Juan Manuel Correa has joined United Autosports for the remaining IMSA Endurance Cup races from the upcoming 12 Hours of Sebring on 15 March.

The American-Ecuadorian driver will make his debut into the North American-based IMSA SportsCar Championship.

He will team up with #2 Oreca 07 LMP2 drivers Nick Boulle and Ben Hanley with Garnet Patterson having fulfilled his one-off appearance at Daytona.

Correa competed in the 2022 European Le Mans Series with Prema Racing in LMP2 machinery, as well as the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship including the historic Centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“I’m thrilled to be back racing stateside after an extended period in Europe,” said Correa.

“IMSA has been on my radar for a while, so it is exciting to join the grid for the remaining endurance events.

“I’m eager to start working with my new teammates and team, I am confident we will find shared success.”

Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO, added: “It is great to welcome Juan to the IMSA team, I’ve been keeping an eye on his progress in endurance racing and, with an ELMS race win and solid results in the WEC, it’s clear he will be a strong addition to our line-up.

“Our #2 IMSA crew had huge potential at Daytona and with the addition of Juan and a bit more luck on our side, I look forward to celebrating their IMSA successes this season.”

The #2 Oreca was involved in a multi-car incident during the 24 Hours of Daytona on 25-26 February, having been unable to avoid incurring race-ending damage.

The second round of the Endurance Cup will be the 73rd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, followed by six-hour races at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, concluded by the 10-hour Petit Le Mans season finale.

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LMGT3 polesitter Sean Gelael told media that he expected his McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to have more grip in qualifying for the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener in Qatar.

“The lap itself was good,” he said.

“I was expecting to have more grip, but I didn’t.

“But anyways, it was a good lap. I think it’s a good first qualifying, getting nerves out with everyone in the team.

“It’s a 1-2, so we’re really happy for that. I’m happy for the guys, we worked a lot in pre-season and also in prologue, to deliver, even though it’s only qualifying.

“I know it’s for show. But we have a 10 hour race and I’m also really excited for that, so we’re happy and hopefully we can bring the 1-2 home.”

Gelael is new to McLaren and the United Autosports team, joining them over the winter after racing with WRT and BMW last year. He is driving the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, alongside Darren Leung and Marino Sato.

Grip a consistent theme for BMW refugees at McLaren

Leung is also new to the team, having similarly moved across from BMW to the United Autosports-run McLaren setup. Indeed, he and Gelael raced the same car last year, the #31 WRT BMW M4 GT3, and are adapting to the new machinery that they sit behind the wheel of.

In the new LMGT3 qualifying format, the bronze driver — Leung in this case — qualified the car first, and if they got through to the Hyperpole session, the silver driver — Gelael — took over for the pole shootout.

In consistency with Gelael, Leung was also surprised with the grip levels in the McLaren.

“It took a huge amount of adaptation really from the BMW,” he said.

“I’m really surprised with how kind this car is on the rear tyres. So I really struggled getting tyre tire temp in the rear.

“On my first lap, I was just fully crossed up everywhere and just sort of knew how to drive through that and try and save a little bit for the next two laps. Then it seemed to build nicely and I was reasonably happy with the lap,” he finished.

The McLarens will start 1-2 tomorrow on the grid, with James Cottingham and Sebastien Baud qualifying the sister #59 car second. The race begins 14:00 local time, 11:00 UTC. See the full qualifying results here.

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Sean Gelael took LMGT3 pole position during qualifying for the FIA World Endurance Championship‘s Qatar 1812 km season-opener.

United Autosports claimed their second ever front-row knockout, consecutively, after first doing so for the LMGT3 class in Bahrain last year.

The team got themselves in the top LMGT3 class spots for the race which will take place over the course of 10 hours.

One key change for qualifying this year is the fact that the FIA Bronze-graded drivers are required to participate in the first session, then their silver-rated team-mates will take over for the Hyperpole shoot-out.

Both the LMGT3 category and the Q1-Q2 qualifying format debuted last year for the full-season, though it was solely on the Bronze drivers to fulfil qualifying duties.

The medium Goodyear was the select tyre compound of choice for all contending with a brisk 15 degree Celsius ambient temperature and 18 for the Lusail International Circuit’s track surface.

During the initial 12-minute session, the pressure was on the 18 Bronze-driven LMGT3s to secure a place within the top-10 to continue to the 10-minute Hyperpole session.

Reigning champions Manthey and their #92 Porsche 911 LMGT3.R driver Ryan Hardwick lost out on a Hyperpole spot by just 0.066 seconds to his former team Proton Competition.

