Sato: Sao Paulo Podium a Turning Point for United

Marino Sato believes a first podium finish of the FIA World Endurance Championship season for United Autosports marks a turning point in the McLaren squad’s campaign. 

Sato and his teammates in the No. 95 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, Nico Pino and Josh Caygill, finished third in the LMGT3 class in last weekend’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, a lap down on the winning No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R. 

The sister No. 59 car shared by Nicolas Costa, James Cottingham and Gregoire Saucy backed that up with a solid run to fourth, matching the crew’s best result of the year.

Sato, who has tasted victory in the European Le Mans Series but became a first-time WEC podium finisher in Brazil, said the result demonstrates the rate of improvement shown by United since the beginning of the season.

“A lot of positives to take,” Sato told Sportscar365. “We’ve been making progress in every round since the beginning of the season, making chunks of steps forward. 

“We’re still lacking compared to the winning cars, that’s for sure. We still need to work and keep pushing for that.”

Asked if he considered the result a turning point for United, Sato replied: “Absolutely. The boys are very motivated. 

“We were almost there at Le Mans but we had to retire the car with four hours to go [due to engine problem]. We are definitely going in the right way.”

United co-owner Richard Dean called the team scoring its first podium in partnership with McLaren a “special moment”.

He added: “United Autosports has celebrated great success in the WEC with the LMP2s, but this has been a new challenge. I cannot emphasise enough the time, passion and pure determination that the team has poured into the McLaren programme over the course of eight months, from all sides.

“And the drivers put it into action on-track, with some stellar racing out there and very tough defence. The result is truly deserved. I am extremely proud, and excited to continue on this upward trajectory through the final three rounds.”

The No. 95 McLaren crew deployed a somewhat unconventional strategy in the closing stages of the Sao Paulo race, as United opted to bring in the car for a ‘splash’ at the penultimate pit stop instead of in the closing stages of the race.

Revealing this was based on tire strategy, Sato expressed some disappointment that United couldn’t give the second-placed Heart of Racing Aston Martin a closer challenge.

“By the time I got into the car, we had a couple of minor issues we had to manage, and that ultimately meant we couldn’t challenge for second, which is a bit gutting,” he explained.

“We had less tires than others by the time I got into the car, which meant we had to do something different. We were hoping for a yellow to give us a chance and we were saving tires for that. 

“Ultimately with the issue, it didn’t give us any chance, and even then there were no big yellows. But overall, a positive result.”

Asked where United needs to make further gains to challenge for victories over the remaining rounds of the WEC season, Sato highlighted the Anglo-American outfit’s relative lack of experience with GT machinery and the McLaren in particular.

“It’s purely the experience of running this car in GT3,” said Sato. “We are lacking experience compared to other manufacturers. 

“There may be some other manufacturers with new GT3 cars, but they have been working with GT cars a long time and develop the car they are running. 

“We are purely lacking time. But I’m really happy with the progress we have been making.”