United Autosports has finalised its pair of LMP3 driver lineups for the 2017 European Le Mans Series.
Wayne Boyd and Mark Patterson will be joined by 2016 class champion Christian England in a Ligier JSP3 for the six-round series, following the earlier announcement that John Falb and Sean Rayhall would drive the sister car.
Boyd and Patterson finished fifth alongside Matt Bell in the 2016 ELMS, whilst England went on to win the title with Alex Brundle and Mike Guasch.
England and co secured the class crown by winning the first three races of the season, followed by two podium finishes. Despite not managing to claim a victory, the other car still accrued a trio of top-three results and pole position at Imola.
Boyd is currently rated silver by the FIA driver categorisation system, whilst England and Patterson are both bronze competitors.
“I’m so pleased Christian, Mark and Wayne are returning to the team for 2017,” said team principal Richard Dean.
“Mark has been with us a long time and Wayne more than proved his pace last year.”
“They were unlucky last year, they had the pace to win and they did a great job finishing fourth in the championship after some tough races.”
“Christian, as our returning champion knows what it takes to win the championship so I firmly believe as a driver combination, they will be winning races next year and will be in with a chance of the championship.”
Winning the European LMP3 title gave United Autosports an automatic berth at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Upon taking up the invitation, United purchased a Ligier JSP217 from French chassis builder Onroak Automotive for use in both the famous endurance race and the 2017 European Le Mans Series.
Full details of the team’s LMP2 programme will be released later at the Autosport International show on January 12-15.
The 2017 European Le Mans Series gets underway at Silverstone on April 15.
ELMS Calendar
4 Hours of Silverstone (UK) – April 15
4 Hours of Monza (ITA) – May 14
4 Hours of Red Bull Ring (AUT) – July 23
4 Hours of Le Castellet (FRA) – August 27
4 Hours of Spa (BEL) – September 24
4 Hours of Algarve (PRT) – October 22
