Congratulations are in order for the United Autosports team as they have stormed to victory at the 2020 European Le Mans Series Championship by winning the 4 Hours of Monza.
The #22 crew of Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque won from pole position after a hectic start to the race. This win marks their third ELMS win of 2020 and the team’s fourth win out of four races beating the previously held record of three wins. It also marks Phil and Filipe’s 10th win as a pairing.
The #32 Oreca 07 of Alex Brundle, Will Owen and Job van Uitert finished second, by only 3.057 seconds to the sister car, marking United’s first ever ELMS LMP2 1-2 finish.
Phil Hanson said of the win, “I’m really happy with this result. It’s great to seal the championship before the final round because it takes some pressure off the team and the drivers and I feel like we can really attack at Portimao now, which I’m really looking forward to.
This race is just a huge compliment to the team. I made a mistake at the start and the team recovered it, great strategy, great pit stops and the pace in the car was fantastic. We were nearly last at one point so to recover to win was great. It was a nice race though because we were constantly pushing. It was a shame not to have all the competition in there, with G-Drive having issues early on.
We had a good battle with the sister car too. I’m just really happy to win the championship, it’s a great way to finish off what has been a strange year. Filipe says I’m not going to fully appreciate the magnitude of what we have achieved because I’ve not been in the sport that long to understand how rare it is, but it does feel incredible.”
While Alex Brundle had nothing but praise for the #22 crew, “Firstly it’s an amazing result for the team. It rewards what we and the #22 car have been working on all year. I was pushing extremely hard at the end to try and close the gap to Phil who was driving incredibly. I think the main thing that cost us the race was back markers who ignore blue flags. Especially annoying when they are driving for teams that have been in this series for a long time and should now how it works by now. The #22 car deserves this.”
The win rounded off an incredible couple of weeks for United Autosports, after winning the Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship last month.