United Autosports and McLaren showcased promising form with both cars in the 1-2 positions after taking 1-3 in Q1.

McLaren United 1-2 as Akkodis ASP take P3

Sean Gelael fronted the effort, pushing his #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO to the edge of the track limits, even taking out a small Michelin advertising board.

The Indonesian set a 1:54.239 lap time ahead of Sebastien Baud’s 1:54.478 in the #59 McLaren.

Finn Gehrsitz put a strong effort for the #78 ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 for third with a 1:54.484.

AF Corse claimed fourth and fifth places as Francesco Castellacci set a 1:54.594 in the #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 in front of Simon Mann’s #21 Ferrari (1:54.609).

Clemens Schmid put the #87 Lexus in sixth place (1:54.658) ahead of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO driven by Zach Robichon (1:54.755).

Valentino Rossi finished in eighth place for the #46 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO as TF Sport’s Rui Andrade and Proton Competition’s Gianmarco Levorato rounded out the top-10.

See the full qualifying results here. The race start will commence on Friday 28 February from 14:00 local time or 11:00 UTC.

READ MORE: Antonio Giovinazzi claims WEC Qatar pole position for Ferrari

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United Autosports has exhibited their two papaya McLaren 720S LMGT3 liveries for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Thirty years after McLaren claimed their 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, the Woking-based manufacturer has showcased their updated liveries for the upcoming 2025 campaign.

The #59 and #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVOs feature more of the signature papaya colour scheme seen in their counterparts in Formula 1, Formula E and IndyCar.

United Autosports already confirmed their full driver line-up ahead of the Qatar Prologue test next week on 21-22 February.

James Cottingham returns for his second season with co-drivers Gregoire Saucy and Sebastien Baud in the #59 McLaren, as returning United driver Marino Sato will co-drive the #95 McLaren with Darren Leung and Sean Gelael.

“It is a very special year to be racing with McLaren in the WEC,” said Richard Dean, CEO of United Autosports, “and our 2025 livery celebrates that.

“This season is about building on strong foundations, winning races and going for the championship title, and we are doing that in a car that is proudly, unmistakably McLaren.”

Michael Leiters, CEO of McLaren Automotive, added: “Now that we have proven the McLaren GT3 EVO’s speed and endurance at the highest level of competition, we enter the new season confident of competing for the WEC title with our Racing Partner United Autosports.

“Racing is in the DNA of all our supercars and the WEC, with the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans at its heart, is the ideal competitive environment for them, so we are excited for what we can together deliver on the track this year.”

The Lusail International Circuit will host the pre-season test next week for the WEC grid of Hypercars and LMGT3s, followed by the Qatar 1812 km (10 hour) season-opener on 28 February.

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Tower Motorsports have lost their LMP2 win at the 24 Hours of Daytona due to a technical infraction thus gifting it to United Autosports USA.

The LMP2 team won the 63rd running of the Daytona 24 Hours on 25-26 January last weekend owing to drivers Job van Uitert, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Alvarez and John Farano.

Tower Motorsports took victory at the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener but have now lost that win following a post-race technical inspection, which they perform on all first-placed cars in each class.

Their #8 Oreca 07 LMP2 entry exceeded the maximum allowable wear to the regulated area of the skid block on the underside of the car which is a maximum of 5 millimetres, according to FIA Technical Regulation 3.5.6 regarding skid blocks.

Tower Motorsports appealed against the decision to remove their victory which demoted them to 12th place – last in the all-Oreca 07 LMP2 category.

Unfortunately for them, their protest was denied and so the #22 United Autosports USA team inherited their first ever win at the 24 Hours of Daytona having won their second Le Mans 24 Hours last year.

As the other class entries are promoted, co-drivers Rasmus Lindh, James Allen, Paul di Resta and Dan Goldburg are the unofficial 2025 Daytona 24 Hours winners in the LMP2 class.

It marked the team’s second IMSA win after the Road America sprint round last year.

See here for the updated provisional race results following this development.

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United Autosports driver and reigning Le Mans 24 Hours winner Olly Jarvis indicated the team’s eagerness to step up to a Hypercar programme.

When asked by Motorsport Week on what the near future could be for the United Autosports team, the 2022 DPi and Daytona winner said: “You know firstly the next step for United is to try and fight and win the [IMSA SportsCar] championship.

“As a team itself, I’ve always made it very clear I believe that [the team is] more than capable of stepping up to Hypercar – LMDh [or] Hypercar – whatever people want to refer to it as, they have all the attributes, personnel and capabilities.

