British GT Press Release
As reported earlier, top GT3 team United Autosports will not be competing in the remaining rounds of the 2013 Avon Tyres British GT Championship with the pair of McLaren MP4-12cs it has run so far for Zak Brown and Alvaro Parente, and Jody Firth and Glynn Geddie.
The news follows a tough season in British GT, where both cars have endured mechanical failures and received accident damage. The #23 McLaren's best finishes were a pair of tenth places (Oulton Park race 2 and Snetterton race 1) and the #24 McLaren took an eighth place in the first race at Snetterton.
However, the Audi R8 LMS ultra the team prepare has been very successful and a regular in the points, giving drivers Matt Bell and Mark Patterson a prime opportunity to challenge for the GT3 title this year. Currently the pair sit fourth in the points standings with a haul of 79.5 points, just sixteen points adrift of the championship leader, Andrew Howard (Beechdean-AMR).
Team Principal Richard Dean spoke to BritishGT.com and advised, "United Autosports will be focussing all it's British GT team efforts and resources onto the #25 Audi R8 entry for the rest of the 2013 season. The United Autosports Audi R8 LMS ultra, this year driven by Mark Patterson and Matt Bell, has been a British GT Championship contender for the last three seasons and is again well-placed this year, currently lying in third position."
Speaking about the McLarens, Dean added, "United's two McLaren MP4-12C GT3 cars will be withdrawn for the rest of the British GT season as we find ourselves in an uncompetitive situation with McLaren within BGT. We race to win and therefore the team will focus on where we can win championships. The team will continue to run the McLaren MP4-12C in the European Supercar Challenge, where we are second in the championship with Jim and Glynn Geddie."
Photo credit: United Autosports
