United Autosports Enters 12H Sebring in LMP2 with Smith

Photo: Olivier Beroud/SRO

Guy Smith will make his IMSA return in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring as part of United Autosports’ newly confirmed LMP2 entry for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship enduro.

The Anglo-American squad confirmed Friday that it will enter an Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 entry for the former American Le Mans Series champion Smith, Jim McGuire and reigning European Le Mans Series LMP3 champion Wayne Boyd.

While currently only committed for Sebring, additional WeatherTech Championship races are possible, including the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Motul Petit Le Mans.

United is aiming to create a North American base for its team, running the LMP2 car from a new facility in Palm Beach, Fla. and utilizing its own equipment, including a U.S. transporter.

It will mark the team’s first WeatherTech Championship start since 2018.

“We love the IMSA series and enjoyed racing at Sebring for the 12 Hours in 2018 so we are delighted to be heading back there,” said co-owner and managing director Richard Dean.

“The track is fantastic and almost every driver that races there absolutely loves it.

“Jim and Wayne are United regulars now but it is the first time they will have raced together. I’m excited to welcome Guy to the United family too.

“Guy has an incredible sports car record which includes outright victories at Sebring and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“This program is also a step towards our long-stated ambition of creating a North American base for United Autosports.”

Smith, a former Bentley factory driver, was most recently at the wheel of a prototype with Team LNT’s Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER program, which had a curtailed run in the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

“To join up with the reigning ELMS, WEC and Le Mans LMP2 champions, who are only based a stone’s throw away from my home in the UK, doesn’t get any better and I’m excited by the challenge ahead and can’t wait to get started,” said Smith.

“I’m looking forward to racing in the U.S. again having won the American Le Mans Series title back in 2011 for Mazda and having raced there for over eight years, it feels like coming home in a way.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John