“So for them it’s just finding that opportunity and possibility.

“And I’m sure Richard [Dean] and the likes are working extremely hard in the background.

“I’d like to think it’s not a case of if, it’s more a case of when, but we’ll see.”

McLaren are reported to be putting together an LMDh Hypercar programme, developing a car based on the Dallara chassis. Zak Brown, the owner of the British racing team and car manufacturer, also co-owns United Autosports with his business partner Richard Dean. If McLaren announces its Hypercar program later this year, United Autosports undoubtedly bring the ideal experience to run the project.

An experienced team looking to step up

United Autosports’ Le Mans victory last year was their second, having achieved much success in numerous LMP2 efforts.

As a result, their hunger for maiden success at Daytona has continued into their second full IMSA season, as the only team with two Oreca 07 LMP2s.

Daniel Goldburg qualified the #22 on pole position, as reigning IMSA LMP2 champion Nick Boulle put the #2 in third, thus replicating their strong qualifying performance last year with front and second row grid starts again.

United Autosports will desire IMSA success now more than ever before in the upcoming 2025 season with the 63rd running of the Daytona 24 Hours.

The Anglo-American team will face up to 10 other LMP2 class competitors on 25-26 January, in the pursuit of an all-important maiden Daytona victory.

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Daniel Goldburg grabbed the fastest time in the LMP2 class for Saturday’s Daytona 24 Hours for United Autosport USA.

Goldburg, in the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson, set a time of 1:38.676, just over three tenths of a second ahead of the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson of Ben Keating, with the second United Autosports car, driven by Nick Boulle in third, over half-a-second adrift of his team-mate’s time.

Chris Cumming of Pratt Miller Motorsports, in the #73 Oreca — which also features Pietro Fittipaldi and new Prema IndyCar signing Callum Ilott of Great Britain – was fourth with a 1:39.217, two tenths ahead of the fifth-placed #11 TDS Racing machine of Steven Thomas.

AO Racing’s PJ Hyatt was in P6, espite bringing-out the red flag after beaching his car on the exit of turn 1. He subsequently lost his best lap time, which would have put him third, and will have to settle for sixth. Luis Perez Companc was seventh quickest in the #88 AF Corse.

Riley’s Gar Robinson – partnered by former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa – set the eighth-fastest lap, with #04 Crowdstrike Racing’s George Kurtz ninth. The car is also occupied by IndyCar star Colton Herta, racing for the second time at Daytona.

Jon Field set the 10th-fastest lap for #43 Inter Europol Competition – which also features Formula E title-leader Antonio Felix da Costa – with Tobias Lutke 11th for Era Motorsport.

The 12 cars were rounded-up by Tower Motorsport’s John Farrano, whose 1:41.224 was a whole two-and-a-half seconds adrift of Goldburg’s time.

Kurtz was quickest at the halfway point of the session, but as tyres began to come-up to temperature slowly due to the cooler conditions, the lap-times would soon tumble, and Goldburg would eventually be the one to put his car onto P1, despite being down in the first two sectors.

READ MORE: Dries Vanthoor takes pole for BMW at Daytona after red flag 

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Nick Boulle will contest the five-round IMSA Endurance Cup with United Autosports this season, the Anglo-American team has confirmed.

Boulle, who begins the campaign with the team at next weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours, will race alongside Ben Hanley, Garnet Patterson, and Oliver Jarvis in the #2 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson.

The bronze-rated Boulle, who is president of de Boulle Diamond and Jewelry, has one Daytona class victory to his name, taken in 2017 in the Prototype Challenge class.

In 2024, the Texas-based driver celebrated two podium finishes in IMSA, at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, in addition to winning his class in Detroit.

“I am honoured to join United Autosports USA for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races this season,” said the 34-year-old. “So far at the ROAR, it’s going great! I’ve had a warm welcome from the team, everyone on the #2 crew is working hard … and to know we’ve got a driver line-up of this calibre for the Rolex 24 and beyond is a dream come true.”

In addition, Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO, said: “It is fantastic to have Nick – a proven IMSA LMP2 champion – contesting the Michelin Endurance Cup with United Autosports USA in 2025. 

“We have very clear goals for our second IMSA season – winning races, scoring points and taking titles, and Nick is going to play a key role in that charge.”

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United Autosports has announced their full lineup of drivers across their two LMP2 entrants for the IMSA season-opener, the Daytona 24 Hours.

United Autosports will take on their second full IMSA SportsCar Championship season amongst a hotly contested LMP2 category at the 63rd running.

