United Autosports LMP2 ELMS Ryan Cullen Race Report
Time for something a little different, a 1:1 scale racing report :) Tamiya and Uk distributors The Hobby Company contacted me to say...
https://www.thercracer.com/2019/05/tamiya-united-autosports-lmp2-elms-ryan.html
Time for something a little different, a 1:1 scale racing report :)
The Tamiya and Carrera logos will on the wing of the United Autosports Ligier P217. A 600 bhp LMP2 manufactured in their Le Mans workshop. It will be driven by Ryan Cullen who will be partnered with Alex Brundle and Will Owen in a fiercely contested series on some of the most exhilarating tracks on the European circuit.
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| Ryan also has the Tamiya Logo on his race suit. |
The ELMS series consists of six 4-hour races hosted at leading European circuits including Silverstone. These attract some of the best drivers in the world. It is connected to the famous Le Mans 24 race, an Iconic race that Ryan is excited to be competing in for the first time this year.
Race 1 Paul Ricard
For the first race of the season, things got of to a good start with Ryan, Alex and Will lining up in third on the grid after qualifying.
However the race itself was full of racing incidents that scuppered the race day so the team was disappointed with the result, but were not going to give up and would prepare to turn around the result for the next round.
Ryan drove hard, showing the kind of pace of a driver with far more years experience at this level and at one point was the fastest driver on track. It was an impressive stint which saw him make his way through the field and up to second before pitting and handing the #32 over to his teammate Will Owen with a little under two and a half hours to go.
Alex Brundle then jumped in the Liger LMP2 with a little over an hour to go maintaining second place thanks to some timely pit-stops under safety cars and full course yellow flags by the team and strong driving earlier from Cullen and Owen. But as the race came to it’s closing stages after a grueling 4 hours the United car crossed the line in third ….. a tremendous result at a track which does not traditionally favour the Ligier.
It was an excellent result for Ryan Cullen with his teammates Alex Brundle and Will Owen, who drove a faultless race for four hours at the highly demanding Monza circuit, which is also referred to as the Temple of Speed due to its long fast straights and flowing corners.
The race gave United Autosports their best LMP2 category result at Monza in three years of racing at the home of the Italian F1 Grand Prix, a track that has favoured their competitors in recent years.
For Cullen and the team it was good outcome. “Today was a really good result. I’m really happy to get it so early but I knew we had a good car and I was just confident for the race with great faith in my teammates from their pace. P3 is a great result. The start was really good. I then had a battle with Phil in the other United Car and when I got past him I just got my head down for the first stint. The safety car played perfectly into our strategy, so I’m really happy with my first podium with United.”
The next race for Ryan and the team is the world famous Le Mans 24 Hour which will see the stars of Tamiya figure in one of the toughest races in the world. This is great news as originally Car 32 was on the reserve list, but now they have a place in the event, so are excited to be competing in the 87th running of the legendary Le Mans 24.
Round 2 - Monza
Cullen was tasked with starting the race in car 32 from the fifth row of the grid after a red flag cruelly stopped the qualifying session the day before while Alex Brundle was on a promising lap which would have seen them start higher up the field. This, however didn’t stop the Daytona 24 winner Cullen producing an excellent start and making up places to sixth after getting past his the other United car 22.
Ryan drove hard, showing the kind of pace of a driver with far more years experience at this level and at one point was the fastest driver on track. It was an impressive stint which saw him make his way through the field and up to second before pitting and handing the #32 over to his teammate Will Owen with a little under two and a half hours to go.
Alex Brundle then jumped in the Liger LMP2 with a little over an hour to go maintaining second place thanks to some timely pit-stops under safety cars and full course yellow flags by the team and strong driving earlier from Cullen and Owen. But as the race came to it’s closing stages after a grueling 4 hours the United car crossed the line in third ….. a tremendous result at a track which does not traditionally favour the Ligier.
It was an excellent result for Ryan Cullen with his teammates Alex Brundle and Will Owen, who drove a faultless race for four hours at the highly demanding Monza circuit, which is also referred to as the Temple of Speed due to its long fast straights and flowing corners.
The race gave United Autosports their best LMP2 category result at Monza in three years of racing at the home of the Italian F1 Grand Prix, a track that has favoured their competitors in recent years.
For Cullen and the team it was good outcome. “Today was a really good result. I’m really happy to get it so early but I knew we had a good car and I was just confident for the race with great faith in my teammates from their pace. P3 is a great result. The start was really good. I then had a battle with Phil in the other United Car and when I got past him I just got my head down for the first stint. The safety car played perfectly into our strategy, so I’m really happy with my first podium with United.”
The next race for Ryan and the team is the world famous Le Mans 24 Hour which will see the stars of Tamiya figure in one of the toughest races in the world. This is great news as originally Car 32 was on the reserve list, but now they have a place in the event, so are excited to be competing in the 87th running of the legendary Le Mans 24.
The remaining rounds are:
For more news on the series and live race coverage of each of the remaining rounds go to www.europeanlemansseries.com
You can follow Ryan Cullen via twitter here @RyanCullenRace
- 15-16 June Le Mans
- 19-21 July Barcelona
- 30-31 August Silverstone
- 20-22 Sept Spa Francorchamps
- 25-27 October Portimao
It's going to be great to see how Ryan progresses through the rest of this season.
You can follow Ryan Cullen via twitter here @RyanCullenRace
