United Autosports battled through to a podium result at Snetterton in the fourth round of the British GT championship.
The #25 Audi R8 LMS took its spot on the podium for the third time of the year, leaving Mark Patterson and Matt Bell just only half a point off the championship lead. Bell took the car up to third place on the opening lap, holding on until having to hand the car over to team-mate Patterson.
Patterson then caught the leaders, but could not make a move for the lead, finishing just 1.29 seconds behind the race-winning Porsche. The opening race of the day saw the team take fifth despite starting from 25th on the grid.
The weekend wasn’t as successful for the team’s McLaren MP4-12Cs, with Zak Brown and Alvaro Parente‘s car suffered a terrible qualifying session, meaning both drivers had to start from the back of the pack in their respective race starts.
The second McLaren fell foul to its 75kg weight penalty, with both cars having to settle for eight and tenth in the first race, before punctures in the first two laps of race two ruined both machines afternoons.
United Autosport now sit third in the championship standings with three rounds to go, with Patterson leading the Blancpain Gentleman Drivers Championship.
“A fifth and a third place finish for Matt and Mark is a good result for us this weekend,” said Team Owner Richard Dean. “It’s very close for the lead in the British GT Championship, and we are certainly in with a shout. Zak had an unfortunate accident in qualifying with a GT4 car that put them at the back so they had work to do. Then in the race both McLarens had a puncture, which ruined any chance of a result. In the first race we had three cars in the top ten, which is excellent and the first time that has happened this year. Overall we are happy to be half a point off the championship with the Audi after four rounds, but there is still a lot of work to do. We have a break now so it will be time to regroup.”
