United Autosports will take up its invitation to enter next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with a new Ligier JSP217 chassis.
The European LMP3 title-winning squad will also step up to the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series, in preparation for the French enduro in June 2017.
Le Mans is the next logical step for the Anglo-American team, run by chairman Zak Brown and managing director Richard Dean.
Winning the European Le Mans Series LMP3 category warrants an automatic entry to Le Mans from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which organises both events.
“I’m thrilled United Autosports will be able to take up the ACO’s invitation to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Brown.
“We have committed to purchasing our own LMP2 car as it is the best way to prepare for such an important race. We are also looking at entering the 2017 ELMS too. We see it as great potential for the team and so we are working on getting a programme together and will be testing drivers in the coming weeks and months.”
Next summer’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the first for the Yorkshire-based outfit, which has recently moved to prototypes after running successful campaigns in GTs, touring cars and historic racing.
United Autosports is also the UK agent for French car builder Onroak Automotive, which produces a range of Ligier-badged LMP2, LMP3 and CN chassis.
John Falb, Enzo Potoliccio and Sean Rayhall will switch from French outfit Graff Racing to drive a United-run Ligier JSP3.
The 2017 European Le Mans Series will begin at Silverstone with a four hour race on April 15.
