crew, after doing a fantastic job. We’ve been here almost 10 days and ending up at this way is really hard to bear”.
#22 United Autosports Oreca 07 – Gibson: Frederick Lubin, Philip Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The weekend was made less bitter by the second place obtained by the #22 driven by Phil Hanson/Frederick Lubin/Filipe Albuquerque obtained in extremis when Prema Racing stopped the #63 with which at the time it was leading in front of the Jota # for a final top-up 48, which then won the race in the category waiting to pass to the Hypercar Class when the Porsche 963 LMDh is available.
“I’m very happy, we got the maximum points in the race if we consider that the #48 driven by Jota won’t do them all this year in LMP2, so it’s incredible, given the mistake Freddie made at the start – Hanson underlined – Today we were 5″ from the win, but we lost a lap, so the pace was there: the car was fantastic and the team did a great job. We were flying, we managed to recover a lap and to finish second is an extraordinary result. I was very happy with my performances in the early stages and the battles on track in the last part of the race were fantastic.”
Albuquerque adds: “It was a really difficult start with a mistake by Freddie in the garage… it’s his first race in the WEC, so he’s okay with it. But what counts is how we recovered by tackling the situation. The #23 literally dominated the race, but unfortunately something very unusual happened with a broken camera. Then we fought, putting everyone on the limit as we came back with no Safety Car help, but with great pace. The car was just brilliant, it would have Both should have been on the podium in one-two finishes, but we are leading the championship because the car that won is not entered for the whole LMP2 season, so in the end we have to be really proud of what we have done and happy with the result.”
Lubin concludes: “I’m very happy for the team: an incredible job. I want to take this opportunity to apologize: I did a lap less at the start, making a huge mistake. But the team was phenomenal, the strategy to get us back to where we are it was crazy. I’m incredibly lucky to have teammates like Phil and Filipe; they were the ones who brought us back into the fight at the end. A great result, second place and top of the championship because the winning car was not entered for the full season We will continue to keep our heads up and look forward to the next race.”
Read also:
