United Autosports leaves the Circuito de Navarra (Spain) located near Pamplona this evening (July 3) desperately hoping the Anglo-American team’s fortunes will change for the better for the next two races in Southern France later this month. The relatively new 2.42-mile Spanish track hosted the fifth and sixth rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship with United Autosports having little to show for its on and off-track efforts. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile increased the size of the Audi R8 LMS sports car’s air restrictor for the Navarra races and at the same time added an extra 25kg ballast to the dominant Ferrari and BMW cars.
Upcoming . . .
Rounds five and six of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship staged at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) on July 8-9, the seventh and eighth rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship at Paul Ricard (France) on July 16-17 and the Total 24 Hours of Spa (July 30-31).
Race 1 (Saturday, duration 60mins)
Qualifying: 21st #22 Patterson, 1m 42.209s; 24th #23 Brown, 1m 57.270s. Weather: Dry, sunny.
Race Result: 18th (#22) -1 lap; 19th (#23) -2 laps. Weather: Dry, sunny, hot.
Mark Patterson ran strongly until the hapless American was tagged in to an unfortunate spin – the second and decisive hit by the same rival – on lap four dropping Mark to the tail of the field. Zak Brown impressively made up seven places from his lowly grid position after failing to register a flying lap in qualifying. However a left rear tire exploded causing Zak to rotate on lap 14 who then needed to nurse the Audi half a lap at slow speed back to the pits to hand over to Matt Bell.
The unfortunate Patterson pitted on lap 21 to Joe Osborne who spun nine minutes into his stint at Turn 9. Joe, like team-mate Bell who was forced to “re-boot” his Audi three laps into his stint, completed the final 10 laps to the checker at a faster pace than the race leaders.
Race 2 (Sunday, duration 60mins)
Qualifying: 16th #23 Bell, 1m 40.241s; 18th #22 Osborne, 1m 40.510s. Weather: Dry, sunny.
Race Result: 14th (#22) +61.15s P1; 20th (#23) -1 lap. Weather: Dry, overcast, warm.
With the track still damp off the “racing line” from overnight rain, the Race Two field on “slicks” began from behind the Safety Car, with Osborne and Bell lined up single-file in 14th and 17th for the opening three laps.
By lap eight and with 17mins gone, Bell and Osborne lay 13th and 15th respectively but Matt slipped to 18th when he was required to “re-boot” the electronics on the 10th lap while Joe moved up to 12th. Osborne and Bell pitted – from 10th and 13th places – with 29mins to run (lap 16).
Patterson and Brown resumed in 13th and 18th positions but Brown “beached” the #23 Audi in the gravel after a big, high-speed spin at the exit of Turn 1 with 23mins to run – Zak needing outside assistance to continue in 21st place.
Patterson dropped three places to 16th with a stop-go penalty for an infringement at the #22 Audi’s earlier pit-stop with 18mins remaining, Mark ultimately taking the checker in 14th with Brown one lap down in 20th.
#22 Draper Tools – Audi R8 LMS
Joe Osborne (GB). Age: 22. Born: Bedford, GB. Lives: Olney, Buckinghamshire, GB:
“Monitoring the weather forecast before getting here I was feeling confident with the hot conditions helping our plight with tires but qualifying was once again difficult with little front end grip. I took over from Mark in Race One placed 20th after he’d been punted into a spin. The handling was pretty awful, I guess the result of accident damage. In Race Two, I just wanted to stay clean and keep out of trouble which thankfully I managed to do but unfortunately the penalty put us out of contention for a possible top-10 placing. It’s been a tough weekend and it’s pretty demoralizing at the moment.”
Mark Patterson (USA). Age: 59. Born: Port Elizabeth, SA. Lives: Bronxville, New York State, USA:
“Qualifying wasn’t too shabby for me personally but for the likes of my co-driver Joe, he shouldn’t be qualifying that far back. Race One was ruined after taking a big hit which was extremely disappointing. Joe seized every opportunity as our tires eventually got up to temperature in Race Two to move up the order but unfortunately I left the pit box 0.5secs too early resulting in a one second stop penalty. Our tires are still not competitive.”
#23 Legends of Motorsport – Audi R8 LMS
Matt Bell (GB). Age: 21. Born: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, GB. Lives: Barningham, North Yorks, GB:
“When we came here testing in March it was 3 degrees Celsius while it’s been around 30°C this weekend. After the opening four races staged in cool conditions we’d expected the lack of grip – especially in qualifying – to be helped by the hotter ambient temperatures but it didn’t work out. This affects us badly in qualifying, and from a poor grid position, we only start making real progress in the second half of the races. In Race One the Audi ran hot during my stint and I also had to re-boot the electronics. Nevertheless my times were comparable with the leaders but our ‘penalty’ at the start of the race is too great to overcome. Race Two began behind the Safety Car, then there was another brief Safety Car period all of which meant I struggled to get temperature in the front tires. I battled hard, made up some positions, before the Audi went in to ‘safe mode’ which limits the revs. I ‘re-booted’ the system while coasting along. All very disappointing.”
Zak Brown (USA). Age: 39. Born: Los Angeles, California, USA. Lives: Carmel, Indiana, USA:
“Unlike Matt, Joe and Mark, I never got to test here pre-season. In qualifying the brake master cylinder failed so I started Race One with very few laps under my belt after a brake issue had occurred in the second practice session on Friday. I started Race One dead last on the grid having not posted a proper time. I made some good moves at the green light to move up to 16th only for a tire to explode two laps before my intended pit-stop caused by debris I guess. In Race Two I had a big ‘off’ early in my stint but after that, my times were competitive. Despite the team doing a good job, this has been a frustrating weekend.”
Richard Dean (GB), Managing Director & Co-Owner of United Autosports:
“Race 1 saw Mark get tagged into a spin so that was game over for the #22 Audi. Zak had a tire explode while Matt had to ‘re-boot’ the Audi so Saturday was extremely disappointing. Matt and Joe, who actually set very competitive lap times in the final laps of Sundays race, did exceptionally well in Race Two, making good progress, we pitted both cars at exactly the right time in the race but Mark went too soon but went on to drive a consistent and solid race. Unfortunately Zak made a mistake and spun but kept his cool afterwards, got his head down well and actually set his personal best time by a considerable margin. The Audi R8 LMS is a good car – one won today – we are just being held back by the Dunlop tire which is not a good one for our one-hour races.”
Source : United Autosports