Once again, they are the only team with two cars although all 10 other LMP2 teams also use the highly favoured Oreca 07-Gibson package

Joining Ben Hanley for the full campaign in the #2 Oreca will be reigning IMSA LMP2 champion and Jim Trueman Award winner Nick Boulle.

GT World Challenge Australia ace and Asian Le Mans Series podium-sitter Garnet Patterson will make his IMSA debut with the team’s own reigning Le Mans 24 Hours winner Olly Jarvis.

Meanwhile in the #22 Oreca, Rasmus Lindh and James Allen will partner continuing full-season drivers Daniel Goldburg and Paul di Resta.

Boulle said as the #22’s FIA Bronze-graded driver: “United Autosports’ history of success and commitment to excellence speaks for itself and aligns perfectly with our passion for motorsport and for business.

“The United Autosports car is one of the best looking on the grid and I can’t wait to hit the track at the Roar Before the 24 [pre-event testing] with this incredible team and drivers, working together to make something special happen.

“It will certainly be highly competitive in LMP2, but I think the group involved in this together give us a great shot to compete at the highest level.”

“Racing at the Daytona 24 Hours with United Autosports is a true dream,” added Patterson.

“I’m stoked to be making my IMSA debut driving alongside Nick and Ben for the first time, and to be teaming up with Olly again.

“It’s going to be a high-quality field, and I can’t wait to get out there.”

United Autosports utilises former winners on second IMSA campaign

As a team well-affiliated with success in prototypes, especially during 2020 when they claimed three different titles, this will mark only their second full IMSA campaign.

Furthermore, it will kick off their third start at the 24 Hours of Daytona having make their return to the event last year.

Within their driver lineup, United has utilised a mixture of former winning drivers either in the IMSA environment or elsewhere in the sportscar discipline.

Rasmus Lindh said: “I am really excited for this opportunity to race with United Autosports … with such a great team and co-drivers around me, this is going to be great.”

James Allen, two-time Le Mans LMP2 Pro/Am winner, said: “I’m incredibly excited to be driving for United Autosports in the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“I always love racing in the US, especially at Daytona and United are a team who have consistently proved themselves at the front of the grid, I’m really looking forward to being a part of it.”

Proceedings will commence with the Roar pre-event test on 17-19 January before the main meeting and the opening round itself on 25-26 January.

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Sean Gelael has completed United Autosports‘ full driver crew in the #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Indonesian driver followed Darren Leung in joining United Autosports for this year’s LMGT3 campaign.

Marino Sato is the only driver to have been retained in the #95 McLaren as both Nico Pino and Josh Caygill have been replaced.

Gelael will take on his fifth full-time WEC season having competed for Team WRT last year.

He co-piloted their #31 BMW M4 GT3 with Leung and Augusto Farfus as the trio finished on the top step of the podium at the 6 Hours of Imola and on the second step at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Most of Gelael’s sportscar career was in LMP2 machinery with 10 WEC podiums and two vice-championships to his name before last year’s LMGT3 class debut.

Gelael said: “I am super excited to be in a car with United Autosports after being long-term rivals.

“I think it will be a really good experience and a strong opportunity to win the championship after finishing second twice … fifth time is the charm.

“I’m looking forward to racing with Marino for the first time and, of course, to work with Darren again after some great highlights together in 2024.

“It’s great to be a part of the McLaren family. Let’s build something long lasting and something great.”

Team CEO on Gelael joining United

“It’s fantastic to have Sean on-board for the 2025 season,” added United Autosports CEO Richard Dean.

“After years of competing against each other in LMP2 and LMGT3, we now have his speed, skill and determination on our side.

“Together with Darren [Leung] and Marino [Sato], we have an incredibly competitive driver line-up in the #95 McLaren … it’s a very real WEC championship
contender.”

United Autosports struggled to turn more than one podium finish in 2024.

As James Cottingham confirmed to Motorsport Week, the Anglo-American team initially faced challenges with the new torque sensors.

United Autosports themselves hold a strong record in the WEC having won Le Mans in the LMP2 category – and the championship title – in 2020, plus Le Mans last year.

The second year for the LMGT3 category is set to bring another chance to United to offer more competitive form after one year of experience using the McLaren package.

Qatar will host the season-opener for the second time with an 1812km race – equating to approximately 10 hours in duration – on 28 February.

Before then, United Autosports will confirm the driver lineup in due course for the other #59 McLaren.

READ MORE: Ben Keating and Jonny Edgar sign with TF Sport for WEC 2025

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