8 Hours of Bahrain - WEC Season Finale

Yesterday, the #59 and #95 McLaren LMGT3 EVOs wrapped up the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship with a double top ten finish, taking P6 (#59) and P8 (#95) in the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

From the podium in São Paulo to a historic front row lock out in Bahrain - with nine top ten finishes and four top five results along the way - it marks the end of a monumental debut season, which has established the newly formed McLaren Automotive programme as a true contender on the LMGT3 world stage. The highlight of the weekend came on Friday, when United Autosports became the first LMGT3 team to secure P1 and P2 on the grid in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Josh Caygill of the #95 McLaren posted the fastest time in both Qualifying and Hyperpole, with James Cottingham backing it up with P2 in the sister #59 just two-thousandths of a second behind! Come race day, James did a great job managing his tyres in the first hour and, when Caygill started to struggle in the sister car, overtook safely for the lead to maintain track position for the United Autosports crew. Over the next five hours, the #59 McLaren ran consistently in the top two, with solid drives from Cottingham, Nicolas Costa and Gregoire Saucy. Sadly, however, the crew’s bad luck streak with Safety Car timing reared its head once again, with a VSC (Virtual Safety Car) dropping the team to P5 and bunching up the pack at a critical point for tyre strategy. Struggling for grip with double stint fronts and without radio comms, Costa did his best to hold on to P5 but dropped a couple of positions in a thrilling burst of LMGT3 racing after the restart. Saucy took over for the final dash, slowed by a longer-than-planned pit stop caused by a technical issue with the wheel nut retainer, ultimately crossing the line P6 when a podium had looked so promising.

James Cottingham: “We had a super solid Qualifying, so Josh [Caygill] and I just had to make sure we controlled the race from the start. We had lots of chats about managing tyres, so I was super careful … I used my historic racing background to be as smooth as possible and it paid off, because from halfway through the first stint I had more pace than everyone else. I made the move for the lead because I could see that Josh [Caygill] was struggling and we were under pressure from behind. Then I got my head down and I really enjoyed it. It was really tough! Temperature-wise, it wasn’t as bad as COTA or Fuji but over a double stint it was still very difficult. And then my third stint was much nicer in the dark – I really enjoyed that and was pleased with my pace.

It was another shoulda, woulda, coulda. As a car, we have been consistently clean, fast and up there … but we’ve just had so much bad luck this year with safety cars and things like that. I can’t really explain how we ended up where we ended up, and not on the podium, because it looked like a dead cert. But that seems to be the way with these races, and I just think it’s gone against us this year too many times. If we can have another crack next year, I think we’ll put it right. And for me personally, as a reflection on the season, I can’t believe I’ve just done a World Championship when this time three years ago I’d only driven a GT car twice. It’s a huge achievement … and to race at Le Mans, which was a lifetime achievement which, in my early 30s, I thought had disappeared. I’m still coming back down to earth."

David Cottingham : What a year 2024 has been. I consider myself most privileged and honoured to have been in the company of James, my family, his fellow drivers and the United Autosport team for practice qualifying and races of all eight World Endurance Championship events. Together, we shared highs and lows. The year has seen us travel across 5 continents; bear witness to James’ competing at the pinnacle event of GT racing, the 24 hrs of Le Mans, met old friends in paddocks the world over, sought out and forged new friendships the world over, and all with the added bonus of selling a few cars along the way!

Despite much rotten luck, spirits were always high whilst striving to be front runners. Everything Kate and I set out to create all those years ago, today finds itself on a global stage with James continuing to drive the business forwards. James, Nicholas and Gregoire bonded from the start and always made me feel a true member of the team. Despite all adversity, to finish ninth overall in a championship at the highest level of GT racing remains a remarkable achievement.

Richard Dean, CEO United Autosports: “At the end of our first full LMGT3 season in the WEC as racing partners of McLaren, we should be very proud. I’d argue that we are one of, if not the team, that has made the most progress from the season opener in Qatar to the finale in Bahrain, with high points along the way including the podium in São Paulo and pole position in Bahrain, proving our ultimate pace with the 1-2 in Hyperpole. I cannot thank the team enough. We are lucky to have so many passionate and talented people dedicating hours upon hours of time, effort and skill into driving this project forward – and I will never take that for granted. I also want to recognise the efforts of our drivers who have played a key role in the development of the programme both on and off track. They’ve been working hard behind the scenes, which, once again, demonstrates the very real belief in this project and our potential on the world stage. I for one am excited to see what the future holds.”