United Autosports prepare for ELMS round two at Monza

Last year, the United Autosports LMP3 team came away with a podium, a feat the team are hoping to replicate this year. The #2 Ligier JS P3 of Garett Grist, Tommy Erdos and Wayne Boyd finished sixth at Paul Ricard so are hoping to improve on that position in Italy. The #3 Ligier of Mike Guasch and Christian England are also hoping to improve on their disappointing eighth-place finish in France. 
 
The LMP2 team are aiming for higher finishing positions too. Filipe Albuquerque returns to the team for the remainder of the season, racing alongside Phil Hanson in the #22 Ligier JS P217. Phil finished sixth after an unfortunate puncture in the final moments of the opening race of the season when Paul Di Resta was behind the wheel. Will Owen returns for the start of his 2019 European season at Monza, alongside Alex Brundle and Ryan Cullen in the #32 Ligier JS P217, who raced as a pair at Paul Ricard. The #32 crew qualified an impressive third on the grid for the opening race but had some issues in France, including a puncture on the same lap as the #22 finishing 13^th at the chequered flag.

Phil Hanson (GB), driver car #22, United Autosports:
“I’m looking forward to going back to Monza and I’m glad it’s still on the calendar for this season. I think we have some unfinished business there after last year’s race where we were running in the top three for a lot of the race but eventually losing out on strategy by the end. The first race at Paul Ricard wasn’t quite as good as we expected so I’m looking forward to getting back on track and showing a stronger effort from my own performance, as I think the first race wasn’t a true representation of the pace and strength we have as a team.”
 
Filipe Albuquerque (POR), driver #22, United Autosports:
“ELMS this year is very high level and to race at Monza with such a great grid will be fantastic. I can’t wait to have good fights on those long straights. Normally Monza is not our strongest track but I think since the end of last year and into this year we are very competitive once again so we will have better conditions than the past years. For me, it will be my first ELMS race of the year so I want to keep the winning streak going and if not possible I definitely want a podium.”
 
Alex Brundle (GB), driver car #32, United Autosports:
“We are heading to Monza on the back of a very productive test in the off season which is confidence inspiring. I enjoy the circuit, it’s a great venue which really lends itself to sports car racing. It will be great to have Will join the line up for the rest of the season and I am looking forward to working with him. Certainly, we have learned some lessons from the first event and should be delivering race performance to match with our strong qualifying form in round two.”
 
Ryan Cullen (GB), driver car #32, United Autosports:
“Monza is a place where I have had some strong races throughout the years so it will be great to be there with United Autosports. I’m also looking forward to welcoming Will to car 32. I think Monza is similar to Paul Ricard is terms of speed, so hopefully we can bring lots we learned from Le Castellet to have a competitive weekend.”
 
Will Owen (US), driver #32, United Autosports:
“Monza is going to be a good welcome back to Europe. This has always been one of my favourite venues, but in the past two years we struggled a bit to get the car to the front for various reasons. This year we definitely have the Ligier tuned in more than ever before, which I experienced a couple of weeks ago when we tested at Aragon. The first step is qualifying well and if we can do that and avoid any problems we will have a shot at a good result. I’m happy to be joining such a good line up and refined team for the year. Nothing beats the United Autosports team spirit. It’s nice to be back.”
 
Garett Grist (CAN), driver car #2, United Autosports:
“I think out of all the top teams we were the only ones to have an issue at Paul Ricard with the left front tyre going down during my stint at the beginning of the race. It was a flat out green flag race where nobody made a mistake on track or in the pits. With the competition being so tough you can’t make that time up. I’m looking forward to a smoother weekend in Monza and hopefully another podium like last year.”
 
Tommy Erdos (BRA), driver car #2, United Autosports:
“Paul Ricard may not have turned out the way we planned it, but it was a great opportunity for the whole team to focus on getting everyone dialled into the #2 Ligier JS P3 and although we did not quite manage a podium result, we started our programme on a positive note, scoring valuable points. Soon after the race, it was great to see everyone involved with car #2 already talking about how we can make things better for Monza. Monza is such a historical place. It’s always a special visit. We have good data from previous races there and I am confident we can step up our game for round two. All three of us gelled really well and there’s a really good team spirit already building up. We’re determined to focus on the task ahead and hopefully give UAS their first ELMS P3 podium of 2019.”
 
Wayne Boyd(GB), driver car #2, United Autosports:
“I’m really looking forward to Monza. It’s definitely one of my favourite circuits on the calendar. The last time I raced there in LMP3 we were on pole so fingers crossed we can do the same again this time round. Garett, Tommy and myself all worked really well together at Paul Ricard so hopefully that continues and we can try and get a good result and get our championship back on track.”
 
Mike Guasch (US), driver car #3, United Autosports:
“I’m looking forward to Monza. When I raced with the team in 2016, the Italian round was held at Imola, which we won so I’m hoping for some more Italian luck to head our way. We had a difficult opening weekend at Paul Ricard but Christian and I are determined to put that to one side and aim for the podium in round two.”
 
Christian England (GB), driver car #3, United Autosports:
“I’m looking forward to heading back to Monza. I love the circuit for its high speed high reward characteristic and I always enjoy Italy when we visit. We had very strong pace in the race there last year so hopefully we can reproduce that form after a disappointing first weekend in Paul Ricard where we didn’t show our true potential due to a few issues.”