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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — United Autosports, via either part of its Anglo-American heritage, has achieved a lot in the endurance sports car racing space. It added its latest achievement more than 24 hours after battling for 24 hours in the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Announced on Wednesday, the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 claimed its maiden Rolex 24 victory in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class following a technical infraction assessed to the No. 8 Tower Motorsports entry discovered during extended post-race technical inspection.
Drivers Daniel Goldburg, Paul Di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and James Allen shared the winning entry. It is Allen’s second Rolex 24 (LMP2, 2023) and IMSA career wins, and it’s the first Rolex 24 and IMSA career wins for the other three drivers.
It adds to what has now been a banner almost year-long period for United Autosports, the team co-owned by Zak Brown and Richard Dean, which has now claimed back-to-back LMP2 wins in marquee endurance races. The trio of Oliver Jarvis, Nolan Siegel and Bijoy Garg scored the LMP2 win in a similar No. 22 United Autosports ORECA at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team secured its first major endurance race triumph at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, also in LMP2.
“We came to Daytona with one very clear goal and we have achieved it,” said Dean, United Autosports CEO. “To win the Rolex 24 At Daytona any year is pretty special, but to win it only a few months after celebrating victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours makes it an extra special moment. Zak and I would like to thank the entire team for their dedication and commitment. We can all be very proud of what we have achieved.”
It’s also the team’s second IMSA win, and first since Ben Hanley and Ben Keating shared the winning LMP2 entry at last year’s race at Road America.
In many respects in LMP2, the 2025 Rolex 24 was a race it seemed no team particularly wanted to win. How the race got to where it evolved stood from a consistently tumultuous, rough-and-tumble affair where most of the 12 cars entered rose and fell like the temperatures over the 24-hour endurance classic.
Goldburg qualified the No. 22 ORECA on the Motul Pole Award, continuing his pace from Roar Before the Rolex 24 test sessions, and ending Keating’s run of five straight pole awards at the Rolex.
A multi-car accident in the eighth hour eliminated the No. 2 United and No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECAs, and the No. 8 Tower car incurred damage but was able to continue.
“I was part of the big one, big time,” said Sebastien Bourdais, who was part of the Tower lineup. “The car over my left fender, a car over my right fender and I don’t think I had time to back off because I made contact because I was in the gearbox of the Pratt Miller car and it all came to a stop. It was like ‘Days of Thunder.’”
By the halfway point, it appeared the No. 22 United car, along with defending class champions Inter Europol Competition’s No. 43 car, Af Corse’s No. 88 car and AO Racing’s “Spike” No. 99 car were set to challenge. Penalties took the No. 22 and 43 down the order, a mechanical took the No. 88 Af car out, and heartbreak befell the No. 99 once the final couple hours happened.
AO’s No. 99 car, with Christian Rasmussen driving, dropped out of the fight with just over 80 minutes remaining. The car pitted with a low battery warning and the team diagnosed the issue under the rear deck lid, losing several laps and ending “Spike’s” victory charge. This car led a race-high 280 of 765 laps.
Era Motorsport, then, appeared in position to repeat its 2024 win with an adjusted lineup in its No. 18 ORECA, courtesy of a strategic move to take fuel only on its final stop before the last 40 minutes. Those hopes went away when Mathias Beche’s No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ car hit Paul-Loup Chatin’s No. 18 Era car into a spin at Turn 1. Beche’s No. 52 car was assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.
That promoted the Tower car, which kept enough relative momentum alive to stay in contention, back to the lead. This car led 118 laps and won unofficially by 44.697 seconds.
But a determined effort from the Goldburg, Di Resta, Lindh and Allen quartet kept them on the lead lap and in the race. The No. 22 car, which led 55 laps, ended just 6.716 seconds ahead of the No. 74 Riley ORECA, and ultimately that made the difference in who was elevated to the Rolex 24 class win. The No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA was promoted to third.
“The team, the drivers and I all had a similar feeling on Sunday,” Goldburg said. “We knew we should be pleased with pole and second… but we just weren’t. We had executed the race so well, made no mistakes … and then a strange penalty took us out of the fight for the lead right at the end.
“It took about 36 hours for me to come to terms with it, and I did ultimately feel pleased. Then I got the call to say we’ve won it! Wow. Just wow. What a start to the season.”
